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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a system and method for automated
remittance of payments from consumers to vendors and an associated
remittance document. A billing service provider or vendor obtains
pre-authorization from consumers to initiate electronic funds transfer
transactions upon the provider's or vendor's receipt and verification of
remittance documents from the consumers.
2. Description of the Background Art
For numerous reasons (such as lack of expertise or lack of computer
facilities), many goods and services vendors find the process of billing
their consumers to be a cost ineffective endeavor. Therefore, vendors
frequently have billing service providers handle the billing process,
including preparation of statements for the consumers, collection of
funds, generation of reports, and similar duties. Even with these services
the collecting and transferring of funds from the consumers to the vendors
has required wasted time and costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,975 discloses an identifying card and a system of
employing these cards for transferring funds upon consumers' requests.
This system is directed to security problems associated with the transfer
of funds.
Described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,014 is a simple data input apparatus
including a magnetic card reader. This patent is not immediately related
to the subject invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,034 relates a high security pay television system in
which the usage is accumulated at a central point for later billing.
Included is a removable memory module for return to the billing facility.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,747 is a postage and mailing information
applying system. Encrypted messages containing postage fees are applied to
pieces of mail for high speed authentication.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,675 illustrates a method of collecting response data
from direct mail advertising. The effectiveness of the advertising is
determined by analyzing the returned documents with a master file. In
contrast to the subject invention, no funds are transferred and no
consumer pre-authorizations are involved in this process. Similarly, both
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,760,532 and 4,760,534 disclose a mailing system with both
postage value transfer and accounting capabilities, but these are related
to keeping track of postage and not involved with the pre-authorized
electronic transfer of funds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,354 relates a system for controlling the supply of
utility services to consumers. Little, if any, overlap with the subject
invention exists. An actuator card is inserted by the consumer into a
device to initiate the desired services and to facilitate billing.
Various mailers have been disclosed in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No.
1,946,751 discloses a bank check postcard folder. The folder allows a
company to mail a check to a party by using the same name and address as
appears on the actual check. A statement of the account may be included.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,160 describes a negotiable instrument
mailing device that allows the recipient to use the same mailer, refolded,
to return the requested information.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,977,597 and 4,706,877 relate to one piece, two-way mailer.
The return stub portion in '597 is detached and inserted into a mailer,
the refolded original mailer, with the payment and posted. For the '877
patent, the return stub is inserted into a return mailer that is prepared
by the consumer by pealing off the original address label to expose a new
pre-printed address.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,093,117 and 4,502,713 disclose postal forms suitable for
mailing messages, bills, advertisements, and similar information to
consumers. An internal slide card is provided with the '117 disclosure. To
read the information supplied by the form, the consumer snaps the slide
card out of the envelope. The form provided in the '713 patent is designed
to eliminate difficulties arising from the contact of glue with printing
equipment.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,109 is a coded document and document
reading system. This invention is designed to facilitate the reading of
documents with markable areas and having coded pattern signatures. Once
the document is scanned by a video camera and the image stored, the
position within the stored pixel data of each of the markable locations on
the card document is determined by analyzing the identifying signatures.
This system permits the location of the markable areas regardless of the
physical orientation of the document card.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to present an improved system and
method for electronically transferring funds from a consumer to a vendor.
Another object of the present invention is to produce an improved
remittance system that is rapid, automated, and applicable to large
numbers of vendors and consumers by a billing service provider employing
the invention.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an electronic funds
transfer system and method that limits a vendor's or billing service
provider's access to electronically transferred funds to transactions
initiated by consumers physically mailing a remittance document to
activate the transfer.
An additional object of the present invention is to furnish an automated
remittance system and method that results in consumers' payment funds
being available to vendors within an acceptably short period of time.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a remittance
device that serves to inform the consumer of the charges due and to
trigger the electronic funds transfer when an associated remittance
document is returned to the vendor or billing service provider.
The subject invention, an automated remittance system, comprises a computer
means that controls the electronic transfer of funds from consumers'
depository accounts to vendors' depository accounts as directed by an
overseeing billing service provider. A billing service provider (or
vendor) employs a system programmed computer means having vendor data base
files and consumer payment transaction data base files that are
periodically updated to maintain currency. Consumers have, prior to the
first billing for services or goods, authorized the billing service
provider (or vendor) to electronically transfer funds from their
designated depository accounts into appropriate vendors' depository
accounts upon the billing service provider's receipt and verification of a
remittance document. The remittance document is encoded by the computer
means with consumer specific unique current billing indicium that is
readable by an automated scanning device at the billing service provider's
facility. The information gathered by scanning the remittance documents
and transmitting to the computer means comprises the current consumer
payment transaction disposition data. Data bases are updated with this
current consumer payment transaction disposition data. The funds transfer
transaction is processed by the computer means and the electronic funds
transfer initiating information sent to appropriate consumers'
depositories.
The remittance document of the subject invention is a mailing device
pre-addressed to the billing service provider and encoded with consumer
unique current billing indicium. Upon automatic reading by the billing
service provider, the remittance document serves to trigger the electronic
transfer of funds.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will
become apparent from the detailed description that follows, when
considered in conjunction with the associated drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the subject invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The subject invention system is for the rapid electronic transfer of funds
from a consumer's depository account into a vendor's depository account.
Although the subject invention is described generally in terms of a
billing service provider handling the billing process, contracted with by
a vendor, this is for illustrative purposes only and the subject invention
is employed equally well by individual vendors for their consumers.
Further, this system is applicable to sales, rentals, and leases of goods
and services or similar transactions and exchanges between two or more
parties. For illustrative example, a billing service provider for cable
television vendors might employ this system for billing each of its
vendors' consumers.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a flow chart of a preferred
embodiment of the automated remittance system and method of the subject
invention. The billing service provider acts as a central processing
facility for billing consumers of vendor clients. A computer means 1 is
programmed to control the functions of the subject system by standard
procedures well known in the art. Any commercially available computers
with capabilities adaptable to the subject system are contemplated, as
well as newly designed computers or modified existing computers.
Preferably, the computer means comprises at least two separate, but
communicating, computers. A first computer to control the overall
operation of the system, including storage means for data base files and
means for maintaining the currency of these data base files, and a second
computer that directs the statement generating process and the production
of the consumer bills are contemplated by this disclosure. It is
understood that when the term computer is employed in this disclosure, it
includes a plurality of computers that function together as an operational
unit.
Consumers are introduced to the subject invention automated remittance
system by literature distributed by either the vendors or preferably the
billing service provider. Accompanying the informational materials are
approval cards 2. Also, direct telephone or personal contact with the
consumers, followed by mailed approval cards 2 is contemplated by this
disclosure. The consumer completed approval cards 2, signifying consumer
pre-authorization for a funds transfer transaction, are returned to the
vendor or billing service provider, preferably the billing service
provider. The approval cards 2 acknowledge that, at individual consumer
initiated times, the billing service provider (or vendor) is to
electronically transfer funds into appropriate vendors' (or vendor's)
accounts.
Consumer payment transaction data base files 1a are generated by the
computer means 1, or preferably the first computer configured for this
service, from the returned approval cards 2 and stored for further action.
These consumer payment transaction files 1a contain unique information for
vendor associated consumers (since a billing service provider may have
many vendors each consumer needs to be associated with the appropriate
vendor) such as; consumers' identifying codes and addresses, vendors'
identification data, identification data and account numbers for both
consumers' and associated vendors' depositories (banks or similar
facilities), consumers' depository account numbers, electronic funds
transfer information, goods or services rendered, amounts due, and similar
data.
Vendor data base files 1b are generated by the computer means 1. These
files 1b contain data (such as debit and credit transactions) relating to
the consumers' payment records and are periodically updated. Once the
computer means 1 has created this data base 1b, depending upon the
particular requirements of a vendor, the data base 1b could be stored at
locations other than the billing service provider's facilities. A vendor
may request that the vendor data base files 1b be transmitted to computer
means other than the billing service provider's computer means (first or
second computers) and be stored at the vendor's own place of business or
with an independent data storage provider.
At vendor agreed to times, the computer means 1, or preferably by a
dedicated (computing and statement producing means) second computer,
initiates the billing process 3. Consumer payment transaction data base
files la are employed in this process to generate vendor associated
consumer bills 4. When the bills are generated, the consumer payment
transaction data base files la are updated, preferably nightly, to reflect
the current billing conditions.
The bill 4 or remittance device is generally one of two types, but similar
variations would be obvious to one skilled in the art. Option 1 4a is a
bill 4 comprising a plurality of separate forms, preferably two forms. In
the preferred two form bill 4, one form is a standard statement for debits
and credits and any messages, advertisements, or similar information. The
second form is a remittance document or consumer pre-authorized funds
transferal document encoded with unique current billing indicium
containing information obtained from the updated consumer payment
transaction data base files la. When more than these two forms are present
in the preferred bill 4, the other forms are separate fliers for
advertisements or other informational literature.
The remittance document is of any suitable size, for convenient automated
processing and mailing, from common stationary or business document
proportions to preferably postcard dimensions. The remittance document has
front and back sides. The remittance document is either a form returnable
within a windowed envelope provided in the original bill mailer or,
alternatively, it is returned directly, if it is supplied to the consumer
in the form of a postcard. Either the postcard like remittance document or
the remittance document with relevant information detectable through a
window in the return envelope is pre-addressed for mail return to the
vendor or the billing service provider. The postage for the remittance
document can be either directly provided by the consumers or prepaid
through the billing process 3. The unique current billing indicium and
vendor's or billing service provider's address are printed on either side
of the remittance document, preferably both are printed on the same side.
The encoded information, the unique current billing indicium, is readable
by automatically scanning either the remittance document directly, if the
postcard like remittance document is used, or the remittance document
through a window in the return envelope with an indicium sensitive device.
Preferably, the indicium is in the form of a bar code and the scanning
device is a bar code reader.
Option 2 4b is a bill 4 or remittance device comprising combined, but
separable by tearing or cutting, statement document, remittance document,
and other informational materials. Preferably the bill 4 or remittance
device comprises a combined, but separable, statement document and
remittance document. As with Option 1 4a, the remittance document of
Option 2 4b is appropriately sized for either postcard like return or
windowed envelope return, two sided, pre-addressed, possibly with postage
prepaid, and encoded with machine readable unique current billing indicium
readable directly or through the window in the return envelope. Any like
combination of Option 1 4a with Option 2 4b would be obvious to one
skilled in the art.
Regardless of the option (Option 1 4a, Option 2 4b, or a similar
combination of the two) selected for a particular billing, each remittance
document has appropriate areas, lines, boxes, domains, or similar regions
for necessary consumer fill-in responses or disposition action markings. A
consumer must note (by checking a box on the remittance document, by
signing on a line on the remittance document, or by other similar action)
acceptance of the statement fees. If the consumer disagrees with the
statement values (such as the amount owed, the services rendered, or
similar events or quantities), this too must be noted in an appropriate
manner (box checking or like action) on the face of the remittance
document. These notations or disposition action markings, like the unique
indicium, are machine readable for automated scanning. In the case of a
remittance document that is to be returned within an envelope, the
envelope has at least one window exposing the acceptance action and the
indicium.
Once the bills 4 are prepared, they are mailed 5 to the consumers for
action. If satisfying conditions are fulfilled, the return of the
remittance document 6 (from either bill 4 option) to the billing service
provider triggers or initiates the electronic transfer of funds. To
determine the disposition action, satisfying conditions during
verification 8, of the remittance documents they are automatically scanned
7 by a device capable of reading the encoded current billing indicium and
disposition action markings, preferably by a bar code reader scanning the
remittance documents for unique bar codes and disposition action markings.
The remittance document's indicium, preferably a bar code, is scanned for
verification 8 against the unique current billing indicium in the consumer
payment transaction data base files la to establish the authenticity of
the remittance document. The verification 8 process (or matching process)
results in electronic signals being sent from the computer means 1,
preferably the first computer, to the automated processing machine that
processes the remittance documents.
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