Automated interactive bill payment system

Method and apparatus for processing payment transactions using debit card numbers without the requirement of a personal identification number (PIN) is disclosed. A telepay system of the present invention provides an interface between a standard touchtone telephone and at least one debit card network such that real-time bill payment transactions may be effected using a keypad of the telephone. The telepay system includes an interactive voice response unit for prompting a payor to enter an access code, account number, debit card number and payment amount and for informing the user of the status of the transaction. Real-time processing of transactions is provided through use of debit card networks, rather than the Automated Clearing House. The telepay system is also capable of performing settlement functions and processing inquiries by payees of the system regarding previously processed transactions.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The invention relates generally to systems for electronic bill payment 
systems and, more particularly, to a universal, real-time bill payment 
system method and system that uses debit (ATM) cards without the 
requirement of a PIN (personal identification number) in conjunction with 
touch tone telephones to initiate consumer bill payments electronically 
and provide for the elimination of paper checks and the heretofore use of 
the Automated Clearing House of the U.S. Banking System to settle 
individual items. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Bill payment by telephone has been available primarily from financial 
institutions for approximately 15 years. Heralded as "home banking" this 
technology allowed a customer of a bank, savings and loan, or credit union 
to pay any pre-registered bill with the use of a touch tone telephone and 
that financial institutions interactive voice response unit (provided that 
they offered the service). The customer would first have to select a 
financial institution that offered the service, request to participate in 
the service, send in a voided check, and then provide a manual list of all 
the bills that were desired to be paid using this system. In addition, a 
signature authorization card would have to signed and archived by the 
financial institution. The financial institution would then manually input 
all of this information into their computer, and then advise the customer 
that system access was then available. This process usually took up to two 
weeks to complete. 
Once activated, the customer would then have the capability to call the 
financial institution and input payment instructions in conjunction with a 
touch tone telephone and reference each payee by a number that was 
assigned by the financial institution. This process of bill payment would 
allow the customer to pay bills by having the bank then issue an 
"electronic check" to the designated payee. This "electronic" document 
would then be presented to the Automated Clearing House of the U.S. 
Banking System for processing and clearing. In reality the process was 
identical to the processing of a paper check, with the only exception 
being that there was not any paper involved in the transaction. The 
payment could still "bounce" and be returned for non-sufficient funds 
since there was no actual verification on the customer's account balance 
to insure that sufficient funds were on deposit to cover the transaction. 
In addition, all in place check clearing time requirements were still in 
place, as it took typically at least 3-5 days to clear. Until clearing was 
realized the recipient of the funds never had actual use of the funds used 
for payment. If a new debt was incurred, it would have to be 
pre-registered on the system in order to utilize this "electronic" 
capability. If a customer changed financial institutions, the whole 
process of pre-registering all debts, signature cards, and a voided check 
would have to be repeated. Existing pay by phone systems offered some 
convenience to the user, but were cumbersome to administer and usage was 
never widespread. 
As "home banking" gained more interest, many companies developed special 
purpose telephones with visual displays and "swipe card readers" that the 
consumer could purchase that would allow the use of a debit (ATM) card to 
basically achieve the same purpose as was evident in previously 
implemented systems (for the purposes of brevity in this disclosure the 
term "debit card" shall be construed to mean both debit and credit card). 
The only difference was that the consumer could now "swipe" the debit card 
through the reader that was part of the telephone. The Automated Clearing 
House of the U.S. Banking System was still used to process payments, and 
all pre-registration and signature cards were still required. All 
"electronic check" clearing time requirements were still needed, and the 
transaction would still be returned for non-sufficient funds. If a service 
offered a specialized telephone and bypassed the Automated Clearing House, 
using debit card networks, the debit card used to process the transaction 
required a PIN. There was a natural resistance to the purchase of special 
telephones that proved to be relatively expensive, in addition to the 
monthly fees necessary to remain a customer of this service. 
As personal computers began to proliferate, many systems became available 
that would allow bill payment in conjunction with a third party service 
and a personal computer owned by the user with that third party software 
loaded into it, such as the Prodigy system. Still, however, all of the 
aforementioned limitations still applied to these personal computer based 
systems. 
In summary, these home banking systems shared many common drawbacks. For 
example, the burden of pre-registration and the listing of bills to be 
paid was borne by the consumer. The system required the processing of 
transactions in the same manner as a paper check, or an electronic check 
through the Automated Clearing House of the U.S. Banking System. The 
system presented the possibility that a transaction could be returned for 
non-sufficient funds reasons. In addition, a clearing time for each 
transaction of 3-5 days. Furthermore, in many cases, the prior art home 
banking systems required the use of specialized equipment by the customer 
(such as special purpose telephones equipped with electronic card readers 
or encryption devices), or the financial institution offering services to 
it's customer base. 
Moreover, although it is known in the field of accounting to call and 
manually, in conjunction an operator, verify that a payor had remitted a 
bill, there is no capability for the recipient of the funds (payee) to 
electronically immediately and positively inquire as to payment status 
after it was electronically authorized by the a debit card network. 
Therefore, what is needed is a universal, real-time bill payment system 
method and system that uses debit (ATM) cards without the requirement of a 
PIN (personal identification number) in conjunction with touch tone 
telephones to initiate consumer bill payments electronically and provide 
for the elimination of paper checks, as well as the use of the Automated 
Clearing House. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The foregoing problems are solved and a technical advance is achieved by 
method and apparatus of the present invention for an improved universal 
bill payment system. In a departure from the art, bills may be paid using 
a telephone connectable to at least one remote debit card network via a 
telepay system. 
In a preferred embodiment, the method of the present invention Comprises 
steps of prompting a caller to enter an access code using a keypad of said 
telephone, said access code identifying a current payment transaction; 
responsive to entry of an access code, determining whether said entered 
access code is valid; prompting said caller to enter an account number 
using said telephone keypad, said account number identifying a payee in 
connection with said current payment transaction; responsive to entry of 
an account number, determining whether said entered account number is 
valid; prompting said caller to enter a debit card number using said 
telephone keypad, said debit card number identifying a payor in connection 
with said current payment transaction; responsive to entry of a debit card 
number, determining whether said entered debit card number is valid; 
prompting said caller to enter a payment amount using said telephone 
keypad; responsive to a determination that a payment amount has been 
entered and further responsive to a determination that said entered access 
code, account number and debit card number are valid accessing a remote 
debit card network associated with said entered debit card number, said 
accessed remote debit card network determining whether sufficient funds 
exist in an account associated with said entered debit card number to 
complete said current payment transaction, responsive to a determination 
that sufficient funds exist in said associated account, deducting said 
entered payment amount from said account associated with said entered 
debit card number, adding said entered payment amount to an account 
associated with said entered account number and informing said caller of 
an approval code issued by said accessed remote debit card network and 
storing said entered access code, account number, debit card number and 
payment amount in a transaction log file of said telepay system, and 
responsive to a determination that sufficient funds do not exist in said 
associated account, informing said caller that said current payment 
transaction has been declined and terminating said current payment 
transaction. 
A technical advantage achieved with the invention is that it enables the 
use of debit card (ATM) networks for a real-time positively authorized 
bill payment that inquire electronically against balances on deposit PRIOR 
to the processing of the bill payment transaction, thus eliminating the 
Automated Clearing House to process individual transactions. 
Another technical advantage achieved with the invention is that it enables 
real-time inquiry capability into the consumers balances at virtually any 
U.S. financial institution in order to verify funds on deposit prior to 
processing the transaction, thereby eliminating the possibility of a 
non-sufficient funds occurrence. 
Another technical advantage achieved with the invention is the elimination 
of a PIN (personal identification number) in conjunction with debit card 
number usage in order to comply with Regulation E of the U.S. Banking 
Regulations by maintaining security and frequency of usage restrictions in 
the method and process. 
Yet another technical advantage achieved with the invention is the 
integration of interactive voice response technology and debit card number 
authorization processing with electronic funds transfer bill payment 
method and process. 
Still another technical advantage achieved with the invention is the 
elimination of any specialized equipment on the part of the consumer to 
process an electronic bill payment (i.e., personal computers, specialized 
telephones or terminals, etc.). 
A further technical advantage achieved with the invention is the 
elimination of any pre-registration or "sign up" procedure on the part of 
the payor. 
A final technical advantage achieved with the invention is the provision to 
the recipient of the bill payment of an electronic daily general ledger or 
activity summary, that balances back to the gross amount of electronic 
deposits made in the designated bank accounts by the utilized debit card 
networks. Moreover, the system of the present invention offers to the 
consumer the advantage of anywhere, anyplace, anytime, convenience with 
complete spontaneity as to the system usage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, the general operation and structure of the system of 
the present invention will be described, it being understood that the 
operation of the system will be described in greater detail with reference 
to FIGS. 2A-2G, 3 and 4. When a consumer calls into the TelePay system 10 
using a telephone 12, the consumer is prompted by an interactive voice 
response unit within the system 10 to input certain necessary information, 
to wit, payee access code, debit card number, account number, and amount. 
The TelePay system 10 then checks all of its internal files, including an 
account number velocity file 14, a debit card velocity file 16 and a 
negative file 18, to validate the access code entered, the card number 
presented, the validity of the account number, and if that card number 
and/or account number has ever processed a fraudulent transaction. If any 
of these internal checks into the TelePay system 10 process indicate 
fraud, then the transaction is denied. If all of the checks are passed, 
then the TelePay system 10 assembles the data into an authorization 
request message, which is electronically sent to a debit card network 20 
for transmission to a financial institution 22 that issued the card for 
verification of balance on deposit. 
The debit card network 20 receives a response as to whether or not the 
there are sufficient funds on deposit to process the transaction requested 
by the consumer. The debit card network 20 prepares an appropriate 
deduction from the consumer's account and prepares an appropriate deposit 
to the payee's account to be processed later. In addition any fees that 
are due from the payor are also preprocessed at this time. The debit card 
network then sends a message to the TelePay system 10 while the consumer 
is still on the telephone 12 line. The TelePay system 10 will then 
translate the numeric data received into an audible verbal response 
transmitted to the consumer via the telephone 12. 
Settlement, as described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 3, is 
defined herein as the methodology of debiting and crediting the 
appropriate accounts affected by the above-described transaction. These 
accounts would affect the payor, the payee, and the TelePay system 10 for 
any transaction fee. The debit card network 20 will initiate this process. 
The debit card network 20, however will only deposit a TOTAL of the days 
transactions into the payee's account. The network has no capability to 
discern which consumer paid how much. It then becomes the responsibility 
of the TelePay system 10 to detail the specific account numbers and amount 
of payments that were made that day. This is accomplished by a computer 
dial-up link (RJE) 24 from the TelePay system 10 to the payee's billing 
system 26. The TelePay system 10 will also bill the payee on a monthly 
basis for 800 telephone line usage (if any). The accounts receivable 
department of the payee is also provided with the capability to call into 
the TelePay system 10 to inquire as to if and when a consumer initiated a 
payment. 
A single 800 number is used by the TelePay system 10. Technology allows for 
a virtually unlimited number of telephone lines to terminate on the same 
number, limited only by the compliment of computer hardware and it's 
capabilities that are running the system. The caller will be asked to 
enter the access code of the bill to be paid. This access code typically 
will be printed on the bottom of the statement in an obvious manner and is 
a requirement of all payees utilizing the service. The code will identify 
the payee within the TelePay system 10 and will activate the TelePay 
software to verbalize the customer's selection in order to give positive 
re-enforcement as is the case with all customer input (i.e. "you have 
elected to pay Florida Power and Light in Miami, Fla." Press 1 if this is 
correct and you wish to continue, or press 2 if incorrect"). If incorrect, 
the customer will be asked to input another access code, or to terminate 
the call. Assuming the proper access code is confirmed, the next step will 
be the entering of the account number of the bill to be paid, as this 
number also appears on the monthly statement. All selections will be 
verbally re-enforced. 
The next step will be the entering of the debit (ATM) card number. Various 
TelePay system 10 checks will be done on this entry. Verbal re-enforcement 
of the numbers entered is again given to the user ("You have entered 5419 
23485 4657. Please press 1 if correct or 2 if incorrect"). The TelePay 
system 10 will then instruct the user to enter the amount of the payment 
and verbal positive re-enforcement will be given. If all has been 
acknowledged positively up to this point, then the system will give a 
verbal summary of the transaction and give the customer a final 
opportunity to Validate the entries ("Press 1 if correct, or press 2 if 
incorrect"). When the transaction has been positively re-enforced by the 
user, the TelePay system will then build an authorization request that 
will be sent out to the existing debit (Electronic Funds Transfer) 
networks. When the transaction has been authorized, the system will once 
again give positive re-enforcement to the user ("Your payment to Dallas 
Gas and Electric in the amount or $124.56 has been paid from your ATM card 
account number 5419 23485 4657. Your authorization number for this 
transaction is XXXXXXX. Please make a note of this authorization code for 
future reference. If you would like to hear the authorization code for 
this transaction again, press 1. If you would like to pay another bill 
press 2. If you are finished press 3."). 
If the user elects to pay another bill during the same session, then the 
system will retain the previously entered card number and ask the caller 
if the next bill being paid is to be paid with the same card, or allow the 
opportunity to enter a new card number. 
All of the debit (Electronic Funds Transfer) networks are accustomed to the 
assessment, debiting and crediting of fees to the issuers and acquirers of 
debit (ATM) and credit transactions. In many cases, a 75.cent. fee for a 
customer to use an ATM card at an ATM that is not owned by the card 
issuing bank involves the dividing of that fee into increments as small as 
5.cent.. In this manner all networks that are accessed are compensated to 
assist in the authorization and routing of the transaction. All of these 
fees are electronically credited to the entity that earned the revenue as 
a result of a contractual relationship with that particular network. This 
process happens every working day at a predetermined "cut off" period that 
separates business days and is refereed to in the industry as 
"settlement". 
Never before, however, has a transaction been presented to the debit 
networks for a real-time authorized bill payment initiated by the consumer 
from a touch tone telephone with the debit card used as the transaction 
vehicle. Additionally, it has never been done without the requirement of a 
PIN (personal identification number) and still maintain transaction 
security. In the TelePay System 10, when a transaction is entered by a 
consumer, and subsequently passed on to an outside debit card network for 
authorization, a number of things happen. 
Assuming that the transaction is authorized, then any fee that the customer 
is paying, in addition to the actual bill payment, is automatically 
deducted from the payor's account immediately and added to the amount that 
the debit card network will owe TelePay and the payee at settlement. The 
amount of the bill that was paid is automatically added to the amount that 
will be credited to the payee at the end of the business day (every payee 
is required to provide a bank account number that will be used to 
electronically credit the days receipts). TelePay's bank account will, in 
a like manner, be automatically credited for the transaction fee. Any 
network usage fees that have to be paid to process the transaction by the 
use of an debit card network will be electronically paid by the TelePay 
system 10 to the appropriate service provider. Once a day at TelePay's 
settlement time, each payee participating in the system will receive the 
electronic on-line detail summary of the days individual transactions for 
posting to the consumer's account. 
A flowchart illustrating the operation of a bill payment transaction 
process of the TelePay system 10 is shown in FIGS. 2A-2G. The process is 
initiated by a user's calling into the system 10. In step 200, a general 
purpose welcome message that announces and instructs the caller in the 
manner with which the system can be used is transmitted to the user via 
the telephone 12 (FIG. 1). In step 202, the user is prompted to enter a 
payee access code, which is assigned by the embodiment of the invention in 
the form of a service and the user is made aware of this code due to its 
printed presence on the monthly customer statement, statement stuffers or 
other printed handouts. This code is what distinguishes one payee from the 
other, and is the identifier that causes the system 10 (FIG. 1) to record 
the transaction in the appropriate payee record file. 
After the caller enters the access code, it is electronically checked 
against the list of authorized payees participating in the system 10 in 
step 204. In step 206, a determination is made whether the entered access 
code is valid. If the access code is invalid, in step 208, the system 10 
checks to determine whether this is the third incorrect entry of an access 
code. If this is not the third incorrect entry of the access code, in step 
210, the system 10 instructs the caller that the access code is invalid, 
and offers the caller to opportunity to re-enter the access code in step 
202. If this is the third incorrect entry of an access code, in step 212, 
the system 10 instructs the caller to check the access code information 
and call again. 
If the access code is entered properly within three attempts, in step 214, 
the caller is prompted to enter the account number of the bill that they 
are paying. In step 216, the system 10 checks the account number for 
validity. The validity check is based on the methodology that the payee 
uses to verify account numbers and will vary according to payee. The 
system 10 will have all of the participating payees verification 
methodologies. This methodology could be a MOD 10 or MOD 11 check digit 
routine with or without a check digit in it's most basic implementation. 
In a more sophisticated environment, the system would have in it's 
database, a list of all the valid account numbers for that particular 
payee, commonly known to those skilled in the art as a "shadow file." 
In step 218 (FIG. 2B), a determination is made as to the validity of the 
account number entered. If the entered account number is not valid, in 
step 220, a determination is made as to whether this is the third 
incorrect entry. If it is not the third incorrect entry, in step 221 (FIG. 
2A), the caller is informed that the entry is invalid and is given an 
opportunity to reenter the account number. If the entry attempt is the 
third invalid attempt, in step 222, the caller is instructed to check 
their information and call again. If a valid account number is entered 
within three attempts, in step 224, the system 10 requests the caller to 
enter the debit card number. 
In step 226, the debit card number is checked for validity. This validity 
check is done via the MOD 10 algorithm that is the basis for debit card 
issuance used by financial institutions. Using this method that is 
commonly used, and familiar to those skilled in the art, gives a great 
level of assurance that the number that was entered by the caller was 
entered properly. In step 228, a determination is made whether the entered 
debit card number is valid. If the entered debit card number is not valid, 
in step 230, a determination is made whether this is the third invalid 
entry. If this is not the third invalid entry, in step 232, the caller is 
instructed of the invalid entry and then, in step 224, is requested to 
enter a debit card number. 
If this is the third invalid entry, in step 234, the system 10 requests the 
caller to check their information and call again. Once a valid debit card 
number is entered within three attempts, in step 236 (FIG. 2C), the caller 
is requested to enter the dollar amount (without a decimal) of the bill to 
be paid. In step 238, the system 10 repeats the entered amount to the 
caller and, in step 240, asks the caller to indicate whether the entry is 
correct by depressing a key on the keypad of the telephone 12. In step 
242, a determination is made whether the caller responded that the entry 
is correct. If the entry is not correct, in step 244, a determination is 
made whether this is the third incorrect entry. If this is not the third 
incorrect entry, in step 236, the caller is requested to enter a new 
dollar amount. If this is the third incorrect entry, in step 246, the 
caller is requested to check their information and call again. 
If the caller enters a correct amount within three attempts, in step 248 
(FIG. 2D), the system 10 initiates a velocity file 14 check. The velocity 
file 14 is an internal file to this invention that restricts the number of 
times that a payor account number can be paid electronically using the 
system 10 over a 30 day period. The numerical value of the velocity file 
is individually selectable by each payee participating in the system 10, 
and will prevent excessive payments from their customers that have the 
potential for fraud. In step 250, if payments are located in the velocity 
file 14 that indicate to the system 10 a violation of the number of 
transactions permitted over a 30 day period by the payee, in step 252, the 
caller is notified that their transaction cannot be processed, due to the 
excessive frequency of usage. If the transaction is within the number 
allowed by the payee over a thirty day period, in step 254, the system 10 
performs the velocity file check on the debit card number that the caller 
entered. 
The numerical value of the debit card velocity file 16 is determined by the 
system 10 based on, but not limited to, historical usage data of all 
payees and payors over a given period of time. This value is variable and 
is achieved generally by multiplying the total number of payees 
participating in the system times the total number of payments allowed by 
each payee over a 30 day period. If the system 10 determines that the 
transaction by the payor exceeds the debit card velocity file criteria, in 
step 256, the caller is notified that the transaction cannot be processed 
due to the frequency of the number of uses of the debit card used to 
process transactions over a thirty day period. 
If the transaction by the payor does not exceed the debit card velocity 
file criteria, in step 258 (FIG. 2E), the system 10 determines whether 
either the payor account number or the debit card number is contained in 
the negative file 18 comprising a database of negative accounts stored on 
the system 10. The purpose of the negative file 18 maintained by the 
system 10 is to prevent debit card numbers and account numbers that have 
been involved in fraudulent transactions from initiating another 
transaction. This file is updated by payees participating in the system by 
written notification to the service. An employee of the service would then 
update the system. 
If the system 10 determines that a match on either payor account number or 
debit card number has been found, in step 260, the caller is informed that 
the transaction cannot be processed. If there is not a match found on the 
negative file 16, then the details of the transaction are summarized to 
the caller verbally on the interactive voice response system in step 262. 
In step 264, the caller is prompted to begin the processing of the 
transaction by pressing one (1) on the telephone keypad, or by pressing 
two (2) on the telephone keypad to abort the transaction. In step 266, the 
system 10 checks the caller's response. If two has been depressed by the 
caller, in step 268, the system 10 thanks the caller and terminates the 
call. 
If one has been depressed by the caller, in step 270 (FIG. 2F), the system 
10 outdials via a normal telephone line to an appropriate debit card 
network, such as the network 20 for processing. A debit card network is a 
third party processor that will process the transaction for a fee, 
providing connectivity to either the financial institution that issued the 
debit card number, or another debit card network that has the capability 
to connect with the financial institution that issued the debit card 
number. 
Those skilled in the art are aware that a debit card network, i.e. Pulse in 
Houston, Tex., MOST in Washington, D.C., Honor in Maitland, Fla., etc., 
process primarily ATM (Automated Teller Machine) transactions, and do not 
rely on the Automated Clearing House (ACH) to process individual 
transactions. In addition to the face value of the bill to be paid, the 
system adds a service charge that the caller will electronically pay for 
use of the convenience of the system. Through the use of the debit card 
network, rather than the ACH, the transaction is positively verified 
against funds on deposit prior to the processing of the transaction. In 
step 272, while the system 10 is outdialing to the debit card network 20, 
the system 20 plays a customized individually recorded marketing message 
for each payee utilizing the system 10, that will promote a Service of the 
payee while the caller is awaiting approval. If the debit card network and 
the subsequent transmission to other debit card networks (if required) 
make the determination that funds are not available in the caller's 
account selected by the debit card number, then the transaction will be 
declined. 
In step 274, the system 10 awaits a reply from the debit card network 20. 
In step 276, the system 10 then makes a determination on the disposition 
of the transaction based on the response received back form the debit card 
network 20. If the response from the debit card network 20 indicates to 
the system 10 a declination, with which those skilled in the art are 
familiar, in step 278, the system 10 informs the caller that the 
transaction was declined by the financial institution that issued their 
debit card number. If the response from the debit card network 20 
indicates an approval, the caller will be verbally informed of the 
approval code in step 280. In step 282, the approved transaction is 
updated in a system transaction log file that will later become the basis 
for the transmission for payment data to each individual payee. The 
transaction log file contains the debit card number, payor account number 
of the bill paid, amount of the bill paid, time/date, and approval code. 
The log file is individually kept for each payee participating in the 
system for later electronic transmission for billing system update. 
In step 284 (FIG. 2G), when a transaction is successfully completed, the 
aforementioned debit card number velocity file that was checked as part of 
the pre-processing procedures is updated to reflect the transaction. In 
step 286, the velocity file for the account number of the bill that was 
paid is updated to reflect the transaction. In step 288, the system 10 
asks the caller if he or she would like to pay another bill by requesting 
the caller to press one (1) to pay another bill, or two (2) to terminate 
the call. In step 290, the system 10 makes a determination as to whether 
the caller would like to make another payment, based on the response 
indicated by the caller. If a one was pressed, the system 10 prompts the 
caller for another access code in step 202 (FIG. 2A). If a two is pressed, 
the system 10 terminates the call in step 292. 
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the settlement process of the present invention. 
After close of the business day, by the debit card network 20, the debit 
card network 20 begins to move the funds electronically; a process with 
which those skilled in the art are familiar. At that point the system 10 
is in a position to transmit the detail of the days transactions to the 
individual payees that will be receiving electronic credits from the debit 
card network 20. The debit card networks transmit only the gross dollar 
amount of funds for crediting to each payee. The system 10 performs the 
actual detail of the electronic transmission of individually paid 
accounts. The system 10 will recognize the time of day by the internal 
clock common to most computer systems, and select the first payee in the 
aforementioned transaction log file. In step 300, the system 10 will 
outdial using an ordinary telephone line into the first payee on the 
system in an effort to connect to the computer billing system 26 (FIG. 
1.1). 
Once a telephonic connection is established, in step 302, the system 10 
begins the process of transmitting the payor account numbers and amounts 
of the bills that were paid since the last settlement period using the 
system 10. This process is known to those skilled in the art as remote job 
entry (RJE), In step 314, the system 10 determines Whether there are other 
files to be transmitted. In step 306, the system 10 outdials the 
appropriate telephone number established in advance to establish a 
telephonic RJE link with the next payee. in step 302, in a manner similar 
to the aforementioned, the transactions that the system 10 performed in 
favor of that particular payee will be transmitted to that payee's 
computer billing system 10. Once all the files have been transmitted, the 
settlement process is terminated in step 308. 
FIG. 4.1 is a flowchart of a payee inquiry process of the present 
invention, which provides a payee with the ability to initiate a telephone 
call into the present invention operating as a third party to the 
transaction, in order that payment information can be discerned in 
conjunction with a touch tone telephone, The process is initiated by a 
payee calling into the system 10. In step 400, the system 400 will ask the 
caller to input a security code, which is assigned to each payee and is 
different for each payee, The input of a proper code will indicate to the 
system which payee payments are to be inquired upon. Without a proper 
code, no inquiry access is permitted. It is important to recognize that 
this system capability is for the payee, and not for the actual payor of 
the bill. This system capability assists in past due collection activity. 
In step 402, the system 10 checks its internal data files to ascertain the 
validity of the code entered. If an improper code is entered, in step 404, 
the system 10 informs the caller that the code is invalid. If the entered 
code matches one that was contained in the system database, in step 406, 
the system 10 requests the caller to enter the account number of the 
customer whose bill is being inquired upon. After the caller enters the 
account number, in step 408, the system attempts to locate it on the 
system database. If the system 10 cannot locate the account number, in 
step 410, the caller is informed that no payment exists for the entered 
account number and is given an opportunity to enter another account number 
in step 406. If the entered account number is located, tin step 412, the 
system 10 informs the caller of the details of the transaction, to wit, 
time, date, amount, and authorization number of the payment, In step 414, 
upon completion of the audio text information, the caller is asked whether 
he or she has another inquiry to perform. If so, in step 406, the system 
10 prompts the caller to enter the account number; otherwise, the system 
10 terminates the call in step 416. 
The crux of this invention is that bill payment transactions have never 
been presented to the debit networks for a real-time authorization 
initiated by the consumer from a touch tone telephone with the debit card 
number used as the transaction vehicle. Additionally, this process has 
never been done without the requirement of a PIN (personal identification 
number) and still maintain an assemblage of transaction security. In the 
TelePay System, when a transaction is entered by a consumer, and 
subsequently passed on to an outside debit card network for authorization, 
a number of things happen. Assuming that the transaction is authorized, 
then any fee that the customer is paying, in addition to the actual bill 
payment, is automatically deducted from the payor's account immediately 
and added to the amount that the debit card network will distribute 
between TelePay and the payee at settlement. The amount of the bill that 
was paid is automatically added to the amount that will be credited to the 
payee at the end of the business day (every payee is required to provide a 
bank account number that will be used to electronically credit the days 
receipts). TelePay's bank account will, in a like manner, be automatically 
credited for the transaction fee. Any network usage fees that have to be 
paid to process the transaction by the use of an debit card network will 
be electronically paid by TelePay to the appropriate service provider. 
Once a day at TelePay's settlement time, each payee participating in the 
system will receive the electronic on-line detail summary of the days 
individual transactions for posting to the consumer's account. 
The following criteria and conditions are part of the TelePay method and 
unique process prior to the acceptance of a debit card number into the 
system in order to ensure a proper transaction has been presented and to 
add a level of usage security. First, a service address (telephone number 
or residential electricity site, etc.) or payee account number can only be 
the recipient of a specific limited number of payments within 30 days that 
is selectable by the funds recipient and a velocity file by account number 
is kept at the TelePay system tracking this limitation. In addition, a 
debit card number can only be used in the TelePay system a specific 
limited number of times based on a recipient of funds selectable parameter 
and current recipient of funds (payee) negative files due to adverse 
experience are added to the TelePay system prior to implementation. 
Still further, any consumer chargebacks will prevent that customer's 
telephone number/electricity service address number and that credit/debit 
card number to have system access. Appropriate additions will be made to 
the negative file unless specific overrides are requested by the funds 
recipient. Also, all transactions will be routed electronically to the 
card issuing entity/network by the TelePay system for positive 
authorization as to card acceptability, credit limit guidelines, payment 
status, balance availability, and any and all criteria that the issuer 
deems appropriate. 
Additionally, the TelePay system will provide records of all declinations 
by card number and by telephone number, electric service account number, 
or payer account number, whichever is appropriate and a check will be done 
on all debit card numbers entered into the TelePay system to ensure that 
the input number is an assigned number within the criteria of the issuing 
entities, as well as on service address account numbers to insure that the 
proper number and sequence of digits have been entered to add an 
additional level of accuracy to the numeric entry process. Moreover, the 
customer will always be given positive audio reinforcement at critical 
steps during the data entry process to assist in the entry of accurate 
information and transaction declinations due to non-sufficient funds will 
be audio referred for the consumer to contact their card issuing 
institution. 
Accordingly, it is clear that the TelePay system is a technologically 
advanced and consumer convenient process. The consumer may use the TelePay 
system to pay bills at will, spontaneously, without any personal 
investment in equipment, and any requirement of pre-registration. The use 
of the TelePay system is not tied to a specific locations, as any touch 
tone telephone will suffice. Use of this unique process will eliminate the 
use of stamps, envelopes, the U.S. Postal Service, and the necessity of 
going to a mailbox. Personal computers and the lack of realistic 
portability are problems that do not exist in the present invention. 
Receipt of payment is also assured and issues of lost in the mail or mail 
delays will no longer exist. Debit cards will now have true utility as 
transaction vehicles in order to electronically present payment as opposed 
to paper checks. Older technology of pre-registration and direct debit 
registration systems will become obsolete. 
It is understood that the present invention can take many forms and 
embodiments. The embodiments shown herein are intended to illustrate 
rather than to limit the invention, it being appreciated that variations 
may be made without departing from the spirit of the scope of the 
invention. For example, it is anticipated that the payor may be an 
individual or an institution, such as a corporation or association. 
Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and 
described, a wide range of modification, change and substitution is 
intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features 
of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of 
the other features, Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended 
claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of 
the invention.