US Patent 7840465 Systems and methods for conducting real-time application of electronic payments

An organization electronically receives a payment from a customer of the organization based on a current time. If the current time is before a predetermined time relating to an identified payment due date, a non-real-time payment system is employed to effectuate the payment from the customer. The non-real-time payment system processes the payment at a later time on or before the identified payment due date such that the payment is applied to the customer on or before the identified payment due date. If the current time is after a predetermined time relating to the identified payment due date, a real-time payment system is employed to effectuate the payment from the customer. The real-time payment system processes the payment at the current time such that the payment is applied to the customer at the current time.