Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Accounting
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-27
2001-12-25
Millin, V. (Department: 2164)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Accounting
C705S040000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06334116
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to distributed data networks and, more particularly, to a distributed data accessing technique.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are two prevalent models for electronic bill presentment that are currently used in industry. The first is an aggregation model
10
, which is shown in FIG.
1
. In its simplest form, the aggregation model
10
includes a customer
12
, an aggregator
14
, and a plurality of billers
16
. The customer
12
can be, for example, an individual person, a family, or a business. The aggregator
14
can be a financial institution (FI) such as, for example, a bank. Alternatively, the aggregator
14
can be a separate entity which acts of behalf of a sponsor
18
, which can also be an FI such as a bank. Each biller
16
can be of any billing institution type such as, for example, a local telephone company, a local electric company, a retail outlet, or a national long distance telephone company.
Each biller
16
provides customer-related invoice data to the aggregator
14
. The aggregator
14
serves as an intermediary between each biller
16
and the customer
12
by providing bill presentment directly to the customer
12
, potentially on behalf of the sponsor
18
.
There are two variants of the aggregation model
10
resulting from the ownership, or “branding”, of the presentation experience and the communication channel between the aggregator
14
and the customer
12
. In one variant, the aggregator
14
may offer aggregator-branding, thus totally owning both the presentation experience and the communication channel between the aggregator
14
and the customer
12
. In the other variant, the aggregator
14
may offer sponsor-branding, thus staying “behind the scenes” in terms of the presentation experience and supporting the communication channel between the aggregator
14
and the customer
12
on behalf of the sponsor
18
.
The second prevalent model for electronic bill presentment is a biller direct model
20
, which is shown in FIG.
2
. In its simplest form, the biller direct model
20
includes a customer
12
and at least one biller
16
. In the biller direct model
20
, each biller
16
retains the customer-related invoice data and the full relationship with the customer
12
(i.e., the presentation experience and the communication channel). The customer
12
may have software for providing a capability similar to Web browser bookmarking so as to allow easy navigation between billers, and thus some level of virtual aggregation. However, there is no actual aggregation such as with the aggregator
14
of the aggregation model
10
described above.
The above-described models present a dichotomy between a sponsor-centric view and a biller-centric view of bill presentment. That is, the aggregation model
10
allows the aggregator
14
and/or the sponsor
18
to use customer-related invoice data, bill presentment, and the communication channel between the aggregator
14
and the customer
12
for cross-selling or other peripheral services. The biller direct model
20
, on the other hand, insures that control of customer-related invoice data, bill presentment, and the communication channel between the biller
16
and the customer
12
remains with the biller
16
.
Also, neither of the above-described models adopt a truly customer-centric view. That is, neither of the above-described models allow a customer
12
to interact directly with individual billers
16
while retaining the benefits of interacting with a single aggregator
14
such as, for example, the ability to retain a single authentication and log-in procedure and a common bill presentation framework. Further, neither of the above-described models allow a customer
12
to retain the benefits of interacting with a single aggregator
14
while allowing the aggregator
14
, billers
16
, and sponsor
18
to retain certain preferences such as, for example, the ability to retain control of customer-related data and a communication channel with each customer
12
. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a distributed data accessing technique which addresses the above-mentioned shortcomings of the above-described models.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a distributed data accessing technique that allows a customer to interact directly with individual billers while retaining the benefits of interacting with a single aggregator.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a distributed data accessing technique that allows a customer to retain the benefits of interacting with a single aggregator while allowing the aggregator, billers, and sponsor to retain control of customer-related data and a communication channel with each customer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a distributed data accessing technique that allows complete flexibility as to who is offering bill presentment: billers only, aggregator only (possibly on behalf of one or more sponsors), or some combination of the above.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a distributed data accessing technique that supports an end-to-end audit trail from the initial stages of bill presentment to the final stages of bill payment, which can serve a variety of purposes, including improved customer care.
The above-stated objects, as well as other objects, features, and advantages, of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description which is to be read in conjunction with the appended drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a distributed data accessing technique is provided. The technique can be realized by storing, at a first network station, information identifying data which is available at a second network station. The first network station can be, for example, an electronic payment and customer service entity. The second network station can be, for example, a billing entity such as a utility company. The information identifying the data that is available at the second network station can be, for example, information which indicates that a bill is available at the second network station.
A signal is generated at the first network station. The signal represents the information identifying the available data and linking information to the second network station. The linking information can be, for example, a web site address along with some additional parameters.
The signal is transmitted to a third network station. The third network station can be, for example, a user entity such as a personal computer. The transmitted linking information is operable at the third network station to establish a network link over which the identified available data is transmittable from the second network station to the third network station. That is, the third network station can invoke the linking information so as to create, for example, a link to the web site of a utility company.
The signal is typically generated in response to a request for data. Such a request can include an identification of a user so that the user can be authenticated. The signal is then generated after the user is authenticated. The request is typically received from the third network station. The request, as well as any other events that occur between the various network stations, can be logged at the first network station. The logged events can then be accessed by an entity located outside of the network such as, for example, a centralized customer service center.
The identified available data is typically stored at the second network station. However, the identified available data can be provided to the second network station by an entity located outside of the network. Such an outside entity could be, for example, a legacy billing system or an established billing aggregator.
The first network station can receive a notification that the identified available data was transmitted from the second network station to the third network station. The identified available dat
Dreyer Hans Daniel
Ganesan Ravi
Harris Mark Todd
Wolfe Kathryn Randall
Akers Geoffrey
Checkfree Corporation
Millin V.
Stadnicki Alfred
LandOfFree
Technique for centrally tracking transactions in an... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Technique for centrally tracking transactions in an..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Technique for centrally tracking transactions in an... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2592205