Electronic bill presentment and payment system and method

Abstract

A method and system using a communication network such as the Internet to allow registered users the flexibility to pay a bill by using traditional non-electronic payment methods after receiving an e-mail notification. The e-mail notification contains at least summary information which is formatted in the form of a remittance which can be included with the non-electronic form of payment allowing a user to retain the ability to pay a bill non-electronically while still being electronically notified that the bill is coming due. Additionally, a registered user has the option to pay a bill electronically after receiving the e-mail by clicking on an appropriate web address embedded within that e-mail. The registered user will either be directed to a biller website or a Customer Service Provider (CSP) and/or a Business Service Provider (BSP) website and given the option to pay the bill electronically.

1 . An electronic bill presentment and payment system for providing a billing service to users having user terminals for paying at least one biller, the system comprising:
 at least one storage medium storing instructions and data;   at least one computer processor accessing the at least one storage medium and executing the instructions to perform steps including:
 hosting a website for establishment and administration of user billing data; 
 generating an HTML formatted copy of a bill for at least one user based on the user billing data, and formatting at least a portion of the user billing data in a printable form of a remittance slip; 
 sending data to the user terminals including mobile devices accessing an Internet web browser, the data including billing notifications with at least one embedded URL for the hosted website, at least one of the billing notifications containing, or providing access to, said remittance slip to facilitate a paper-based payment option; 
 authenticating a user when the user selects the at least one embedded URL, and presenting the authenticated user a full billing statement with options for an electronic payment or a paper-based payment; and 
 processing one or more payments as requested by the user. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is authenticated based on at least one of (a) a secure username/pass-word combination and (b) a biometric identification scheme. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the billing notifications comprises an email message. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein said remittance slip is attached to the email message. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one embedded URL provides access to said remittance slip. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user terminals are selected from a group consisting of:
 Intel Pentium-based computers;   Apple Macintosh computers;   palm top computers;   personal digital assistants (PDAs); and   mass market Internet access devices.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to enable the user terminal to present electronically-selectable options between (a) paying a bill electronically and (b) printing said remittance slip and mailing it with a payment. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the website is maintained by the at least one biller. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the website is maintained by a Billing Service Provider (BSP), the BSP performing billing services for the at least one biller. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the BSP is a bank. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the website is maintained by a Customer Service Provider (CSP) the CSP performing billing services for the at least one biller. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the CSP is a bank. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said remittance slip contains at least a name of the at least one biller, a payer or account identifier, an amount due, and a due date. 
     
     
         14 . A method for using an electronic bill presentment and payment system to provide a billing service to users having user devices for paying at least one biller, the method comprising:
 storing instructions and data in at least one storage medium;   accessing the at least one storage medium and executing the instructions using at least one computer processor to perform steps including:
 hosting a website for establishment and administration of user billing data; 
 generating an HTML formatted copy of a bill for at least one user based on the user billing data, and formatting at least a portion of the user billing data in a printable form of a remittance slip; 
 sending data to the user terminals including mobile devices accessing an Internet web browser, the data including billing notifications with at least one embedded URL for the hosted website, at least one of the billing notifications containing, or providing access to, said remittance slip to facilitate a paper-based payment option; 
 authenticating a user when the user selects the at least one embedded URL, and presenting the authenticated user a full billing statement with options for an electronic payment or a paper-based payment; and 
 processing one or more payments as requested by the user. 
   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the user is authenticated based on at least one of (a) a secure username/pass-word combination and (b) a biometric identification scheme. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one of the billing notifications comprises an email message. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said remittance slip is attached to the email message. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one embedded URL provides access to said remittance slip. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the user terminals are selected from a group consisting of:
 Intel Pentium-based computers;   Apple Macintosh computers;   palm top computers;   personal digital assistants (PDAs); and   mass market Internet access devices.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 enabling the user terminal to present electronically-selectable options between (a) paying a bill electronically and (b) printing said remittance slip and mailing it with a payment.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the website is maintained by the at least one biller. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the website is maintained by a Billing Service Provider (BSP), the BSP performing billing services for the at least one biller. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the website is maintained by a Customer Service Provider (CSP) the CSP performing billing services for the at least one biller. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein said remittance slip contains at least a name of the at least one biller, a payer or account identifier, an amount due, and a due date.