System and method for facilitating the handling of a dispute using disparate architectures

1. A system for facilitating handling of a post-transactional credit account dispute comprising:

a log-in for accepting and authenticating log-in information from a user;

an inbox for providing an electronic inbox to each user of the system, wherein the inbox allows a user to view and access all forms relating to credit account disputes to which the user has access;

a storage device having a plurality of pre-existing dispute handling forms stored thereon, the forms having pre-defined content capable of being viewed and field-populated by the workstations, wherein the forms include initiator forms arranged in an initiator form selection and responder forms arranged in a responder form selection; and

a first server in communication with the log-in, inbox, and storage device of the system as well as with a first workstation capable of receiving commands from a dispute-resolution initiator and a second workstation capable of receiving commands from a dispute-resolution responder, the initiator and the responder being users of the system,

wherein each form that is field-populated by one of the workstations is accepted for processing only if it identifies the post-transactional credit account dispute, the initiator, and the responder, and

wherein a field-populated initiator form is made available to the responder via an inbox corresponding to the responder and a field-populated responder form is made available to the initiator via an inbox corresponding to the initiator.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the initiator forms comprise a Retrieval Request, a First Chargeback and a Final Chargeback, and the responder forms comprise a Fulfillment and a Second Presentment.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said dispute-resolution initiator comprises one of an Issuer and a cardmember and said dispute-resolution responder comprises one of an Acquirer and a service establishment.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said first server comprises a central server communicating with the first and second workstations via the World Wide Web, and wherein the forms are provided to the initiator and responder for data entry via webpages.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a second server wherein said first server is coupled to said the first workstation and said second server is coupled to the second workstation.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising an external resolver in communication with said servers, said external resolver facilitating routing of information between said servers.

7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising a discovery mechanism providing interfaces for said servers to locate said external resolver.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein said discovery mechanism provides suitable Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

9. The system of claim 1 comprising a business-to-business architecture.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a first infrastructure in communication with the first workstation and a second infrastructure in communication with the second workstation, wherein said infrastructures provide interfacing capabilities.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein digitally-represented supporting documentation is attached to a dispute handling form.

12. A method executed in a network computer system for facilitating handling of a post-transactional credit account dispute, the network computer system having a central server, a first client system related to a dispute-resolution initiator, and a second client system related to a dispute-resolution responder, the method comprising:

providing, via the central server, the first client system access to a plurality of pre-existing dispute handling forms that have pre-defined content and are capable of being field-populated by the first client system;

accepting a first field-populated dispute handling form from the first client system, wherein the form identifies a post-transactional credit account dispute, the initiator, and the responder;

transmitting the first form to an electronic inbox corresponding to the responder and stored on the central server, thereby initiating resolution of the post-transactional credit account dispute;

providing, via the central server, the second client system access to the first form via the electronic inbox corresponding to the responder;

providing, via the central server, the second client system access to a second plurality of pre-existing dispute handling forms that have pre-defined content and are capable of being field-populated by the second client system; and

accepting a second field-populated dispute handling form from the second client system, wherein the form relates to the credit account dispute and constitutes a response to the first form;

transmitting the second form to an electronic inbox corresponding to the initiator and stored on the central server; and

providing, via the central server, the first client system access to the second form via the electronic inbox corresponding to the initiator.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the dispute-resolution initiator comprises said one of an Issuer and a cardmember and the dispute-resolution responder comprises one of an Acquirer and a service establishment.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein said transmitting comprises Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein said transmitting occurs via a business-to-business architecture.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein said transmitting occurs via an external resolver architecture such that the first client system includes a first server and the second client system includes a second server.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein digitally-represented supporting documentation is attached to a dispute handling form.