SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING FUNDS

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a request to facilitate a transfer of funds from a sender account of a sender at a sender financial institution to a recipient account of a recipient at a recipient financial institution, the request comprising a public identifier for the recipient but not including an account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution, the sending financial institution being a registered financial institution member of a computer-implemented funds transfer payment network, and the recipient financial institution not being a registered financial institution member of the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network;

determining that the recipient is not a registered user of the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network;

transmitting an invitation for the recipient to join the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network, the invitation being directed to the recipient using the public identifier for the recipient;

receiving, from the recipient, a response to the invitation;

creating a first record for the recipient in an information directory, the first record comprising the public identifier for the recipient and a private token for the recipient; and

transmitting the private token of the recipient account to enable the transfer of the funds from the sender account to the recipient account.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

collecting identifying information from the recipient.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the identifying information comprises the account number of the recipient account.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transfer of the funds is settled as part of an automated clearing house (ACH) network batch reconciliation after the recipient financial institution makes the funds available to the recipient account.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the public identifier comprises a phone number of the recipient.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the public identifier comprises an email address of the recipient.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the private token for the recipient does not include the account number of the recipient account.

8 . A system comprising one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising computing instructions that, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a request to facilitate a transfer of funds from a sender account of a sender at a sender financial institution to a recipient account of a recipient at a recipient financial institution, the request comprising a public identifier for the recipient but not including an account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution, the sending financial institution being a registered financial institution member of a computer-implemented funds transfer payment network, and the recipient financial institution not being a registered financial institution member of the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network;

determining that the recipient is not a registered user of the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network;

transmitting an invitation for the recipient to join the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network, the invitation being directed to the recipient using the public identifier for the recipient;

receiving, from the recipient, a response to the invitation;

creating a first record for the recipient in an information directory, the first record comprising the public identifier for the recipient and a private token for the recipient; and

transmitting the private token of the recipient account to enable the transfer of the funds from the sender account to the recipient account.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:

collecting identifying information from the recipient.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the identifying information comprises the account number of the recipient account.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the transfer of the funds is settled as part of an automated clearing house (ACH) network batch reconciliation after the recipient financial institution makes the funds available to the recipient account.

12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the public identifier comprises a phone number of the recipient.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the public identifier comprises an email address of the recipient.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the private token for the recipient does not include the account number of the recipient account.

15 . One or more non-transitory computer readable media comprising computing instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a request to facilitate a transfer of funds from a sender account of a sender at a sender financial institution to a recipient account of a recipient at a recipient financial institution, the request comprising a public identifier for the recipient but not including an account number of the recipient account at the recipient financial institution, the sending financial institution being a registered financial institution member of a computer-implemented funds transfer payment network, and the recipient financial institution not being a registered financial institution member of the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network;

determining that the recipient is not a registered user of the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network;

transmitting an invitation for the recipient to join the computer-implemented funds transfer payment network, the invitation being directed to the recipient using the public identifier for the recipient;

receiving, from the recipient, a response to the invitation;

creating a first record for the recipient in an information directory, the first record comprising the public identifier for the recipient and a private token for the recipient; and

transmitting the private token of the recipient account to enable the transfer of the funds from the sender account to the recipient account.

16 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:

collecting identifying information from the recipient.

17 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 16 , wherein the identifying information comprises the account number of the recipient account.

18 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 16 , wherein the transfer of the funds is settled as part of an automated clearing house (ACH) network batch reconciliation after the recipient financial institution makes the funds available to the recipient account.

19 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15 , wherein the public identifier comprises a phone number or an email address of the recipient.

20 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15 , wherein the private token for the recipient does not include the account number of the recipient account.