Abstract:
An enrollment control system for activating and deactivating enrollment of beneficiaries of a first entity in a service program, such as a bill pay service program, of a second entity. The system requests information from the second entity identifying beneficiaries enrolled in the program and the timing of services provided to the beneficiaries. A request is sent to the second entity to deactivate enrollment of beneficiaries who have not received services within a dormancy threshold time. Advantageously, no enrollment charges are incurred by the first entity for dormant beneficiaries not recently availing themselves of the second entity&#39;s services. Optionally, the system can monitor unfulfilled service requests and remove the corresponding beneficiaries from the deactivation request to avoid deactivating enrollment of a customer needing services. Further, the system detects new requests made by beneficiaries for services from the first entity and requests reactivation of the beneficiaries&#39; accounts by the second entity.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is related to systems, methods and computer program products for enrolling customers into service programs by third party providers, and more particularly systems, methods and computer program products for the enrollment of customers in bill pay service programs. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Bill payment services, especially bill pay services associated with online banking, have been experiencing increasing popularity in recent years. Banking and other financial institutions are therefore under pressure to provide bill pay services to remain competitive. 
     An example of a bill pay system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,292,789 to Shutzer (“Schutzer”). Schutzer describes an electronic bill presentment system that permits billers to send bills to the consumers using the system and permits consumers to receive bills from all of the billers using the system. However, providing such services requires costly investment in the hardware, software, personnel and other capital facilities necessary to implement bill pay services. 
     As an alternative to purchasing, or otherwise directly implementing a bill pay system, financial institutions often seek the assistance of a third-party bill pay service provider having its own bill pay system. Customers who log onto the financial institution&#39;s online bill pay site interact with the financial institution as if it were the bill pay provider. However, the financial institution has actually enrolled the customers into a bill pay program implemented by the third-party bill pay service provider. Therefore, the financial institution&#39;s use of a third-party bill pay service provider is transparent to the customer. 
     Subsequent to enrollment, bill payment requests by the customers are compiled periodically and forwarded electronically, along with the funds necessary for payment, to the bill pay provider. The bill pay provider then pays each of the bills as instructed, forwarding bill payment information and the funds to the billing organization either electronically or through conventional mail. The bill pay provider is typically compensated for its services based on the number of customers currently enrolled in its program. 
     Despite the cost-savings realized from using third-party bill pay service providers, the ongoing costs of enrolling a large amount of customers can still be relatively high. Therefore, financial institutions having their own bill pay service have somewhat of a competitive cost advantage over the long term. As a result, further cost reductions in the cost of providing bill pay services and, in particular, third-party bill pay service are desired by financial institutions. 
     Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a system for providing bill pay services to a banking institution without the banking institution having to make significant upfront investments in bill pay service facilities. In addition, it would be advantageous if the system were more cost-efficient than current systems using third-party bill pay service providers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above needs are addressed, and other advantages achieved, by providing a dynamic enrollment control system, method and computer program product for selectively activating and deactivating enrollment of a plurality of beneficiaries of a first entity in a service program, such as a bill pay service program, of a second entity. The system, method and computer program product is capable of identifying the last time services were provided to each of the enrolled beneficiaries and of comparing the elapsed time to a dormancy threshold. The system, method and computer program product requests deactivation of enrollment of the dormant beneficiaries by the second entity. In this manner, no enrollment charges are incurred by the first entity for dormant beneficiaries not recently availing themselves of the second entity&#39;s services. Optionally, the system, method and computer program product may be capable of monitoring unfulfilled service requests and removing the corresponding beneficiaries from the deactivation request to avoid deactivating enrollment of a customer about to need the services. Further, the system, method and computer program product may be capable of detecting new requests made by beneficiaries for services from the first entity and of requesting reactivation of the beneficiaries&#39; accounts by the second entity. Advantageously, the system, method and computer program product performs the deactivation and reactivation in a manner that is transparent to the beneficiaries. 
     In one embodiment, the present invention includes a dynamic enrollment control system for selectively activating and deactivating enrollment of a plurality of beneficiaries of a first entity in a service program of a second entity. Included in the dynamic enrollment control system is a service program monitoring system that is connected in electronic communication with the second entity. The service program monitoring system is capable of requesting and receiving provided services information from the second entity. Described by the provided services information are the beneficiaries who are currently enrolled in the program and a most recent date of the services provided by the second entity to the enrolled beneficiaries. 
     Also included in the dynamic enrollment control system is a dormancy determination system connected in communication with the service program monitoring system. The dormancy determination system is capable of determining an elapsed time between a present date and the most recent date of service provided to each of the beneficiaries described in the provided services information. Further, the dormancy determination system is capable of comparing the elapsed time to a dormancy threshold time to determine which of the beneficiaries have not been provided services within the dormancy threshold time. These beneficiaries are then compiled in a dormant customer file. 
     A service request activity monitoring system is connected in electronic communication with the first entity. From the first entity, the service request activity monitoring system is capable of requesting and receiving service request activity information describing each of the beneficiaries that have made service requests that have not yet been fulfilled by the second entity. 
     The dynamic enrollment control system also includes a deactivation system connected in electronic communication with the second entity, the dormancy determination system and the service request activity monitoring system. The deactivation system is capable of compiling deactivation request information by removing the beneficiaries described in the service request activity information from the beneficiaries described in the dormant customer information. In addition, the deactivation system is capable of sending the deactivation request information to the second entity for deactivation of the beneficiaries described therein from the service program. 
     Optionally, the dynamic enrollment control system may also include a reactivation system connected in electronic communication with the second entity, the service program monitoring system and the service request activity monitoring system. The reactivation system is capable of compiling reactivation request information by removing the currently enrolled beneficiaries described in the provided services information from the beneficiaries described in the service request activity information. In addition, the reactivation system is capable of sending the reactivation request information to the second entity for enrollment of the beneficiaries described therein in the service program. 
     As another option, the dynamic enrollment control system may include an error determination system connected in communication with the second entity. The error determination system is capable of requesting and receiving from the second entity enrollment rejection information describing the beneficiaries from the reactivation request information that the second entity failed to enroll in the service program. In addition, the error determination system is further capable of manually enrolling the beneficiaries from the enrollment rejection information. In yet another aspect, the error determination system may be capable of withholding verification of fulfillment of the service requests made by the beneficiaries with rejected enrollment until after successful enrollment of the beneficiaries. 
     As another option, the dynamic enrollment control system may also include an initial deactivation system connected in electronic communication with the second entity and the dormancy determination system. The initial deactivation system is capable of sending the dormant customer information directly to the second entity for deactivation of all of the beneficiaries described therein from the service program. Preferably, the initial deactivation system operates only a single time upon startup of the dynamic enrollment control system. 
     Comparable methods and computer programs products are also provided according to other aspects of the present invention. Regardless of the expression as a system, method and computer program product, the present invention has many advantages. For instance, the dynamic enrollment control system, method and computer program product deactivates the enrollment of customers not actively using the bill pay system which reduces the costs of operation for the financial institution. In addition, the reactivation system ensures that any pending bill payment requests logged with the financial institution are fulfilled by reactivating the requesting customer&#39;s enrollment. Such reactivations are performed on a relatively short cycle, e.g., daily, so that the dynamic enrollment control system, method and computer program product is relatively transparent to the customers. In other words, the delay in fulfillment of the bill pay request is no longer for the deactivated customer than for the currently enrolled customer. The error handling system ensures that all of the deactivated customers that are not successfully reactivated by the reactivation system are manually reactivated almost immediately and that bill payment is not erroneously verified before the bill payment request is successfully submitted to the bill payment system. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic of a dynamic enrollment control system of one embodiment of the present invention interacting with an online banking system and a bill payment system; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of an initial deactivation phase and a recurrent deactivation phase of a dynamic enrollment control method of another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of a reactivation phase and error handling phase of the dynamic enrollment control method partially illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the dynamic enrollment control system of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
     A system  10  for dynamic control of enrollment in a services program is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The dynamic enrollment control system is shown as being part of a enrollment control entity  11  and is connected in communication via one or more networks  12  with a financial institution  13  and a bill pay service provider  14 . Connected over the network  12  to the financial institution for the purpose of using online banking services are one or more customers  15 . Generally, the dynamic enrollment control system  10  acts as an intermediary between the financial institution  13  and the bill pay service provider  14  by activating or deactivating enrollment of various customers  15  in the bill pay services program operated by the bill pay service provider  14  depending upon the timing of bill pay services usage by the customers. Although the enrollment control entity is depicted separately from the financial institution, the enrollment control entity may be subsumed within the financial institution in one embodiment. 
     Although the embodiment illustrated herein describes the use of the dynamic enrollment control system  10  to control enrollment in bill pay services, the system is also applicable to other service programs. For instance, an employer could use the dynamic enrollment control system to control enrollment of its employees in a parking services program based on usage of a parking lot by each of its employees. Other examples include enrollment in gym memberships, cleaning services, airline mileage programs, etc. 
     Therefore, it should be recognized that the dynamic enrollment control system  10  can be adapted for use in any situation where it is beneficial for a first entity having the responsibility or desire to obtain services for a beneficiary (e.g., customer, employee or student), to control enrollment of the beneficiary in a service program of a second entity. The term “service” and “services” as used herein should also be considered to further include provision of goods and/or the services that accompany such goods. For instance, a program for supplying and installing spare parts in an automobile. 
     The term “entity” as used herein should be construed broadly as including any corporation, person, company, firm, etc., capable of performing the functions described herein. Although the exemplary first and second entities in the illustrated embodiments are separate corporations, namely the financial institution  13  and the bill pay service provider  14 , the entities could also be closely affiliated or commonly owned. For instance, the entities could be different internal departments of a single corporation wherein one of the entities is using the services of another one of the entities to supply some goods or services to a beneficiary. 
     It should be also noted that the term “network” as used herein should be construed broadly to include all types of electronically assisted communication such as wireless networks, local area networks, wide area networks, public networks such as the Internet, public telephone networks, or various combinations of different networks. 
     Various figures of the present application include block diagrams, flowcharts and control flow illustrations of methods, systems and program products according to the invention. It will be understood that each block or step of the block diagram, flowchart and control flow illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagram, flowchart and control flow illustration, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto, or otherwise executable by, a computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the block diagram, flowchart or control flow block(s) or step(s). 
     These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the block diagram, flowchart or control flow block(s) or step(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the block diagram, flowchart or control flow block(s) or step(s). 
     Accordingly, blocks or steps of the block diagram, flowchart or control flow illustration support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block or step of the block diagram, flowchart or control flow illustration, and combinations of blocks or steps in the block diagram, flowchart or control flow illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the financial institution  13  includes an online banking system  16  and a plurality of accounts  17  associated with each customer  15 . For instance, each customer may have one or more types of account such as checking, savings, credit or brokerage accounts. Typically, bill pay services are associated with a checking account from which electronic or paper checks are distributed to various billing entities. Such accounts, of course, need not hold physical things and can be an electronic representation of credits and debits which results in a balance for which the financial institution  13  is obligated to pay upon request of the customer  15 . 
     Regardless, the online banking system  16  has access to the accounts  17  (as is indicated by the dashed line extending therebetween) that facilitates provision of bill payment services, as well as conventional online banking services. Included in the online banking system  16  are an account information system  18 , a transfer system  19  and a bill payment system  20 . The account information system  18  is capable of determining and communicating debits, credits, balances, account numbers, interest rates and other information to the customer  15  over the network  12 . For instance, in the case of an Internet accessible banking system  16 , the customer  15  logs onto a secure web site operated by a server or other computer system of the banking system and is shown the balances and account numbers for each of his accounts  17 . 
     The transfer system  19  is capable of conducting transactions between the accounts  17  which are under the control of the financial institution  13 . For instance, one of the accounts  17  may be a credit line with a negative balance and another one of the accounts a checking account. The customer desiring to pay the balance on the credit line enters the appropriate information (account numbers, amount, etc.) over the Internet into a transfer web page hosted by the transfer system  19 . Typically, such transfers occur almost instantly because the accounts  17  are kept track of by the same computer system. Then, the customer  15  can view the reduced negative balance of the credit line and reduced positive balance of the checking account by consulting account information system  18 . 
     The online banking system  16  can have other systems which are not described herein due to their conventional nature and could include such systems as an equity trading system, a loan application system, etc. The descriptions of the account information system  18  and transfer system  19  are largely included herein for illustrative purposes and to provide context for operation of the present invention. Of course the account information system and transfer system would be more relevant if the information and transfer services were provided via enrollment in a services program of a second entity. 
     More particular to the illustrated embodiment of the dynamic enrollment control system  10  of the present invention is the bill payment request system  20 . Preferably, the bill payment request system  20  is also accessible by the customer  15  via the network  12  (e.g., the Internet) as part of the overall online banking system  16  as is indicated by the dashed line between customer and the online banking system. When accessed, the bill payment request system  20  typically provides the customer  15  with a list of options for directing payment to one or more billing entities  21  in amounts and at times selectable by the customer. Associated with most payments is a delay time from which the bill payment, or other service request, is entered by the customer  15  and the bill payment service is actually rendered. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the bill pay service provider  14  operates a bill payment system  22  that includes an enrollment system  23 , an electronic payment system  24  and a conventional payment system  25 . The electronic payment system and conventional payment system operate in the alternative, the electronic payment system when the billing entity  21  accepts electronic payment and the conventional payment system when the billing entity does not accept electronic payment and instead accepts conventional paper-based payments. The enrollment system  23  includes a database with information on each of the enrolled customers  15 , including a transaction history for each of the customers. For instance, the enrollment system  23  may include a list of each of the currently enrolled customers  15  of the financial institution  13  along with a date of the customer&#39;s most recently fulfilled bill pay request. 
     Each time the customer  15  requests payment of a bill, such as a bill submitted electronically via one of the networks  12  to the customers&#39; online banking account, the bill payment request is forwarded (typically in a batch of other bill payment requests via one of the networks  12 ) by the financial institution  13  to the bill pay service provider  14 . Alternatively, the bill payment requests could be routed through the dynamic enrollment control system  10  to the bill pay service provider  14 . 
     Upon receipt of the bill pay request, the bill payment service provider  14  confirms enrollment of the customer by consulting a database within the enrollment system  23 . If the billing entity  21  accepts electronic payment, the electronic payment system  24  sends an electronic draft that can be posted to the financial institution  13  or makes an actual electronic transfer of funds via a secure network  12 . If the billing entity  21  is not equipped to receive electronic payment, the conventional payment system  25  prints out a check or draft  26  and mails it to the billing entity  21 . 
     Accompanying each bill payment request, is an electronic transfer of funds to the bill pay service provider over a secure network, as is indicated by the solid line on  FIG. 1 . The transfer of funds can occur immediately, or can be sent at a future time, for instance as part of a daily bulk transfer of funds with information on the amounts allocated for each a single day&#39;s bill payment requests. As an alternative to the funds being sent through the bill pay service provider  14 , the bill pay service provider can simply send the electronic or paper draft  26  that enables the billing entity  21  to obtain the funds directly from the financial institution  13 . 
     Also after each bill pay request, the financial institution  13  debits one of the customer&#39;s account  17  for the amount of the bill being paid. Debiting of the customer&#39;s account is typically performed before the funds are sent to the bill pay service provider  14 , or the funds are escrowed in anticipation of presentation of an electronic or paper draft by the billing entity  21 . In this manner, the financial institution  13  ensures that the necessary funds are available for fulfilling the bill payment request. 
     The dynamic enrollment control system  10  of the illustrated embodiment is connected in electronic communication (as is indicated by the dashed lines) via the networks  12  to the online banking system  16  and the bill payment system  22  of the bill pay service provider  14 . Included in the online banking system  16  are several primary systems including an initial deactivation system  27 , a recurrent deactivation system  28 , a reactivation system  29  and an error handling system  30 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . Other systems including a service program activity monitoring system  31 , a dormancy determination system  32  and a service request activity monitoring system  33  are also included and operate in conjunction with the primary systems to selectively activate and deactivate enrollment of the customers  15 . 
     The service program monitoring system  31  is configured to request and receive a bill pay master file  34  from the enrollment system  23  of the bill pay service provider  14 , as is shown in another embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 . In the bill pay master file  34  is provided services information on the currently enrolled customers  15  and the various bill pay services rendered to each of the currently enrolled customers by the bill pay service provider  14 . 
     Connected in communication with the service program monitoring system  31  is the dormancy determination system  32 . The dormancy determination system is capable of obtaining the bill pay master file  34  and of extracting information on each of the currently enrolled customers  15  and their latest requested and/or fulfilled bill pay transaction. For instance, the bill pay master file  34  could be obtained over the network  12  using file transfer protocol (FTP). 
     The dormancy determination system  32  can determine an elapsed time since the last transaction for each of the customers  15  by subtracting the last transaction date culled from the bill pay master file  34  from a present date extracted from a clock (not shown) of the system  10 . In addition, the dormancy determination system  32  has program logic for comparing one or more dormancy thresholds against the elapsed time of each of the customers  15 . 
     Alternatively, the dormancy determination system  32  may have logic that subtracts the dormancy threshold from the current date to determine a cutoff date (which in itself becomes a threshold) against which the date of each customer&#39;s transaction is compared. Those customers  15  wherein the elapsed time since the last transaction is greater than the threshold are dormant customers. The dormancy determination system also includes logic for generating a dormant customer file  35  describing the dormant customers, as is shown in the embodiment of  FIG. 2 . 
     The dormancy threshold can be any amount of time including days, weeks, or even longer, and is preferably selected to separate customers  15  likely to use the service periodically from customers that are only one-time or sporadic users. Therefore, depending upon the service for which the dynamic enrollment control system is being used, tendencies of the customers, tolerability of the bill pay service provider  14  to requests for activation and deactivation of enrollment, and other factors, the dormancy threshold can be adjusted as desired. In addition, the dormancy threshold may be modified depending upon whether an initial deactivation is being conducted, or a recurrent deactivation is being conducted. 
     It should also be noted that the dormancy determination system  32  can conduct more complex comparisons wherein either the dormancy threshold can be modified depending upon various factors specific to individual customers. For instance, the dormancy threshold could be adjusted (or time credited or deducted from the elapsed time) to account for statistical tendencies of customers belonging to groups having a certain income level, age, gender or deposit amount in one of the accounts  17 . In another example, adjustments can be made to the threshold based on the past bill payment request history of the customer  15 . For instance, if a threshold time is originally a month, and the customer has had to be re-enrolled every other month for a bimonthly bill payment request, the threshold could be increased to two months. 
     The service request activity monitoring system  33  is connected in communication, such as via the network  12 , with the online banking system  16 , and in particular the bill payment request system  20 . The service request activity monitoring system  33  is capable of requesting and receiving (such as by using FTP) a bill pay request file  36  from the bill payment request system  20 . The bill pay request file  36  includes information on the pending service request activities of each of the customers  15  of the financial institution  13 . Preferably, the service request activity monitoring system  33  is capable of obtaining the bill pay request file on a daily basis so as to capture daily bill pay requests for reasons which will be explained below. 
     The initial deactivation system  27  is connected in communication with the dormancy determination system  32  and with the enrollment system  23  of the bill pay service provider  14 . The initial deactivation system is capable of receiving the dormant customer file  25  from the dormancy determination system  32  and forwarding the dormant customer file to the enrollment system  23  (such as via FTP) in an initial deactivation request. 
     Also, the initial deactivation system  27  may include logic that senses startup of the dynamic enrollment control system  10  for a particular financial institution  13 . In response to sensing the startup, the initial deactivation system  27  is preferably configured to send the dormant customer file  25  to the enrollment system  23  for an initial, blanket deactivation for all customers only a single time. After the initial deactivation request is sent, the initial deactivation system  27  is configured to cede control of enrollment deactivations to the recurrent deactivation system  28 . Preferably, initial deactivation occurs on a weekend or an off day so that pending bill payment requests are not overly delayed before the reactivation system can reactivate the customers having pending bill payment requests the next day. 
     The recurrent deactivation system  28  is connected in communication with the dormancy determination system  32 , the service request monitoring activity monitoring system  33  and the enrollment system  23  of the bill pay service provider  14 . The recurrent deactivation system is capable of receiving the dormant customer file  25  from the dormancy determination system  32  and the bill pay request file  36  from the service request activity monitoring system  33 . 
     In addition, the recurrent deactivation system  28  includes logic capable of comparing the customers  15  listed in the dormant customer file  25  to the bill pay request file  36 . Such a comparison allows the recurrent deactivation system  28  to determine which of the prospective customers for enrollment deactivation have requested bill payment services of the bill payment request system  20  wherein the service requests have not yet been fulfilled by the bill payment system  22 . The recurrent deactivation system  28  is further configured to eliminate the customers  15  with pending bill pay requests from the customers listed in the dormant customer file  25  so as to create a recurrent deactivation file  37 . 
     Once the recurrent deactivation file is created, the recurrent deactivation system  28  is configured to send the recurrent deactivation file (such as via FTP) to the enrollment system  23  of the bill pay service provider  14 . The enrollment system is capable of using the recurrent deactivation file  37  to deactivate enrollment of the customers indicated therein. 
     The reactivation system  29  can obtain the bill pay request file  36  from the service request activity monitoring system  33  and the bill pay master file  34  from the service program monitoring system  31 . In addition, the reactivation system  29  includes logic capable of comparing the currently enrolled customers  15  from the bill pay master file  34  to the customers listed in the bill pay request file  36  as requesting bill pay services that have not yet been fulfilled. 
     The reactivation system  29  is configured to create a reactivation file  36  describing customers with pending bill pay requests from the bill pay request file  36  that are not listed as being currently enrolled in the bill pay program by the bill pay master file  34 . In addition, the reactivation system  29  is connected in communication with the enrollment system  23  of the bill pay service provider  14  and can send the reactivation file  36  as part of a reactivation request to the enrollment system, such as via the network  12  using FTP. Upon receipt of the reactivation file  36 , the enrollment system  23  reactivates the enrollment of the customers listed therein. 
     Preferably, the reactivation system  29  is configured to operate on a daily cycle so that pending bill payment requests do not take excessively long to fill. Longer delays could lead to customer dissatisfaction and possible late payment of bills if the customer is not forewarned of a minimum delay. However, other cycle times could be used to ensure faster reactivation, such as in a case where bill payment requests are batched multiple times per day, or slower reactivation, such as in a case where all bills are held for a single monthly billing payment. Typically, however, the reactivation system is configured such that the reactivation process is transparent to the customer. In other words, the customer is unaware of the deactivation and subsequent reactivation of the bill payment services. 
     The error handling system  30  is connected in communication with the enrollment system  23  over the network  12  and is capable of receiving a reactivation request rejection file  39 . The rejection file describes the customers  15  from the reactivation file  38  that the enrollment system  23  failed to reactivate. Failure could occur for reasons such as the enrollment system is undergoing maintenance or is otherwise offline or malfunction. In another example, some of the data describing the customers in the reactivation file could be improperly formatted. Upon notification of the rejections, personnel of the error handling system  30  can log directly onto the enrollment system  23  to manually activate the each of the rejected customers. In addition, the error handling system  30  can remove the bill pay request that resulted in the attempt at reactivation from a payment verification file of that day and place it in the next day&#39;s payment verification file. In this manner, the error handling system ensures that the customer is not falsely informed that the bill payment services have been rendered and the bill has been paid. 
     Optionally, the error handling system  30  could be completely automated. For instance, the customers from the rejection file  39  could be added again to the reactivation file  38  and submitted directly, or through the reactivation system  29 , to the enrollment system  23 . Another failure could result in manual intervention, or use of some generally more robust automatic process for reactivating enrollment. 
     During operation, the dynamic enrollment control system  10  of the illustrated embodiment can potentially include four phases of operation which may, or may not operate simultaneously, or in a particular order. In particular, the dynamic enrollment control system may have an initial deactivation phase  101 , a recurrent deactivation phase  102 , a reactivation phase  103  and an error handling phase  104 , as is shown in the flow charts of  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     During the initial deactivation phase  101 , service program monitoring system  31  obtains the bill pay master file  34 , preferably electronically over the network  12  via FTP, from the enrollment system  23 . As above, the bill pay master file  34  describes the currently enrolled customers  15  and the bill pay services recently provided to each of the customers by the bill pay service provider  14 . The dormancy determination system  32  identifies  105  dormant customers, such as by calculating an elapsed time between a present date and the latest date of services rendered from the bill pay master file  34  and comparing the elapsed time to a dormancy threshold time. 
     Customers  15  having a latest transaction with an elapsed time exceeding the threshold time are added to the dormant customer file  35 . The dormant customer file is formatted (if necessary) and transmitted  106 , preferably via FTP over the network  12 , by the initial deactivation system  27  to the enrollment system  23  of the bill pay service provider  14 . Customers in the dormant customer file  35  then have their enrollment deactivated  107  by the enrollment system  23 . As noted above, the initial deactivation phase  101  preferably occurs only a single time upon startup of the dynamic enrollment control system  10  after which recurring deactivation  102  begins. 
     In the recurring deactivation phase  102 , the service request activity monitoring system  33  obtains the bill pay request file  36 , preferably electronically over the network  12  via FTP, from the bill payment request system  20  of the financial institution  13 . The recurrent deactivation system  28  eliminates  108  matching customers  15  from the dormant customer file  35  to create a recurrent deactivation file  37 . Then, the recurrent deactivation system  28  formats (if necessary) and sends  109 , preferably electronically over the network  12  using FTP, the recurrent deactivation file  37  to the enrollment system  23 . The enrollment system then deactivates  107  the enrolment of the customers described in the deactivation file  37 . 
     In the reactivation phase  103 , the bill pay request file  36  is obtained periodically (preferably daily) from the service request activity monitoring system  33  and the bill pay master file  34  is obtained periodically (also preferably daily) from the service program monitoring system  31 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The reactivation system  29  extracts a list of currently enrolled customers from the bill pay master file  34  and eliminates the enrolled customers from the bill pay request file  36 . 
     The remaining customers  15  in the bill pay request file are checked  110  for unfulfilled bill payment requests (e.g., payment requests not yet sent to and executed by the bill payment system  22 ). The customers  15  with pending bill payment requests are placed in the reactivation file  38  and sent  115  to the enrollment system  23  of the bill pay service provider  14 , preferably electronically over the network  12  via FTP. The enrollment system  23  then reactivates the customers  15  with pending bill payment requests so that the pending bill payment requests can be performed by the bill pay service provider  14 . 
     In the error handling phase  104 , the error handling system  30  obtains the reactivation request rejection file  39  from the enrollment system  23 , preferably electronically such as via FTP over the network  12 . If no rejections are found  111 , the financial institution  13  is released to await another cycle of deactivation  102  or reactivation  103 . If rejections are found, bill pay processing is stopped  112  and an operations department of the enrollment system  23  is contacted  116 , such as by logging onto a secure Internet site of the enrollment system. The rejected customer&#39;s enrollment is then manually reactivated  113  and bill pay processing is released  114  to complete the bill payment request. 
     A dynamic enrollment control system  10  of another embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 4 . The dynamic enrollment control system  10  includes a processor  50  that communicates with other elements within the dynamic enrollment control system via a system interface or bus  51 . Also included in the dynamic enrollment control system  10  is a display device/input device  52  for receiving and displaying data. The display device/input device may be, for example, a keypad or pointing device that is used in combination with a display screen. The dynamic enrollment control system  10  further includes memory  53 , which preferably includes both read only memory (ROM)  54  and random access memory (RAM)  55 . The ROM  54  is used to store a basic input/output system (BIOS)  56 , containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the dynamic enrollment control system  10 . 
     In addition, dynamic enrollment control system  10  includes at least one storage device  57 , such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, or optical disk drive, for storing information on various computer-readable media, such as a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, or a CD-ROM drive, or optical disk drive, for storing information on various computer-readable media, such as a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, or a CD-ROM disk. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, each of these storage devices  57  is connected to the system bus  51  by an appropriate interface. The storage devices  57  and their associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage for the dynamic enrollment control system  10 . It is important to note that the computer-readable media described above could be replaced by any other type of computer readable media known in the art. Such media include, for example, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, and Bernoulli cartridges. 
     A number of program modules may be stored by the various storage devices, such as within RAM  55  (as shown in  FIG. 4 ) or within the storage device  57  (as not shown for clarity). Such program modules include an operating system  58 , an initial deactivation module  59 , a recurrent deactivation module  60 , a reactivation module  61 , and error handling module  70 , a service activity monitor module  62 , a dormancy determination module  63  and a service request monitor module  64 . The modules control certain aspects of the operation of the dynamic enrollment control system  10 , as is described above, with the assistance of the processor  50  and the operating system  58 . While described as separate modules, these functions may, instead, be integrated. 
     Also located within the dynamic enrollment control system  10 , is a system interface  65  for interfacing and communicating with other elements of the bill payment system  22  of the financial institution  13  and the online banking system  16  of the bill pay service provider  14 . It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that one or more of the dynamic enrollment control system&#39;s components may be located geographically remotely from other dynamic enrollment control system components. Furthermore, one or more of the components may be combined, and additional components performing functions described herein may be included in the dynamic enrollment control system. 
     The present invention has many advantages. For instance, the dynamic enrollment control system, method and computer program product  10  deactivates the enrollment of customers  15  not actively using the bill pay system  22  which reduces the costs of operation for the financial institution  13 . In addition, the reactivation system  29  ensures that any pending bill payment requests logged with the financial institution are fulfilled by reactivating the requesting customer&#39;s enrollment. Such reactivations are performed on a relatively short cycle, e.g., daily, so that the dynamic enrollment control system, method and computer program product  10  is relatively transparent to the customers  15 . In other words, the delay in fulfillment of the bill pay request is no longer for the deactivated customer than for the currently enrolled customer. The error handling system  30  ensures that all of the deactivated customers that are not successfully reactivated by the reactivation system  29  are manually reactivated almost immediately and that bill payment is not erroneously verified before the bill payment request is successfully submitted to the bill payment system  22 . 
     Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.