Abstract:
A method for bill payment is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving information identifying an invoicing party, specifying an amount owed to the invoicing party; and an account identifier associated with a prepaid debit card, submitting the invoicing party identification, the amount owed to the invoicing party, and the account identifier to a service provider, and collecting a convenience fee.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/059,115 filed Jun. 5, 2008, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EFFICIENT BILL PAYMENT.” 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to financial transactions, and more particularly, to a system and method for efficient bill payment. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Consumer-based purchases and transactions at retail establishments include payment with debit cards, credit cards, check cards, prepaid debit or credit cards, and the like. Post-pay cards (e.g., a credit card) may be used to pay for goods and/or services. On the other hand, a consumer may use a prepaid card to pay for goods and/or services. Either of these cards generally includes an identifier (e.g., an account number) that provides a unique identification of the card. 
         [0004]    To complete a sale with a post-pay card, a retail merchant may collect the card identifier and a purchase or transaction amount. The merchant may send the transaction amount (e.g., using a credit card network like VISA or MASTERCARD) to an issuing bank associated with the post-pay card, requesting payment. The amount may be deducted from the cardholder&#39;s available credit. The issuing bank may subsequently bill the customer for the transaction amount. 
         [0005]    In contrast, prepaid cards (e.g., a debit card) include an associated account which must be loaded (e.g., money must be deposited) prior to use in a purchase transaction. When a consumer buys goods or services, the transaction amount is then deducted from the associated account. This may be accomplished, for example, using an existing banking network (e.g., Credit Card or Debit Card Network). When the prepaid card is used, the transaction amount may be routed to the appropriate destination and the value of the predetermined amount may be decremented accordingly. 
         [0006]    Prepaid cards have gained popularity in recent years in relation to post-pay cards. In some cases, prepaid cards may be obtained without an application and/or approval process. Prepaid cards are generally not subject to the interest fees and restrictions associated with post-pay cards, but still provide the convenience of quick and easy transactions at a point of sale. In addition, this type of transaction incurs a service or convenience fee that may generate billions of dollars in revenue per year for service providers. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method includes receiving information identifying an invoicing party, specifying an amount owed to the invoicing party; and an account identifier associated with a prepaid debit card, submitting the invoicing party identification, the amount owed to the invoicing party, and the account identifier to a service provider, and collecting a convenience fee. 
         [0008]    In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for bill payment is disclosed. The method may include servicing a prepaid debit card, the prepaid card having an associated identification number, receiving from a retail establishment account information associated with the bill, a payment amount, and the identification number associated with the prepaid debit card, and paying a convenience fee to the retail establishment. 
         [0009]    In accordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a method includes providing to a retail establishment information relating to an invoicing party, an amount owed to the invoicing party, and account information associated with a prepaid debit card and receiving a confirmation of the bill payment from the retail establishment, the confirmation including a payment date, the account information, the payment amount, a convenience fee charge, a balance remaining on the prepaid debit card, or any combination thereof. 
         [0010]    In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method includes receiving from a retail establishment information relating to an invoicing party, an amount paid to the invoicing party, and account information associated with a prepaid debit card, deducting the amount paid from a balance associated with the prepaid debit card, crediting the amount paid to an account associated with the invoicing party, deducting a convenience fee from the prepaid debit card, and crediting the convenience fee to an account associated with the retail establishment. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0011]    A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  shows an example bill payment process, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  shows an example process for issuing a prepaid debit card to a customer, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  shows an example user interface for selecting or searching an invoicing party, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  shows an example user interface for entering an amount to be paid to an invoicing party, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows an example bill payment process, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  shows an example user interface with confirmation details, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0018]    Preferred embodiments and their advantages are best understood by reference to  FIGS. 1 through 6 , wherein like numbers are used to indicate like and corresponding parts. 
         [0019]    The term “service provider” as defined and used in this disclosure refers to an issuing bank or entity acting on behalf of a bank issuing a prepaid debit card. The service provider may process transactions associated with the prepaid debit card. For example, when the prepaid debit card is used, the transaction information may be routed to the service provider and the value of the predetermined amount and/or the remaining balance on the prepaid debit card may be adjusted by the service provider according to the transaction made. 
         [0020]    Some check cashing establishments may provide walk-in payment services to their customers. These facilities may integrate their services directly with invoicing parties such as local and/or national utility companies and local and/or national cell phone service providers via known payment aggregators (e.g., CheckFreePay, MasterCard RPPS, or IPP). These solutions, however, may require substantial time and infrastructure to set up. Walk-in payment services may result in long lines of customers; further, they may offer commission structures that are small relative to check cashing fees. For both check cashing services and walk-in payment services, the retail establishment and the service provider may share any revenue generated by a service and/or a “convenience fee.” For example, for most walk-in services a small fraction of the convenience fee is retained by the retail establishment. 
         [0021]    Tying a bill payment service to a prepaid debit card may offer several advantages. For repeat customers with bill payment history, the processing time may be greatly reduced, in some cases to a simple card swipe and confirmation click. Additionally, integrating the bill payment system with a prepaid debit card may serve as a customer acquisition channel. New customer acquisition may benefit both the retail establishment and the service provider. Traditional cash-only bill payment customers may be encouraged to obtain a prepaid debit card and then benefit from the features and services offered. The “conversion” from cash-only bill pay customer to a prepaid card customer may generate enough revenue to subsidize the walk-in payment transactions. The service providers may offer the payment service to retail establishments without charge. The service provider may allow the retail establishment to retain any service fees and/or convenience fees obtained from the bill payment system. As another example, tying the bill payment service to a prepaid debit card may avoid state and/or federal licensing requirements because the bill payment is not a cash payment. In some examples, retail establishments may avoid money transmitter licensing application fees, annual renewal fees, and/or other expenses associated with the upkeep and maintaining of records associated with cash transactions. 
         [0022]    Teachings of the present disclosure may be used to integrate a bill payment service with a prepaid debit card. In one embodiment, a web-based point of sale solution incorporating a graphical user interface (GUI) may provide a bill payment service associated with a prepaid debit card. In another embodiment, an existing integrated service provider network may be enhanced with a bill payment extension. Prepaid cards usually include a cash loading feature, so the network and method of the present disclosure may create no additional office processing requirements. Because the settlement of the bill payment shares an existing process with loading a prepaid amount on a prepaid card, deployment of such systems may be simplified. Alternatively, for retail establishments that do not sell prepaid debit cards, the present disclosure may provide a stand-alone bill payment solution. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  depicts an embodiment showing a customer  102  (e.g., a repeat bill paying customer) with a previously issued prepaid debit card  106  paying a bill. Customer  102  may present prepaid debit card  106  to a clerk  108  at a retail establishment (e.g., check cashing store, grocery store, or other brick and mortar store). Customer  102  may optionally provide at least one bill  104  to clerk  108 . Clerk  108  may swipe prepaid debit card  106  on a system  110  to begin the bill payment process. System  110  may include any device configured to read data from prepaid debit card  106 . For example, system  110  may include a Point-of-Sale device with a magnetic stripe reader. In such examples, swiping prepaid debit card  106  may provide data to system  110  (e.g., an account number, a user ID number, etc.). 
         [0024]    System  110  may include computer-readable media that includes any instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retain data and/or instructions for a period of time. System  110  may include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct access storage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or floppy disk), a sequential access storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), compact disk, CD-ROM, DVD, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/or flash memory; as well as communications media such wires, optical fibers, microwaves, radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/or any combination of the foregoing. 
         [0025]    System  110  may also be coupled to a network (not shown). The network may be implemented using hardware, software, or any combination thereof as, and may be a part of a storage area network (SAN), personal area network (PAN), local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a virtual private network (VPN), an intranet, the Internet or any other appropriate architecture or system that facilitates the communication of signals, data and/or messages (generally referred to as data), or any combination thereof. The network may transmit data (e.g., bill payment information) using wireless transmissions and/or wire-line transmissions via any storage and/or communication protocol, including without limitation, Fibre Channel, Frame Relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internet protocol (IP), other packet-based protocol, small computer system interface (SCSI), Internet SCSI (iSCSI), advanced technology attachment (ATA), serial ATA (SATA), advanced technology attachment packet interface (ATAPI), serial storage architecture (SSA), integrated drive electronics (IDE), and/or any combination thereof. 
         [0026]    Once data from prepaid debit card  106  is received by system  110 , a GUI  114  may be displayed to clerk  108  and/or customer  102 . GUI  114  may include any instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities by which either customer  102  or clerk  108  may interact with system  110 . For example, GUI  114  may permit customer  102  and/or clerk  108  to input data and/or instructions into system  110  (e.g., via a keyboard, pointing device, microphone, and/or other suitable means), and/or otherwise manipulate system  110  and its associated components. GUI  114  may also permit system  110  to communicate data to clerk  108  or customer  102  by means of a display device. 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , GUI  114   a  may provide a list of local or national billers. The list may include billers that customer  102  has an account with and/or has paid bills to in the past. In addition or alternatively, the list provided may include local and national companies that provide services to a neighborhood, town, city, county, or state. GUI  114   a  may also include one or more searchable fields  116 . For example, the customer or clerk may be able to enter the name of the invoicing party in search field  116   a.  As another example, the customer or clerk may enter the phone number of the invoicing party in search field  116   b.    
         [0028]    In some embodiments, upon receiving prepaid debit card data, system  110  may recognize customer  102  and may provide a more tailored GUI  116 . An example is shown in  FIG. 4 . GUI  114   b  may provide one or more input fields  118   a  through  118   c  for invoicing parties who have received payments from customer  102  in the past. Customer  102  or clerk  108  may select one or more of the invoicing party shown in GUI  114   b,  enter the amount to be paid, and submit the one or more transactions with a click of a mouse or by touching the GUI  114 . 
         [0029]    If a transaction is completed or bill is paid, relevant information (e.g., customer name, customer account number, billing invoice number, invoicing party, amount of payment, date of payment, prepaid debit card number, or a combination of the foregoing) may be provided to a service provider  112 , coupled to system  110 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0030]    Service provider  112  may deduct the amount of the payment from the available funds associated with the prepaid debit card and/or may credit an account associated with the invoicing party (e.g., utility company, cell phone company, etc.). Service provider  112  may also deduct a convenience fee from the available funds of the prepaid debit card. Some or all of the convenience fee may subsequently be credited to the retail establishment&#39;s account. Alternatively, a convenience fee may be collected from cardholder  102  at the retail establishment. 
         [0031]    Once the transaction is completed, the service provider may send a confirmation to system  110 . In one embodiment, referring to  FIG. 6 , the confirmation may be displayed in GUI  114   c  and may be provided to customer  102  and/or clerk  108 . The confirmation may include, but is not limited to, the invoicing party, the amount paid to the invoicing party, the time and or date of the actual payment, the convenience fee charge, the remaining balance on the prepaid debit card, or any combination of the foregoing. GUI  114   c  may provide a receipt  120  to be printed. As another example, GUI  114   c  may allow another bill payment transaction to take place. 
         [0032]    In some embodiments, a prepaid debit card  106  may be issued to a customer  202  prior to paying a bill. Referring to  FIG. 2 , customer  202  may provide personal information (e.g., name, address, and date of birth) and/or may provide a government identification card to establish an account. Customer  202  may also provide cash where the cash amount is the balance loaded onto the prepaid debit card plus a service and/or convenience fee. The information provided by customer  202  and the amount to be loaded may be entered into a system  210  and may be forwarded to a service provider  212 . Once the account is set up, service provider  212  may send a confirmation to system  210  and a clerk  208  may issue prepaid debit card  206  to customer  202 . Customer  202  may then use prepaid debit card  206 , for example using the flowchart shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0033]    Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations may be made hereto without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.