FIELD: information technology.
SUBSTANCE: bill presentment service, wherein bills received from a plurality of billing entities are made available to a plurality of consumers via a plurality of consumer service providers, is provided in methods and apparatus under control of a processing network. Registration and preference data pertaining to each of the plurality of consumers are stored in a database, accessible to the processing network. When switching from the first service provider to the second service provider, access is allowed to the bill presentment service via the first service provider, prior to switching, and via the second service provider, after switching, using the stored registration and preference data. During payment, the bill is routed with the indication of the associated unique billing account number from the billing entity to a group of consumer service providers for presentment to the consumer, as well as a transaction monitoring aspect.
EFFECT: high efficiency and security during the presentment and payment of bills when a consumer switches between service providers.
27 cl, 34 dwg, 26 tbl
