Card-Funded Bill Payment Concierge Service Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automated bill payment systems face challenges in efficiently managing card-based payments, particularly in updating card accounts and transferring funds, which can lead to manual labor and increased costs for billers, while also not providing seamless customer experiences.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for card-funded bill payment that includes receiving customer requests, collecting and updating card account information, monitoring card accounts for biller activity, and facilitating fund transfers through a concierge service, utilizing a computer processor and communications network to automate the process and provide notifications for abnormal bill amounts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated bill payment systems are implemented, then payment efficiency is improved, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a payment facilitator as an intermediary entity that mediates between the customer and the biller. This facilitator handles the complexity of card-based payments, account monitoring, and fund transfers, thereby simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining automated payment efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The payment system is segmented into distinct functional components: the customer's card account, the biller's account, and the payment facilitator. This segmentation allows each component to operate independently with well-defined interfaces, reducing system complexity while enabling automated payments.
2Ease of operation
If manual card account updates are performed, then customer service flexibility is improved, but labor costs and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The payment facilitator continuously monitors the customer's card account and automatically detects updates or changes. This feedback mechanism eliminates the need for manual account updates while maintaining flexibility, as the system automatically adapts to account changes and notifies relevant parties.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service through automated monitoring and detection of card account changes. The payment facilitator autonomously tracks account updates without requiring manual intervention, thereby reducing processing time while maintaining operational flexibility.
3Reliability
If card-based payments are implemented, then payment security is improved, but fund transfer complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The payment facilitator serves as a secure intermediary that handles all fund transfer operations between the customer's card account and the biller. This centralizes the complexity of secure fund transfers within a single trusted entity, maintaining payment security while managing transfer complexity.
4Measurement precision
If automated monitoring of card accounts is implemented, then payment accuracy is improved, but system resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The automated monitoring system uses feedback mechanisms to detect changes in card accounts only when necessary. Rather than continuously processing all transactions, the system monitors for specific events or changes, thereby maintaining payment accuracy while optimizing resource consumption through event-driven processing.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for facilitating a card-based bill payment service for a customer of a biller may include (1) receiving a request from the customer to initiate the card-based bill payment service; (2) collecting customer information, the customer information including at least customer account information with the biller and card account information; (3) providing the customer information to the biller over a communications network; and (4) using a computer processor, monitoring the customer's card account for biller activity. A method for facilitating a change from an existing card account to a new card account in a bill payment service for the customer of a biller may include (1) receiving a request to update card information for the bill payment service; (2) receiving the new card account information; (3) providing the existing card account information and new card account information to the biller over a communications network; and (4) using a computer processor, monitoring the customer's new card account for biller activity. A method for transferring funds from an issuer to a biller may include (1) issuing a card to a customer, the card associated with a card account; (2) receiving a invoice for a charge from the biller to the customer; (3) posting the invoice to the customer's card account; and (4) transferring funds related to the invoice to the biller by one of electronic funds transfer and check.