METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS
A system for processing credit card payments is provided. According to one aspect of the system, a client is able to submit payment transactions in different formats for processing. Depending on the submission format, the payment transaction can be processed by either a batch process or a right-time process. The right-time process processes the payment transaction in real-time upon submission thereby allowing the corresponding credit account to be updated in a more timely manner. In particular, the right-time process adjusts the available credit relative to the corresponding credit account in a real-time manner so that the available credit closely tracks or reflects payments made to the credit account.
1 - 14 . (canceled)
15 . A system for processing account payments, comprising:
control logic configured to receive a plurality of payment transactions from a plurality of sources including a first source, a second source and a third source;
control logic configured to invoke a batch process to process one or more of the plurality of payment transactions received from the first source on a batch basis;
control logic configured to invoke a real-time process to process one or more of the plurality of payment transactions received from the second source on a real-time basis;
control logic configured to invoke an extracting process to process one or more of the plurality of payment transactions received from the third source, the one or more of the plurality of payment transactions processed by the extracting process being further processed by either the batch process or the real-time process;
wherein for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process, available credit relative to a corresponding account is adjusted in real-time based on information included in such payment transaction; and
wherein the batch process is invoked at a designated time in a processing cycle without regard to timing of receipt of payment transactions from the first source or the extracting process and the real-time process is invoked upon receipt of payment transactions from the second source or the extracting process.
16 . The system according to claim 15 wherein the first source is a tape having payment transactions to be processed by the batch process.
17 . The system according to claim 15 wherein the second source is an electronic file having payment transactions to be processed by the real-time process.
18 . The system according to claim 15 wherein the third source is a tape having payment transactions to be processed by either the batch process or the real-time process.
19 . The system according to claim 15 wherein the extracting process separates the payment transactions received from the third source based on whether a payment transaction is to be processed by the batch process or the real-time process; and
wherein the separated payment transactions are respectively submitted to the batch process and the real-time process for further processing.
20 . The system according to claim 15 wherein upon adjusting the available credit relative to the corresponding account in real-time, the available credit is immediately accessible to an account holder of the corresponding account.
21 . The system according to claim 15 wherein a payment transaction represents either a payment to be credited against a corresponding account or a reversal to be performed against the corresponding account to retract a previously made payment.
22 . The system according to claim 21 wherein for each transaction payment processed by the real-time process, if such payment transaction represents a payment to be credited against the corresponding account, a payment amount identified in such payment transaction is applied in whole or in part to the available credit relative to the corresponding account in real-time in accordance with evaluation results derived from evaluating one or more attributes relating to the corresponding account.
23 . The system according to claim 21 wherein for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process, delinquency status relative to the corresponding account is updated in real-time based on information included in such payment transaction.
24 . The system according to claim 23 wherein for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process, if such payment transaction represents a reversal to be performed against the corresponding account to retract the previously made payment, the delinquency status is restored to its value prior to the previously made payment.
25 . The system according to claim 23 wherein for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process, if such payment transaction represents a payment to be credited against the corresponding account and a payment amount identified in such payment transaction exceeds or equals to a delinquent amount relative to the corresponding account, the delinquency status is updated to non-delinquent in real-time.
26 . The system according to claim 15 further comprising:
control logic configured to update in real-time one or more fraud attributes relating to the corresponding account for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process based on information included in the payment transaction.
27 . The system according to claim 26 wherein the one or more fraud attributes are forwarded to a fraud prevention system to allow more timely monitoring of potential fraudulent activities concerning the corresponding account.
28 . The system according to claim 15 further comprising:
control logic configured to forward information relating to each payment transaction processed by the real-time process including the available credit relative to the corresponding account to customer service.
29 . The system according to claim 15 further comprising:
control logic configured to forward information relating to each payment transaction processed by the real-time process including the available credit relative to the corresponding account to collections.
30 . The system according to claim 15 further comprising:
control logic configured to inform the client about status of the payment transactions processed by the real-time process.
31 . The system according to claim 15 wherein the corresponding account is a credit card account.
32 . The system according to claim 15 wherein the system is implemented in software, hardware or a combination of both.
33 - 45 . (canceled)
46 . A method for processing credit card payments, comprising:
receiving a plurality of payment transactions from a plurality of sources including a first source, a second source and a third source;
invoking a batch process at a designated time in a processing cycle to process payment transactions received from the first source on a batch basis;
upon receiving payment transactions from the second source, invoking a real-time process to process the payment transactions received from the second source on a real-time basis;
upon receiving payment transactions from the third source, invoking an extracting process to process payment transactions received from the third source, wherein payment transactions processed by the extracting process are fed to either the batch process or the real-time process or both;
upon receiving the payment transactions processed by the extracting process, invoking the real-time process to process the payment transactions received from the extracting process on a real-time basis; and
for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process, adjusting available credit relative to a corresponding account in real-time based on information included in such payment transaction.
47 . The method of claim 46 wherein the first source is a tape having payment transactions to be processed by the batch process.
48 . The method of claim 46 wherein the second source is an electronic file having payment transactions to be processed by the real-time process.
49 . The method of claim 46 wherein the third source is a tape having payment transactions to be processed by either the batch process or the real-time process.
50 . The method of claim 46 wherein the extracting process separates the payment transactions received from the third source based on whether a payment transaction is to be processed by the batch process or the real-time process; and
wherein the separated payment transactions are respectively submitted to the batch process and the real-time process for further processing.
51 . The method of claim 46 further comprising:
upon adjusting the available credit relative to the corresponding account in real-time, rendering the available credit to be immediately accessible to an account holder of the corresponding account.
52 . The method of claim 46 wherein a payment transaction represents either a payment to be credited against a corresponding account or a reversal to be performed against the corresponding account to retract a previously made payment.
53 . The method of claim 52 further comprising:
for each transaction payment processed by the real-time process, if such payment transaction represents a payment to be credited against the corresponding account, applying a payment amount identified in such payment transaction in whole or in part to the available credit relative to the corresponding account in real-time in accordance with evaluation results derived from evaluating one or more attributes relating to the corresponding account.
54 . The method of claim 52 further comprising:
for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process, updating a delinquency status relative to the corresponding account in real-time based on information included in such payment transaction.
55 . The method of claim 54 further comprising:
for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process, if such payment transaction represents a reversal to be performed against the corresponding account to retract the previously made payment, restoring the delinquency status to its value prior to the previously made payment.
56 . The method of claim 54 further comprising:
for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process, if such payment transaction represents a payment to be credited against the corresponding account and a payment amount identified in such payment transaction exceeds or equals to a delinquent amount relative to the corresponding account, updating the delinquency status to non-delinquent in real-time.
57 . The method of claim 46 further comprising:
updating in real-time one or more fraud attributes relating to the corresponding account for each payment transaction processed by the real-time process based on information included in the payment transaction.
58 . The method of claim 57 further comprising:
forwarding the one or more fraud attributes to a fraud prevention system to allow more timely monitoring of potential fraudulent activities concerning the corresponding account.
59 . The method of claim 46 further comprising:
forwarding information relating to each payment transaction processed by the real-time process including the available credit relative to the corresponding account to customer service.
60 . The method of claim 46 further comprising:
forwarding information relating to each payment transaction processed by the real-time process including the available credit relative to the corresponding account to collections.
61 . The method of claim 46 further comprising:
informing the client about status of the payment transactions processed by the real-time process.
62 . The method of claim 46 wherein the corresponding account is a credit card account.
63 . The method of claim 46 wherein the method is implemented in software, hardware or a combination of both.