Electronic deferred check writing system

Abstract

A method and system for electronic deferred check processing is disclosed. A processing center receives an account identifier and a plurality of deferred payment amounts. The deferred payment amounts may be specified in a check, which can be digitized and electronically transmitted for further processing. The account identifier is correlated to a purchaser checking account. The deferred payment amounts are transferred to a merchant account in accordance with one of a plurality of predefined merchant transfer schedules, and each transfer may have a fee associated therewith that is deductable from the deferred payment amounts. The funds corresponding to the deferred payment amounts are also transferred from the purchaser checking account according to a predefined deduction schedule.

1 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A method for processing finance payments from a purchaser to a merchant in a transaction, the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving data for a plurality of financial instruments from a purchaser on a terminal, each of the financial instruments being dated identically and including a monetary value representing a fractional payment of the transaction;   receiving an approval status for the transaction on the terminal based upon an evaluation of a financial account of the purchaser;   transferring funds for a total monetary value of the transaction to the merchant from a processor account upon acknowledgement of the approval status by a remote processing center computer system; and   transferring funds from the financial account of the purchaser to the processor account at intervals set and initiated by the remote processing center computer system, each transfer of funds corresponding to a monetary value for a one of the plurality of financial instruments and being made on a date different from the date of the financial instrument.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 invoicing the merchant for service charges based upon the total monetary value of the transaction.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 transmitting the data for the financial instruments to the remote processing center computer system.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the processor account is associated with the remote processing center. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 transmitting data of a security agreement to the remote processing center computer system, the security agreement being separate from the financial instruments and defining the intervals at which the funds from the financial account of the purchaser are deducted.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the step of transferring funds to the processor account includes originating an automated clearing house (ACH) debit against the financial account of the purchaser. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the step of deducting funds from the financial account of the purchaser includes transmitting the data for the financial instruments to an institution associated with the processor account for settlement. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the step of transferring funds to the merchant includes originating an ACH credit thereto. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein:
 the financial instruments are checks; and   the data for the financial instruments represents an image of the checks.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the intervals are at least 30 days apart. 
     
     
         34 . A method for processing finance payments from a purchaser to a merchant in a transaction, the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving on a merchant terminal device images of a plurality of financial instruments each including a monetary value and at least one identifier associated with a financial account of the purchaser, the monetary value of a first one of the plurality of financial instruments being different from the monetary value of each of the other ones of the plurality of financial instruments;   receiving an approval status for the transaction on the merchant terminal device, the approval status evaluation being based upon the account identifier on the financial instruments;   transferring to the merchant from a processor account funds corresponding to the total monetary value of each of the financial instruments upon acknowledgement of the approval status by a remote processing center computer system; and   deducting funds from the financial account of the purchaser to credit the processor account at prescheduled intervals as initiated by the remote processing center computer system, an amount corresponding to the monetary value of a sequential one of the financial instruments being deducted at each interval.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 invoicing the merchant for service charges based upon the total monetary value of each of the financial instruments.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 transmitting the images to the remote processing center computer system.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the step of deducting funds from the purchaser includes originating an automated clearing house (ACH) debit against the financial account of the purchaser. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 transmitting an image of a security agreement to the remote processing center computer system, the security agreement being separate from the financial instruments and defining the prescheduled intervals at which the funds from the financial account of the purchaser are deducted;   wherein the approval status for the transaction is based upon the security agreement.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the step of deducting funds from the financial account of the purchaser includes transmitting the images of the financial instruments to an institution associated with the processor account for settlement. 
     
     
         40 . A method for deferred processing of checks, comprising the steps of:
 receiving a plurality of images of the checks from a merchant terminal;   deriving on a processing center computer system an identifier of a purchaser account and an installment payment amount from each of the images of the checks;   directing from the processing center computer system a transfer of the installment payment amounts to a merchant account in accordance with one of a plurality of predefined transfer schedules each having a service charge associated therewith; and   directing from the processing center computer system a deduction of funds from the purchaser account corresponding to the installment payment amounts in the checks according to a deduction schedule set independently of the predefined transfer schedules.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein:
 a first one of the plurality of predefined transfer schedules is the immediate transfer of the entirety of all of the installment payment amounts to the merchant account; and   a second one of the plurality of predefined transfer schedules is the delayed transfer of one or more of the installment payment amounts at set intervals correlated to the predefined deduction schedule.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein the service charge associated with the first one of the plurality of predefined transfer schedules is higher than the service charge associated with the second one of the plurality of predefined transfer schedules. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the step of directing the deduction of funds from the purchaser checking account includes originating an automated clearing house ACH debit thereto. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the step of directing the transfer of funds to the merchant account includes originating an ACH credit thereto.