Abstract:
A method for enabling a consumer bill recipient to pay his/her bills via the USPS or other carrier sooner than was heretofore possible. The foregoing is accomplished by enabling a company to send a bill to a bill recipient that contains a bill paying return portion in the form of a mail piece having a Planet code and Postnet bar code that references the bill recipient and amount to be paid on the outside of mail piece so that when a scanner at the USPS reads the Planet code and Postnet bar code, the bill recipient&#39;s bank account will be debited for the entire amount of the bill or a minimum payment that is due for the bill.

Description:
FILED OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to the payment of bills and, more particularly, to the electronic payment of bills that are in a physical mail stream.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Consumers purchase goods and/or services from merchants, banks, mortgage companies, etc., who, in turn, submit a bill, i.e., statement, invoice, payment notice, etc., to the consumer for the payment of the goods, loan and/or services received. The consumer then writes a check to the biller and sends the check to the biller by physical mail. The biller, in turn, deposits the check in biller&#39;s bank. The biller&#39;s bank debits the consumer for the amount of the check and credits the biller for the amount of the check. The biller credits the consumer for the amount of payment received.  
         [0003]     Typically, it takes the United States Postal Service (USPS) three to five days to deliver mail to a recipient. If certain bills, i.e., loans, credit cards, etc., are not received by the biller by the bill&#39;s due date, the consumer may be charged a late fee and/or a finance charge. Sometimes, consumers do not have enough money in their accounts to pay their bills on time since they are waiting to receive a particular check, or they forget that the payment of a bill is due in a few days. In the above instances, the consumers may use their home personal computer to pay their bills from a consumer account over the Internet.  
         [0004]     Many people do not own computers, and a large number of people who own computers are not connected to the Internet. Thus, the aforementioned individuals will have difficulty in paying their bills that are due in the next few days on time.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by enabling consumer bill recipients to pay their bills via the USPS or other carrier sooner than was heretofore possible. This invention accomplishes the foregoing by enabling a company to send a bill to a consumer bill recipient by which the consumer bill recipient pays his/her bill via the USPS or other carrier sooner than was heretofore possible. The foregoing is accomplished by enabling a company to send a bill to a bill recipient that contains a bill-paying return portion in the form of a mail piece having a Planet code and Postnet bar code that reference the bill recipient and amount to be paid on the outside of mail piece, so that when a scanner at the USPS reads the Planet code and Postnet bar code, the bill recipient&#39;s bank account will be debited for the entire amount of the bill, or a minimum payment that is due for the bill, or a minimum payment for the bill plus a specified amount.  
         [0006]     This invention allows a consumer to securely identify himself/herself to the USPS, other carrier, or a trusted third party on the outside of mail.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0007]      FIG. 1A  is a drawing of a mail piece indicating full payment of a bill before the mail piece is posted;  
         [0008]      FIG. 1B  is a drawing of a mail piece indicating minimum payment of a bill before the mail piece is posted;  
         [0009]      FIG. 1C  is a drawing of a mail piece indicating a payment above the minimum payment of a bill before the mail piece is posted;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a drawing of bar codes  21  and  23  of  FIG. 1A  for full payment of the bill;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a drawing of mail piece  11  shown in  FIG. 1A  after mail piece  11  has been posted and scanned by the USPS;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the process flow of mail piece  11 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing the processing of the preparation of mail piece  11  of  FIG. 1A ; and  
         [0014]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  is a flow chart that shows the bill payment process.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]     Referring now to the drawings in detail, and more particularly to  FIG. 1A , the reference character  11  represents one or more mail pieces that were enclosed in an envelope (not shown) that was sent by a creditor, i.e.; ABC Company, and delivered to Mr. Bill Recipient of 9 Cross Hill Road, Bethel, Conn. 06801-3221. Mail piece  11  is a full payment mail piece that Mr. Bill Recipient uses when he wants to pay the full amount that is due on a particular bill or loan payment, i.e., monthly mortgage payment; monthly car loan payment; electric bill; water bill; gas bill; oil bill, credit card bill, house insurance statement, car insurance statement, etc. Mail piece  11  has an address field  20  that indicates the billing company, i.e., ABC Company, that prepared mail piece  11 , and a bill recipient address field  22 , that indicates the party receiving the bill. Planet bar code  21  appears above address field  22  and Postnet bar code  23 , that uniquely identifies Mr. Bill Recipient, appears below address field  22 . Bar codes  21  and  23  will be more fully described in the descriptions of  FIGS. 2A and 2B . An indication of postage payment  24  is placed on mail piece  11 . Optionally, the billing company, i.e., ABC Company, may indicate in space  18  the full amount that is due, i.e., $4,023,56. Mr. Bill Recipient may cover space  18  with a label when he returns mail piece  11  to ABC Company, or mail piece  11  may be a windowed envelope that covers space  18  so the amount of payment is not shown. However, bar codes  21  and  23  and address field  22  will be shown.  
         [0016]      FIG. 1B  is a drawing of a mail piece  12  indicating minimum payment of a bill before the mail piece was posted. One or more mail pieces  12  were enclosed in the same envelope as mail piece  11  ( FIG. 1 ) (not shown), mail piece  13  ( FIG. 1C ) that was sent by ABC Company and delivered to Mr. Bill Recipient of 9 Cross Hill Road, Bethel, Conn. 06801-3221. Mail piece  12  is a minimum payment mail piece which Mr. Bill Recipient uses when he wants to pay the minimum amount that is due on a particular bill or loan payment, i.e., monthly mortgage payment; monthly car loan payment; electric bill; water bill; gas bill; oil bill, credit card bill, house insurance statement, car insurance statement, etc. Mail piece  12  has an address field  20  that indicates the billing company, i.e., ABC Company, that prepared mail piece  12 , and a bill recipient address field  22 , that indicates the party receiving the bill. Planet bar code  25  appears above address field  22 , and Postnet bar code  23  appears below address field  22 . Bar codes  23  and  25  will be more fully described in the description of  FIG. 2 . An indication of postage payment  24  is placed on mail piece  12 . Optionally, the billing Company, i.e., ABC Company, may indicate in space  19  the minimum amount that is due, i.e. $123.00.  
         [0017]      FIG. 1C  is a drawing of a mail piece  13  indicating a payment above the minimum payment of a bill before the mail piece is posted. One or more mail pieces  13  were enclosed in the same envelope as mail piece  11  ( FIG. 1 ) (not shown), mail piece  12  ( FIG. 1B ) that was sent by ABC Company and delivered to Mr. Bill Recipient of 9 Cross Hill Road, Bethel, Conn. 06801-3221. Mail piece  13  is a minimum payment plus a payment above the minimum payment mail piece which Mr. Bill Recipient uses when he wants to pay the minimum amount plus a specified amount determined by Mr. Bill Recipient that is due on a particular bill or loan payment, i.e., monthly mortgage payment, monthly car loan payment, electric bill, water bill, gas bill, oil bill, credit card bill, house insurance statement, car insurance statement, etc. Mail piece  13  has an address field  20  that indicates the billing company, i.e., ABC Company, that prepared mail piece  13 , and a bill recipient address field  22 , that indicates the party receiving the bill. Planet bar code  35  appears above address field  22 , and Postnet bar code  23  appears below address field  22 . Bar codes  23  and  35  will be more fully described in the description of  FIG. 2 . An indication of postage payment  24  is placed on mail piece  13 . Optionally, the billing Company, i.e., ABC Company, may indicate in space  19  the minimum amount that is due, i.e. $123.00, and Mr. Bill Recipient may indicate an amount above the minimum payment that is due, i.e., $50.00. To indicate the $50.00 extra amount, Mr. Bill Recipient will fill in the appropriate circles  36  with a black pen or number 2 pencil to indicate $50.00.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a drawing of bar codes  21  and  23  of  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 3 . Frame bar  200  indicates the beginning of Planet code  21 , and frame bar  201  indicates the end of Planet code  21 . Planet code  21  also includes bars that represent digits  202 - 213 . Digits  202 - 213  each contain five bars, which are used to represent digits  0 - 9 . Digits  202  and  203  are used to represent the mail piece type, namely, type  48  which is a bill payment reply. Digits  204 - 208  represent the billing company identification number, i.e., number 00477; digits  209 - 211  represent information that identifies Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s Account number at the address referenced by the location identification (digits  222 - 232 ). Digit  212  is a “ 1 ” which identifies the payment amount, i.e., the full payment of the bill, namely $4,023.56 (if digit  212  was a “2”, it would identify the minimum payment amount  FIG. 1B  and be bar code  25 , or if digit  212  was a “3”, it would identify the minimum payment amount plus the amount specified in circles  36   FIG. 1C  and be bar code  35 ); and, digit  213  represents an error-checking digit that is used to validate Planet code  21 . It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that additional digits may be added to increase the information in bar codes  21  and  23 , i.e., payment amount, etc.  
         [0019]     Frame bar  220  indicates the beginning of Postnet bar code  23 , and frame bar  221  indicates the end of Postnet bar code  23 . Digits  222 - 233  each contain five bars which are used to represent digits  0 - 9 . Digits  222 - 232  identify the customer&#39;s location, identification i.e., it is customer location number 068013221991 which happens to be encoded to represent 9 Cross Hill Road, Bethel, Conn. 06801-3221. Thus, by using the customer location identification digits  222 - 232  of Postnet code  23 , and digits  204 - 208  that represent billing company identification and digits  209 - 211  that represent the customer account number of Planet code  21 , a particular account for Mr. Bill Recipient of 9 Cross Hill Road, Bethel, Conn. 06801-3221 is uniquely identified. Digit  233  represents an error-checking digit that is used to validate Postnet bar code  23 . The billing company, i.e., ABC Company, is able to obtain Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s bank account by using Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s account number and Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s location identification to find Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s bank account number in ABC Company&#39;s database.  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  is a drawing of mail piece  11  shown in  FIG. 1A  after mail piece  11  has been posted and scanned by the USPS. After bar codes  21  and  23  are scanned, the USPS places an indication of electronic payment  26  of the bill on mail piece  11 . The scanned information is used to provide information for the transfer of funds from Mr. Bill Recipient to ABC Company as described in the description of  FIGS. 6A and 6B .  
         [0021]     Then the USPS delivers mail piece  11  to Mr. Bill Recipient and provides information to ABC Company so that ABC Company may debit Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s bank account for the amount shown in space  18  and Planet code  21 , namely, $4,023.56. The payment of the bill is described in the description of  FIG. 6B . It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that the USPS, a third party, or Mr. Bill Recipient may create the payment transaction and execute it.  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the process flow of mail piece  11  and mail piece  12 . The process begins in data base  110 , where information for the bill, i.e., mail piece  11  or  12  is stored. Data base  110  contains the minimum payment Planet code; the full payment Planet code; the Postnet bar codes; the full payment amount; the minimum payment amount; Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s account number; Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s bank account number; and Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s bank routing number. Biller&#39;s computer  120  will send data to database  110  and receive data from data base  110 . Computer  120  will send data to printer  130  so that printer  130  will be able to print the information appearing on mail piece  11  ( FIG. 1A ) and mail piece  12  ( FIG. 1B ).  
         [0023]     Mail pieces  11  or  12  will be mailed and delivered to bill recipient  140 . Mr. Bill Recipient will decide if he wants to pay the bill in full or make a minimum payment on the bill. If Mr. Bill Recipient decides he wants to pay the bill in full, he will mail, mail piece  11 . If Mr. Bill Recipient decides he wants to make a minimum payment, he will mail, mail piece  12 .  
         [0024]     Scanners  150  at the USPS will scan and interpret Planet code  21  and Postnet bar code  23  if mail piece  11  was mailed ( FIG. 1A ) or scan and interpret Planet code  25  and Postnet bar code  23  if mail piece  12  was mailed ( FIG. 1B ), or scan and interpret Planet code  35 , Postnet bar code  23  and circles  36  if mail piece  13  was mailed ( FIG. 1C ). The interpreted Planet and Postnet bar codes and circles will be sent to USPS computer  160 . Computer  160  will process the scanned Planet code, Postnet bar code, scan date, scan location and scan type (initial scan, process scan, final scan) from scanner  150 . Computers  160  and  120  will be coupled to USPS data base  170  to obtain mail piece data. Biller&#39;s computer  120  will reconcile the bill it produced, i.e., mail piece  11  with the bill, i.e., mail piece that was just scanned. Then the information will be sent to bill payment database  110  to begin the funds transfer process. Bill payment computer  180  will use the information in database  110  to create an electronic funds transfer between Biller&#39;s bank computer  200  and Bill Recipient&#39;s bank computer  190 .  
         [0025]     Bill Recipient&#39;s bank computer  190  will receive Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s Bank Account Number and the amount of funds to debit from Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s bank account, which will be credited to ABC Company. ABC Company biller&#39;s bank computer will be credited for the funds debited to Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s bank  190 . The USPS, the customer recipient&#39;s bank and/or the company biller bank may charge the company biller for the above. Advantages of the foregoing are that the company biller will receive its money sooner, i.e., shortly after mail piece  11  or  12  is scanned by the USPS, and eliminate some bill processing costs.  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing the processing of the preparation of mail piece  11  of  FIG. 1A . The program begins in block  290  where a Postnet bar code is assigned to Mr. Bill Recipient. In block  300 , a Planet code is assigned to Mr. Bill Recipient for the minimum payment that is due. In block  310 , a Planet code is assigned to Mr. Bill Recipient for the full payment that is due. Now in block  315 , a Planet code is assigned to Mr. Bill Recipient for the minimum payment that is due plus an amount specified by Mr. Bill Recipient in circles  36 . Now in block  320 , an account number is assigned to each Planet code. The data from blocks  290 ,  300 ,  310 ,  315  and  320  is transmitted to bill payment database  110 , and then block  330  retrieves the above information from block  110  and prints the information appearing on mail piece  11  ( FIG. 1A ) or the information appearing on mail piece  12  ( FIG. 1B ). Then the program goes to block  340  where the USPS delivers mail pieces  11  and  12  to Mr. Bill Recipient in a envelope (not shown). Now the program goes to block  350  and is finished.  
         [0027]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  is a flow chart that shows the bill payment process. In block  600  ( FIG. 6A ), Mr. Bill Recipient determines the amount of the bill that he is going to pay. Now in block  610 , Mr. Bill Recipient selects the appropriate payment mail piece, i.e., mail piece  11  ( FIG. 1A ) for full payment or mail piece  12  ( FIG. 1B ) for minimum payment, or mail piece  13  ( FIG. 1C ) for minimum payment plus a specified amount. Then the program goes to block  620  where Mr. Bill Recipient mails the selected mail piece, i.e., mail piece  11 . Then in block  630 , the USPS scans mail piece  11  and obtains the Planet code and Postnet bar code from mail piece  11 . The scanned data will be transmitted to USPS database  170 . Then in block  640 , the USPS prints the indication of electronic payment of the bill on mail piece  11  ( FIG. 3 ).  
         [0028]     Now in block  650 , the USPS delivers mail piece  11  to Mr. Bill Recipient. Then the program goes to block  660  and is finished.  
         [0029]     The program begins in block  410  ( FIG. 6B ) where data from USPS database  170  is retrieved by block  410 . Then block  420  removes duplicate data entries from USPS database  170 . Then in block  430 , for each data entry, blocks  440  through  480  are preformed.  
         [0030]     Then block  440  retrieves the Postnet bar code on mail piece  11  to identify Mr. Bill Recipient location. Now in block  450 , the Planet code from mail piece  11  or  12  is retrieved to identify the bill account number and the payment amount. At this point, block  460  stores the payment information received from block  450 . The foregoing payment information is also stored in bill payment database  110 . Then block  470  retrieves Mr. Bill Recipient&#39;s bank information from database  110 . The payment transaction is executed after all data entries have been processed, then block  490  executes the payment transactions created by blocks  440 - 480 , which have been stored in bill payment database  110 . Now the program goes to block  500  and is finished.  
         [0031]     The above specification describes a new and improved method for enabling a consumer bill recipient to pay his/her bills via the USPS or other carrier sooner than was heretofore possible. It is realized that the above description may indicate to those skilled in the art additional ways in which the principles of this invention may be used without departing from the spirit. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.