US 5,699,528 · Granted 1997-12-16

The 1997 Patent That Started Online Bill Pay

Before apps and websites, paying your utilities bill meant writing a check and mailing it. This patent describes how to send bills as emails and let people pay them right through the internet — a system Mastercard patented that became the backbone of modern online banking.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system where a server delivers bill information to users over a network (like the internet), and users can view that bill and submit payment instructions back through the same system. Specifically, it protects both the web-based version (where you visit a site to see your bill) and the email-based version (where the bill arrives as an email and you reply with payment details).

Why it matters

This patent sits at the intersection of two massive shifts: the rise of the internet in the mid-1990s and the digitization of financial transactions. By locking down the concept of delivering bills electronically and accepting payment over a network, Mastercard secured early control over a practice that would eventually become standard for every utility company, credit card issuer, and subscription service.

Real-world use

When you log into your electric company's website to see your monthly bill and pay it online, or when you get a bill notification via email and click to pay, you're using a system descended from exactly this idea.

Original USPTO abstract

In a bill delivery and payment system, users are able to access a server computer on a communications network to obtain bill information and pay bills. For example, such a communications network may be the Internet or the World Wide Web thereof. Using a personal computer, a user can access a Web site provided by the server computer to view the bill information and instruct the server computer as to the details of the bill payment. In a second embodiment, without visiting the web site, users are provided with electronic bills containing bill information in the form of electronic mail (e-mail) at their e-mail addresses. After opening an electronic bill, a user can make the bill payment by replying to the electronic bill.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,699,528
Filing date: 1995-10-31
Grant date: 1997-12-16
Assignee: Mastercard International, Inc.
Inventor(s): HOGAN; EDWARD J.
CPC class: G06Q20/04

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