Apparatus and methods for providing a payment system over a network

Abstract

Apparatus and methods provide an accumulator that processes electronic payments from an employer to a recipient via a network. The payments processed may be, for example, child support payments collected from an employee by the employer. The employer may submit one transaction made up of payments collected from multiple employees bound for multiple recipients and the accumulator may receive, translate, batch, and deliver the payments to the multiple recipients. The accumulator, employers, and recipients may communicate via a network such as the Internet.

1 - 148 . (canceled) 
     
     
         149 . A method for processing a payment at an accumulator that receives employer information and data about a bank account of the employer via a network, comprising:
 storing the employer information in a database;   storing the data about the bank account of the employer in the database;   submitting a debit against the bank account of the employer via a financial clearinghouse based on instructions received from the employer;   if the debit is not applied successfully against the bank account of the employer at an employer's bank by the financial clearinghouse,
 handling a return received from the financial clearinghouse, the return indicating that the debit was not successful; and 
   if the debit is applied successfully against the bank account of the employer at the employer's bank,
 receiving a credit corresponding to the debit from the financial clearinghouse. 
   
     
     
         150 . The method of  claim 149 , further including:
 receiving a user permission related to the employer information via the network; and   storing the user permission with the employer information in the database.   
     
     
         151 . The method of  claim 149 , further including:
 receiving an update to the employer information via the network; and   storing the update with the employer information in the database.   
     
     
         152 . The method of  claim 149 , further including:
 receiving an update to the data about the bank account of the employer via the network; and   storing the update with the data about the bank account of the employer in the database.   
     
     
         153 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the handling step further includes:
 receiving a query from a user at the accumulator, the query containing data about the return;   retrieving the data about the bank account of the employer corresponding to the query from the database;   receiving a reason for the return from the user at the accumulator;   storing the reason for the return with the data about the bank account of the employer in the database; and   canceling a payment associated with the bank account.   
     
     
         154 . The method of  claim 153 , wherein the handling step further includes:
 disabling at least one bank account for any other employers linked to the bank account of the employer.   
     
     
         155 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the employer information includes at least one of: employer account number, federal employee identification number, employer name, employer address, primary user name, primary user phone number, primary user ID, and primary user e-mail address. 
     
     
         156 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the data about the bank account of the employer includes at least one of: routing number, bank name, account number, account type, maximum daily withdrawal, and default bank indicator. 
     
     
         157 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the receiving step further includes:
 collecting credits corresponding to a plurality of employers into a credit batch;   generating credit batch data; and   sending the credit batch to the intermediary.   
     
     
         158 . The method of  claim 157 , wherein the credit batch data includes at least one of: batch number, effective date, creation date, batch status, bank account type, credit bank information, number of employers, number of payments, file creation date, file send date, and total credit amount. 
     
     
         159 . The method of  claim 157 , further including:
 generating a summary report of the credits in the credit batch.   
     
     
         160 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the submitting further includes:
 collecting debits corresponding to a plurality of employers into a debit batch;   generating debit batch data; and   sending the debit batch to the bank account of the employer at the employer's bank via the financial clearinghouse.   
     
     
         161 . The method of  claim 160 , wherein the debit batch data includes at least one of: batch number, effective date, creation date, batch status, batch stage, bank account type, bank information, number of employers, number of payments, file creation date, file send date, and total debit amount. 
     
     
         162 . The method of  claim 160 , further including:
 generating a summary report of the debits in the debit batch.   
     
     
         163 . The method of  claim 149 , further including:
 generating a report of the debit applied against the bank account of the employer.   
     
     
         164 . The method of  claim 149 , further including:
 generating a report of the credit processed to the intermediary.   
     
     
         165 . The method of  claim 149 , further including:
 generating a report of the return received from the financial clearinghouse.   
     
     
         166 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the network is the Internet. 
     
     
         167 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the network is an intranet. 
     
     
         168 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the network is a wireless network. 
     
     
         169 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the network is a wired network. 
     
     
         170 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the network is a virtual private network. 
     
     
         171 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the instructions received from the employer relate to a child support payment. 
     
     
         172 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the debit is submitted using debit-based electronic funds transfer. 
     
     
         173 . The method of  claim 149 , wherein the credit is processed using addendum-based electronic data interchange. 
     
     
         174 . A system for processing a payment at an accumulator that receives employer information and data about a bank account of the employer via a network, comprising:
 a first storing component configured to store the employer information in a database;   a second storing component configured to store the data about the bank account of the employer in the database;   a submitting component configured to submit a debit against the bank account of the employer via a financial clearinghouse based on instructions received from the employer;   a handling component configured to handle a return received from the financial clearinghouse, the return indicating that the debit was not successful, if the debit is not applied successfully against the bank account of the employer at an employer's bank by the financial clearinghouse; and   a first receiving component configured to receive a credit corresponding to the debit from the financial clearinghouse, if the debit is applied successfully against the bank account of the employer at the employer's bank.   
     
     
         175 . The system of  claim 174 , further including:
 a second receiving component configured to a user permission related to the employer information via the network; and   a third storing component configured to store the user permission with the employer information in the database.   
     
     
         176 . The system of  claim 174 , further including:
 a third receiving component configured to receive an update to the employer information via the network; and   a fourth storing component configured to store the update with the employer information in the database.   
     
     
         177 . The system of  claim 174 , further including:
 a fourth receiving component configured to receive an update to the data about the bank account of the employer via the network; and   a fifth storing component configured to store the update with the data about the bank account of the employer in the database.   
     
     
         178 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the handling component further includes:
 a sixth receiving component configured to receive a query from a user at the accumulator, the query containing data about the return;   a retrieving component configured to retrieve the data about the bank account of the employer corresponding to the query from the database;   a seventh receiving component configured to receive a reason for the return from the user at the accumulator;   a sixth storing component configured to store the reason for the return with the data about the bank account of the employer in the database; and   a canceling component configured to cancel a payment associated with the bank account.   
     
     
         179 . The system of  claim 178 , wherein the handling component further includes:
 a disabling component configured to disable at least one bank account for any other employers linked to the bank account of the employer.   
     
     
         180 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the employer information includes at least one of: employer account number, federal employee identification number, employer name, employer address, primary user name, primary user phone number, primary user ID, and primary user e-mail address. 
     
     
         181 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the data about the bank account of the employer includes at least one of: routing number, bank name, account number, account type, maximum daily withdrawal, and default bank indicator. 
     
     
         182 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the first receiving component further includes:
 a collecting component configured to collect credits corresponding to a plurality of employers into a credit batch;   a first generating component configured to generate credit batch data; and   a first sending component configured to send the credit batch to the intermediary.   
     
     
         183 . The system of  claim 182 , wherein the credit batch data includes at least one of: batch number, effective date, creation date, batch status, bank account type, credit bank information, number of employers, number of payments, file creation date, file send date, and total credit amount. 
     
     
         184 . The system of  claim 182 , further including:
 a second generating component configured to generate a summary report of the credits in the credit batch.   
     
     
         185 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the submitting component further includes:
 a collecting component configured to collect debits corresponding to a plurality of employers into a debit batch;   a third generating component configured to generate debit batch data; and   a second sending component configured to send the debit batch to the bank account of the employer at the employer's bank via the financial clearinghouse.   
     
     
         186 . The system of  claim 185 , wherein the debit batch data includes at least one of: batch number, effective date, creation date, batch status, batch stage, bank account type, bank information, number of employers, number of payments, file creation date, file send date, and total debit amount. 
     
     
         187 . The system of  claim 185 , further including:
 a fourth generating component configured to generate a summary report of the debits in the debit batch.   
     
     
         188 . The system of  claim 174 , further including:
 a fifth generating component configured to generate a report of the debit applied against the bank account of the employer.   
     
     
         189 . The system of  claim 174 , further including:
 a sixth generating component configured to generate a report of the credit processed to the intermediary.   
     
     
         190 . The system of  claim 174 , further including:
 a seventh generating component configured to generate a report of the return received from the financial clearinghouse.   
     
     
         191 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the network is the Internet. 
     
     
         192 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the network is an intranet. 
     
     
         193 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the network is a wireless network. 
     
     
         194 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the network is a wired network. 
     
     
         195 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the network is a virtual private network. 
     
     
         196 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the instructions received from the employer relate to a child support payment. 
     
     
         197 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the debit is submitted using debit-based electronic funds transfer. 
     
     
         198 . The system of  claim 174 , wherein the credit is processed using addendum-based electronic data interchange. 
     
     
         199 . A computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for processing a payment at an accumulator that receives employer information and data about a bank account of the employer via a network, the computer readable code comprising:
 a first storing module configured to store the employer information in a database;   a second storing module configured to store the data about the bank account of the employer in the database;   a submitting module configured to submit a debit against the bank account of the employer via a financial clearinghouse based on instructions received from the employer;   a handling module configured to handle a return received from the financial clearinghouse, the return indicating that the debit was not successful, if the debit is not applied successfully against the bank account of the employer at an employer's bank by the financial clearinghouse; and   a receiving module configured to receive a credit corresponding to the debit from the financial clearinghouse, if the debit is applied successfully against the bank account of the employer at the employer's bank.   
     
     
         200 . A system for processing a payment at an accumulator that receives employer information and data about a bank account of the employer via a network, comprising:
 means for storing the employer information in a database;   means for storing the data about the bank account of the employer in the database;   means for submitting a debit against the bank account of the employer via a financial clearinghouse based on instructions received from the employer;   means for handling a return received from the financial clearinghouse, the return indicating that the debit was not successful, if the debit is not applied successfully against the bank account of the employer at an employer's bank by the financial clearinghouse; and   means for receiving a credit corresponding to the debit from the financial clearinghouse, if the debit is applied successfully against the bank account of the employer at the employer's bank.   
     
     
         201 - 266 . (canceled)