Internet payment systerm and method

Abstract

A payment method and system use electronic media and in particular the Internet to allow a secure and trusted exchange of money, to broaden the choices of users and allow merchants to receive payment using means other than credit cards and digital cash, to reduce the cost of electronic transactions for both user and merchant and to allow users to make payment for multiple merchants using a single account. The system also referred to as the Internet Debit Manager (IDM) provides flexible payment handling and supports payment flow from the bank to the service provider to the merchant or directly from the bank to the merchant. The system allows consumers to shop online and at the time of checkout to select direct payment from account as the payment option.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A system for Internet payment comprising: 
 a service layer including a presentation view, a merchant interface, and a payment interface;    a process layer including business logic and data conversion modules; and    a business component layer including user authentication, transaction processing, payment manager, business-to-business interface and sales tools modules.    
     
     
         2 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the presentation view includes a connection for a graphical user interface.  
     
     
         3 . A system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the presentation view includes merchant and service provider administration modules.  
     
     
         4 . A system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the presentation view includes a customer wallet module for monitoring a customer account.  
     
     
         5 . A system as claimed in  claim 4  wherein the customer wallet module includes an interface for allocating funds to outstanding bills  
     
     
         6 . A system as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the presentation view includes merchant settlement.  
     
     
         7 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the merchant interface includes a merchant interface API.  
     
     
         8 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the merchant interface includes a business-to-business (b2b) interface.  
     
     
         9 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the payment manager includes a debit manager.  
     
     
         10 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the payment manager includes a account settlement module.  
     
     
         11 . A system as claimed in  claim 10  wherein the account settlement module includes means for allocating payment to bills on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis.  
     
     
         12 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the payment manager includes a messaging manager.  
     
     
         13 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the payment manager includes a billing manager.  
     
     
         14 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein business-to-business interface includes a configuration manager.  
     
     
         15 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein business-to-business interface includes a scheduler.  
     
     
         16 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein business-to-business interface includes a secure transfer module.  
     
     
         17 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the payment interface includes means for accepting an electronic feed in various formats.  
     
     
         18 . A system as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the presentation view includes an interface for creating accounts.  
     
     
         19 . A system as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the presentation view includes an interface for importing accounts.  
     
     
         20 . A system as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the presentation view includes an interface for creating coupons.  
     
     
         21 . A system as claimed in  claim 10  wherein the account settlement includes means for processing of coupons.  
     
     
         22 . An Internet payment method comprising the steps of: 
 a. Creating user and merchant accounts;    b. Receiving from a user a selection of web banking as a payment option;    c. Creating and sending an electronic bill for the user representing a user account and a merchant account;    d. Receiving a transfer of electronic data from a banking institution, in response to a payment request by the user;    e. Parsing of electronic data received;    f. Updating a database using the parsed data;    g. Settling the user account;    h. Settling the merchant account; and    i. Sending confirmations of payments to both user and merchant.    
     
     
         23 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the step of setting up an Internet payment service provider as a payment receiver with banking institutions.  
     
     
         24 . A method as claimed in  claim 23  wherein the step of creating a merchant account includes the step of setting up a merchant account within the payment service provider.  
     
     
         25 . A method as claimed in  claim 24  wherein the step of creating accounts includes assigning unique identification numbers for each account.  
     
     
         26 . A method as claimed in  claim 24  wherein the step of creating merchant accounts includes providing dynamic submit forms for each merchant used for selling goods and services.  
     
     
         27 . A method as claimed in  claim 24  wherein the step of creating merchant accounts include providing a reporting tool for each organization to allow them to oversee their accounts.  
     
     
         28 . A method as claimed in  claim 24  wherein the step of creating user accounts includes setting up user accounts.  
     
     
         29 . A method as claimed in  claim 24  wherein the step of creating user accounts includes creating unique user id to log into the Internet payment service provider site.  
     
     
         30 . A method as claimed in  claim 24  wherein the step of creating user accounts includes setting up user accounts.  
     
     
         31 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the steps of tracking issuance of a coupon, mapping the coupon to the invoice and wherein the steps of settling merchant and user accounts in dependence upon a value assigned to the coupon.  
     
     
         32 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  wherein the step of creating an electronic bill includes the steps of defining a schedule for recurring billing, creating and sending an electronic bill in accordance with the schedule.  
     
     
         33 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the steps of determining if a user account is overdue, determining any terms of sale applied to overdue accounts and apply the terms of sale to the overdue account to generate a reminder bill.  
     
     
         34 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  wherein any one of the steps of sending and receiving employ wireless communication.  
     
     
         35 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the step of setting up a service provider as a payment receiver.  
     
     
         36 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the step of setting up a merchant as a payment receiver.  
     
     
         37 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the step of receiving payment for a pre-approved account.  
     
     
         38 . A method as claimed in  claim 37  further comprising the step of embedding the pre-populated account in electronic media.  
     
     
         39 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the step of accepting purchase information from a wireless device.  
     
     
         40 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the step of a consumer completing payment from wireless device.  
     
     
         41 . A method as claimed in  claim 22  further comprising the step of accessing the consumer wallet from a wireless device.