Patent ID: 8412595

Claim:
A computer-based method for tracking a payment lifecycle comprising: associating, by a tracking computer, a radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag with an invoice tracking identifier, wherein the RFID tag is attached to at least one of a customer bill or an envelope containing the customer bill, and wherein the invoice tracking identifier is encoded in an invoice tracking indicator on at least one of the customer bill and the envelope such that the invoice tracking indicator is configured to be detected, wherein the invoice tracking identifier is at least a portion of a payment lifecycle tracking dataset; reading, by the computer in communication with an RFID reader, the RFID tag during a pre-shipping process, wherein the customer bill is contained within the envelope, and wherein the envelope is situated within a plurality of envelopes such that optical scanning of the invoice tracking indicator on the envelope is at least one of impossible or impractical; creating, by the computer and based upon reading the RFID tag, first invoice tracking data; receiving, by the computer, at least a portion of second invoice tracking data from a service provider, wherein the second invoice tracking data is based on detection of the invoice tracking indicator and includes the invoice tracking identifier along with additional information; matching, by the computer, the payment lifecycle tracking dataset with the first invoice tracking data and the second invoice tracking data to create matched tracking data; analyzing, by the computer, a customer bill process based on matched tracking data, wherein the analyzing comprises: determining, by the computer and based upon the matched tracking data, a first time as a date and time the customer bill was delivered to a customer associated with the bill; determining, by the computer and based upon the matched tracking data, a second time as a date and time a remittance was picked up from the customer; calculating, by the computer, a first customer payment statistic in a plurality of customer payment statistics as a difference in the second time and the first time; and modifying, by the computer, the customer bill process based on the first customer payment statistic.