System and method for transferring funds

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computer system over a computer network from a recipient financial institution, (i) a public identifier associated with a recipient and (ii) a private profile identifier that was generated by the recipient financial institution, the private profile identifier being embedded with information that identifies the recipient financial institution, the recipient having a recipient account at the recipient financial institution, the private profile identifier being a unique identifier for the recipient at the recipient financial institution, the recipient financial institution associating the private profile identifier with an account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution, and the public identifier having been confirmed as useable to contact the recipient;

storing, by the computer system, a record including the public identifier and the private profile identifier in an information directory, the record not including the account number of the recipient account;

receiving, by the computer system over the computer network, a funds transfer request to transfer funds from a sender account of a sender at a sender financial institution to the recipient account at the recipient financial institution, the funds transfer request identifying the recipient by the public identifier, the funds transfer request not including the account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution or the private profile identifier, and the private profile identifier not being shared with the sender;

determining, by the computer system, the private profile identifier for the recipient based on the public identifier in the funds transfer request and using the record stored in the information directory; and

in response to receiving the funds transfer request, providing the private profile identifier, by the computer system over the computer network, to the sender financial institution to facilitate a transfer of the funds from the sender account at the sender financial institution to the recipient financial institution, the private profile identifier being provided to the sender financial institution to enable the sender financial institution to associate the transfer of the funds with the private profile identifier such that the recipient financial institution can identify the account number of the recipient account based on the private profile identifier,

wherein:

the computer system is operated by an entity that is different from the recipient financial institution and the sender financial institution.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the public identifier comprises an email address or a phone number of the recipient.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the private profile identifier is a unique identifier for the recipient across a plurality of financial institutions comprising the recipient financial institution.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transfer of the funds is initiated at the sender financial institution to cause the funds to be transferred from the sender account to the recipient account.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the account number of the recipient account is not shared with the sender or the sender financial institution by the recipient financial institution or the computer system.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, before providing the private profile identifier to the sender financial institution:

sending an expedited funds transfer message to the recipient financial institution,

wherein:

the expedited funds transfer message requests that the recipient financial institution provides recipient funds to the recipient account at the recipient financial institution before the funds are received by the recipient financial institution from the sender financial institution;

the sender financial institution and the recipient financial institution are members of a computer-implemented payment network, and

the expedited funds transfer message comprises the private profile identifier.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein:

the private profile identifier in the expedited funds transfer message is used by the recipient financial institution to determine the account number of the recipient account for providing the recipient funds to the recipient account.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the recipient funds are provided to the recipient account without waiting for the recipient to accept the recipient funds.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the funds are sent from the sender financial institution to the recipient financial institution as part of a scheduled automated clearing house (ACH) batch reconciliation.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, by the computer system, a second funds transfer request from a second sender, the second sender having a second sender account at the sender financial institution, the second funds transfer request being received after the private profile identifier was provided to the sender financial institution in response to receiving the funds transfer request, the second funds transfer request identifying the recipient by the public identifier, and the second funds transfer request not including (a) the account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution or (b) the private profile identifier;

determining, by the computer system, the private profile identifier for the recipient based on the public identifier in the second funds transfer request and using the record stored in the information directory; and

in response to receiving the second funds transfer request, providing the private profile identifier, by the computer system over the computer network, to the sender financial institution to facilitate a second transfer of second funds from the second sender account at the sender financial institution to the recipient financial institution, the private profile identifier being provided to the sender financial institution to enable the sender financial institution to associate the second transfer of the second funds with the private profile identifier such that the recipient financial institution can identify the account number of the recipient account based on the private profile identifier.

11. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more computer-readable media comprising computing instructions configured to be executed on the one or more processors and perform:

receiving, by a computer system over a computer network from a recipient financial institution, (i) a public identifier associated with a recipient and (ii) a private profile identifier that was generated by the recipient financial institution, the private profile identifier being embedded with information that identifies the recipient financial institution, the recipient having a recipient account at the recipient financial institution, the private profile identifier being a unique identifier for the recipient at the recipient financial institution, the recipient financial institution associating the private profile identifier with an account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution, and the public identifier having been confirmed as useable to contact the recipient;

storing, by the computer system, a record including the public identifier and the private profile identifier in an information directory, the record not including the account number of the recipient account;

receiving, by the computer system over the computer network, a funds transfer request to transfer funds from a sender account of a sender at a sender financial institution to the recipient account at the recipient financial institution, the funds transfer request identifying the recipient by the public identifier, the funds transfer request not including the account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution or the private profile identifier, and the private profile identifier not being shared with the sender;

determining, by the computer system, the private profile identifier for the recipient based on the public identifier in the funds transfer request and using the record stored in the information directory; and

in response to receiving the funds transfer request, providing the private profile identifier, by the computer system over the computer network, to the sender financial institution to facilitate a transfer of the funds from the sender account at the sender financial institution to the recipient financial institution, the private profile identifier being provided to the sender financial institution to enable the sender financial institution to associate the transfer of the funds with the private profile identifier such that the recipient financial institution can identify the account number of the recipient account based on the private profile identifier,

wherein:

the computer system is operated by an entity that is different from the recipient financial institution and the sender financial institution.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the public identifier comprises an email address or a phone number of the recipient.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the private profile identifier is a unique identifier for the recipient across a plurality of financial institutions comprising the recipient financial institution.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the transfer of the funds is initiated at the sender financial institution to cause the funds to be transferred from the sender account to the recipient account.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the account number of the recipient account is not shared with the sender or the sender financial institution by the recipient financial institution or the computer system.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing instructions are further configured to perform, before providing the private profile identifier to the sender financial institution:

sending an expedited funds transfer message to the recipient financial institution,

wherein:

the expedited funds transfer message requests that the recipient financial institution provides recipient funds to the recipient account at the recipient financial institution before the funds are received by the recipient financial institution from the sender financial institution;

the sender financial institution and the recipient financial institution are members of a computer-implemented payment network, and

the expedited funds transfer message comprises the private profile identifier.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein:

the private profile identifier in the expedited funds transfer message is used by the recipient financial institution to determine the account number of the recipient account for providing the recipient funds to the recipient account.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the recipient funds are provided to the recipient account without waiting for the recipient to accept the recipient funds.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the funds are sent from the sender financial institution to the recipient financial institution as part of a scheduled automated clearing house (ACH) batch reconciliation.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing instructions are further configured to perform:

receiving, by the computer system, a second funds transfer request from a second sender, the second sender having a second sender account at the sender financial institution, the second funds transfer request being received after the private profile identifier was provided to the sender financial institution in response to receiving the funds transfer request, the second funds transfer request identifying the recipient by the public identifier, and the second funds transfer request not including (a) the account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution or (b) the private profile identifier;

determining, by the computer system, the private profile identifier for the recipient based on the public identifier in the second funds transfer request and using the record stored in the information directory; and

in response to receiving the second funds transfer request, providing the private profile identifier, by the computer system over the computer network, to the sender financial institution to facilitate a second transfer of second funds from the second sender account at the sender financial institution to the recipient financial institution, the private profile identifier being provided to the sender financial institution to enable the sender financial institution to associate the second transfer of the second funds with the private profile identifier such that the recipient financial institution can identify the account number of the recipient account based on the private profile identifier.