Patent ID: 6856974

Claim:
A electronic bill presentment system, comprising: a network; a plurality of first stations, each associated with a respective one of a plurality of users and operable to transmit first requests for bills of its associated user via the network; a central network station configured to receive the transmitted first requests for bills and to transmit, responsive to each of the received first requests, bill availability information for the associated user via the network, wherein each of the plurality of first stations is configured to receive the transmitted bill availability information for its associated user and is operable to transmit second requests for bills of its associated user via the network; and a plurality of second network stations, each associated with a respective one of a plurality of billers, configured to receive the transmitted second requests for bills and to transmit, responsive thereto, the requested bills of the associated user via the network; wherein the bill availability information for the associated user identifies those of the plurality of billers having a bill available for that user without identifying an amount of the bill of each of the identified billers for the associated user.