WO2019202367A1

WO2019202367A1 - Method and system for facilitating a decision about a money transaction

Info

Publication number: WO2019202367A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/052696
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lone Fønss Schrøder; Morten Lund; Lau Bech LAURITZEN; René NEJSUM
Original assignee: Cashworks Operations Ag
Priority date: 2018-04-18
Filing date: 2018-04-18
Publication date: 2019-10-24

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a system for facilitating a decision transaction about a future money transaction between a buyer of goods and/or services and a supplier of said goods and/or services. The method comprising payment of an amount of money, by invoice, by the money transaction, for the delivery of the goods and/or services from the supplier to the buyer. The system provides a decision transactions platform for payment instructions from a buyer or from a bank or other financial party handling payment instructions of the buyer. The decision transactions platform has a frontend with a user interface for suppliers, a user interface for buyers and a user interface for a bank or other financial part.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATI G A DECISION ABOUT A MONEY TRANSACTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

5 The Invention relates to a method for facilitating a decision about a future money

transaction between a buyer of goods and/or services and a supplier of said goods and/or services. The method comprises applying a decision transaction platform for deciding the future payment of an amount of money, by invoice, by the money transaction, for the delivery of the goods and/or services from the supplier to the buyer

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Interest rate, which companies or private persons as customers of a bank may obtain for money on a bank account often differs depending on the amount of money deposited5 on the bank account and depending on other financial engagements, which the company of private person has with the bank, and depending on an overall assessment by the bank of the company or the private person. Mostly, small companies and private persons obtain a smaller Interest rate than larger companies, because the financial engagement of the smaller companies and private persons often is smaller than the financial

0 engagement of larger companies. A bank account interest rate margin occurs between that of the smaller companies and private persons and that of the larger companies.

Additionally, in today’s monetary situation, money on a bank account does not yield much interest rate because of generally low interest rates and low inflation. In some5 situations, money on a bank account many even be subject to a negative interest rate, that Is, the person or company having money on a bank account pays an Interest rate based upon the amount of money at the bank account. This is duo to the fact, that the bank may be urged to or obliged to deposit money in a national treasury bank for the sake of certainty. And, the interest rate, that the bank is subject to pay in the national0 treasury bank, may be negative in today’s financial, monetary and political situation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the principles of the invention, the rebates that are expected to be5 generated from a buyer's projected expenditure is of commercial value to the buyer. The supplier rebates effectively reduce a proportion of the buyer's expenditure. The actual net payment to the supplier is lower than the gross invoice amount. The positive difference between the gross amount due (as set out in the invoice) and net am ount paid to the supplier can be regarded as am ounts of income. The predictability and certainty of such income is determ ined by the predictability of a buyer's procurement expenditure A proportion of future expenditure to suppliers can be characterized as sources of incom e.

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Thought of another way, the supplier accepts a rebate to the buyer for a proportion of Its gross invoice am ount in consideration for receiving early payment of their Invoice either directly from the buyer or a third party that pays the invoice early In replacement of the buyer. The value of such future rebates will vary based on the amount of an buyer's0 procurem ent expenditure, the num ber of suppliers , the corresponding value of their respective invoices, the associated percentage rebate that is agreed with individual suppliers, the paym ent risk associated with the buyer, and so on. i n general, organizations like private corporations and public sectors have predictable5 spending for as buyers of goods and services i n order to maintain operational activities, a predictable level of purchasing can be budgeted and planned, by m onth and possibly by year. This typically includes capital, direct, indirect, and other types of purchasing. The capital needed Is often deposited on one or m ore bank accounts of one or more banks. 0 Spending is often treated as a cost. Payment Is not recognized as an asset that can be leveraged for econom ic benefit. Because procurem ent spending is a large cost, and given the predictability for such expenditure, rebates that m ay be generated representing an econom ic benefit to the buyer. A service including early payment of invoices m ay be awarded by the supplier as a rebate to the buyer. Such rebate is associated with reliable5 and predictable underlying cash flows. The service m ay, but need not, create an asset that can be used by financial partners, other than banks, to create an econom ic benefit.

The information m ay be com pared with actual historic spending to align proj ected spending with historical levels to validate the accuracy and probability levels associated0 with the forecast. The com bined inform ation m ay, but need not, be provided to financial partners to form the basis of a cash flow based on econom ic benefit, constituting a financial m arkets product that can be offered to m arket by licensed organizations in com pliance with appropriate legal conditions and regulatory requirem ents. 5 Hereafter, a flexible early-paym ent rebate system that generates the cash flow by

applying early- paym ent rebates on a per-transaction basis is described. Also, how the early payments and rebates are enabled between a buyer and a supplier and other stakeholders like banks, related to the early-payment rebate system , is described. Early- Pay ent Rebates

5 I n accordance with the present invention , a buyer and a supplier of goods and/or

services, either directly or through a third party, may agree to a payment arrangem ent with early-paym ent term s. Under the arrangement, the rebates are calculated

determ ined as a proportion of the Invoice value, and the rebate is given on the point of Invoice paym ent or afterwards. The rebate is either provided prospectively, on a per-0 invoice basis, or given retrospectively, also on a per-invoice basis. Reports can be

provided to buyers, sellers, and any other parties involved in the purchase transaction.

Under an arrangement, buyers or suppliers can also purchase services such as insurance for the products and/or a service to search for a foreign exchange service, which can be5 sold onto their suppliers in a m anner like how the early payment is sold to the supplier.

I n practice, a buyer establishes a supplier relationship with a supplier and pass accounts payable inform ation (invoices ready for payment) to a bank or other financial partner, over a network connection. The relationship and the passing of inform ation of account0 payable inform ation is provided via a decision transactions platform available to the

buyer, to the supplier and to the bank or other financial partner

The buyer and/or the supplier configures the service for each relevant supplier, to determ ine which rebates will be applied, to which products and product categories, at5 specified tim es. As one example, a 2% rebate m ay be applied only to purchases of

product A from com pany ABC, between one date and another date. The rebate will be calculated for and applied individually to each invoice that meets these criteria. The rebates are applied during the m oney transaction or subsequent to the money

transaction . Other exam ples of configurations of services are described below.

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Early payment arrangement having a flexible or varying rebate may be offered by a buyer to a supplier. The buyer receives one rebate if the buyer pays In full 30 days before the full-paym ent due date, a better rebate if the buyer pays in full 1 5 days before the due date, and a still better rebate if the buyer pays in full 7 days before the due date.5

I n operation, a buyer enters into contractual relations with a supplier of goods and/or services by using a decision transactions platform decision transactions platform and transm itting to the decision transactions platform paym ent flies or other paym ent instructions related to invoices ready for payment. The invoices are issued by the supplier, who also has access to m oney transactions as Payment files or other kind of paym ent instructions are transm itted to and from the decision transactions platform .

5 Early-paym ent rebates are calculated by the decision transactions platform as required for each money transaction, for subsequent action by a bank or other financial part.

Current year early payment rebates can be forecasted based on parameters stored in the decision transactions platform , Including supplier data and purchasing history. The0 decision transactions platform m ay produces a forward-looking forecast of rebate cash flows and may present the forecast in form at for analysis and usage by the buyer and/or the supplier and/or the decision transactions platform and/or the one or more banks and also possible other third-party financial partners. 5 BRI EF DESCRI PTI ON OF THE DRAWI NGS

Hereafter, the invention will be described with reference to the drawings, where

Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing a possible decision transaction m ethod and a possible0 decision transactions platform , both according to the invention

Fig. 2 is a drawing showing a possible technical setup for a decision transaction m ethod and a decision transactions platform , both according to the invention , 5 Fig. 3 is a drawing showing a possible decision flow for a decision transaction m ethod and a decision transactions platform , both according to the invention, and

DETAI LED DESCRI PTI ON OF THE PREFERRED ASPECT AND EMBODI MENT 0 Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing a decision transaction and a money transaction including a possibility of early paym ent rebate and flow of information between possible stakeholders of the system supporting the early-paym ent flow. The stakeholders shown are a buyer, a bank, a decision transactions platform and a supplier. Other or further financial stakeholders than a bank are possible.

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The buyer has a so-called ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system connecting workflows at the buyer, across departm ents, such as stock, purchase, sale, economy, production, etc. The ERP system is usually matched with an accounting program. The ERP system connects the workflows into a business so that the buyer can handle everything from sales, order processing, procurement, inventory management, production and invoicing.

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Payment files may be transmitted by the ERP system, or may be extracted from the ERP system. Each payment file includes one or more payment Information related to one or more suppliers, and related to one or more invoices from the one or more suppliers. The payments files are transmitted from the buyer’s ERP system to the bank. When the0 payment files are received at the bank, a so-called payment file syntax validation is performed.

In Fig. 1, payment files from the buyer's ERP system are used for instructing the bank of which invoices to pay, the amount of money to be paid for each invoice and the point of5 time, at which the invoices are to be paid. Other means of instructing the bank of

payment of the invoices may be used. Such other means of instructions could be via a internet bank access, or via a personal finance software.

After having passed the payment file syntax validation, the payment files are controlled0 for whether the buyer having transmitted the payment files is, or is not, a client of the provider of the decision transactions platform.

If the buyer having transmitted a number of payment files is not a client of the provider of the decision transactions platform, the payment files proceed to process payments,5 where the payment files are handled by the bank according to the data of the payment files, that is, the amount of money to be paid and the due-date for payment and handled according to genera! payment instructions or specific payment instructions from the buyer to the bank related to any specific invoice and/or related to any specific supplier. 0 If the buyer having transmitted the number of payment files is a client of the decision transactions platform, the payment files proceed to a file receiver at the decision transactions platform.

The decision transactions platform controls the payment files In a Payment File

5 Interpreter After having been controlled by the payment file Interpreter, the payment files are controlled for whether the supplier having issued the invoice forming the basis for the payment files is listed in the decision transactions platform if not, the payment files are re-transmitted to a file receiver at the bank and is transmitted at the bank to Process payments, where the payment files are handled by the bank according to the data of the payment files, that Is, the amount of money to be paid and the due-date for payment and handled according to general payment instructions or specific payment Instructions from the buyer to the bank related to any specific invoice and/or related to any specific supplier.

If the supplier is a listed in the decision transactions platform, an email or other means of electronic communication is transmitted from the decision transactions platform to the supplier with an Early Payment Offer. The Early Payment Offer is an offer, where the supplier is offered to accept early payment of the invoice forming the basis for the payment file In exchange for a rebate to the buyer of the amount of money to paid in accordance with the invoice and payment file. The supplier ma either accept the offer, deny the offer or simply not respond to the email. The supplier not responding to the email is seen as a denial of the offer.

If the supplier accepts the offer for early payment, a notification is transmitted to the decision transactions platform, that the early payment offer is accepted by the supplier. The decision transactions platform then initiates early payment by modifying the original payment file and transmitting a modified payment file to the File Receiver at the bank. The bank then Execute Payments In accordance with the modified payment file.

When the payment according to the modified payment file is executed by the bank, that Is, payment of the invoice forming the basis for the payment file Including the rebate admitted by the supplier in exchange for the early payment by the buyer, a Payment Result is Issued by the bank. The Payment result is transmitted by the bank to a File Receiver at the decision transactions platform. The decision transactions platform updates Early Payment information, with rebate included, and transmits to both the buyer and the supplier a Payment Summary. The Buyer and the supplier may then perform a reconciliation of their respective bank accounts. if the supplier does not accept the offer for early payment, either by specifically denying the offer or by not responding to the email or other means of communication, a notification is transmitted, explicitly or Implicitly, from the supplier to the decision transactions platform. The decision transactions platform then handles the payment file accordingly and transmits to the File Receiver at the bank, information of handling the Paym ent File according to the original payment file, which has not been m odified by the decision transactions platform .

The bank then Execute Paym ents according to the original paym ent file. When the

5 paym ents according to the original paym ent files are executed by the bank, that is,

payment of the invoices form ing the basis for the paym ent file, and not including any rebate, a Paym ent Result is issued by the bank. The Payment result is transm itted by the bank to a File Receiver at the decision transactions platform . The decision transactions platform updates Early Payment i nform ation, this tim e with no rebate included, and0 transm its to both the buyer and to the supplier a Payment Sum m ary. The Buyer and the supplier m ay then perform a reconciliation of their respective bank accounts.

Fig. 2 shows a possible technical setup for the m ethod of facilitating a decision transaction and money transaction showed in Fig. 1 . The technical set-up comprises a5 decision transactions platform frontend, said frontend being a user interface via a web application . The frontend user interface web application is a f rontend towards any stakeholder of the system according to the invention. As mentioned, stakeholders m ay be suppliers, buyers and banks. Each of the various type of stakeholders can have a separate user interface relevant for the type of stakeholder In question . That is, there0 m ay be a Supplier user interface (Supplier Ul ) for one or m ore suppliers, a Buyer user interface (Buyer Ul ) for one or more buyers and a Bank user Interface (Bank Ui ) for one or m ore banks.

The technical set-up also comprises a decision transactions platform backend, where5 calculation and control of the buyer’s offer to the supplier Is perform ed, and where

calculation and control of rebates and of all other operations of the decision transactions platform shown in Fig. 1 is handled. Between the decision transactions platform frontend and the decision transactions platform backend, a firewall and other means of digital gateway for data protection is established. Digital transm ittal and receipt of data between0 the decision transactions platform frontend and the decision transactions platform

backend may be established via an Application Program m ing I nterface (API ) or other m eans of digital transfer of data.

The technical setup also comprises a bank system . I n Fig. 2, the bank system Is shown5 delim ited by a dotted line. The bank system com prises a digital gateway basing Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) , a web service, an on- line banking interface or any other means of correspondence between the bank and the buyers being customers of the bank of corresponding with the bank..

As mentioned with reference to Fig .1 , each buyer being a customer of the bank has an

5 ERR system, amongst other, for handiing invoices to be paid via a bank account held in the bank. The ERR system of each of the various customers of the bank orders invoices to be paid via the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), a web service, an on-iine banking interface or any other means for the buyers corresponding with the bank via a digital gateway. The orders for paying Invoices are subject to validation, which may involve the0 bank checking whether the buyer holds a bank account in the bank, whether the invoice to be paid has the necessary information to be paid and possible other steps needed for paying the invoice.

Subsequent to the bank having received instructions for paying invoices via the digital5 gateway of the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), a web service, an on-line banking Interface or any other means for the buyers corresponding with the bank, and subsequent to the bank having performed the mentioned validation, the Instruction for paying invoices results in a number of payments files within the bank system. 0 The payment files related to customers of the bank, and which customers are clients of the decision transactions platform, are transmitted to the decision transactions platform. With reference to the flowchart of Fig. 1, the provider of the decision transactions platform transmits an offer to the supplier related to each of the payment files. The offer may depend on various parameters, as mentioned with reference to the description of5 Fig. 1.

Depending on whether the supplier accepts the offer from the buyer, or denies the offer or neglects the offer, the decision transactions platform performs a calculation of the amount of money the buyer has to pay to the supplier and at what point of time the0 buyer has to pay the amount of money to the supplier. Data including information about the amount of money the buyer has to pay to the supplier and at what point of time the buyer is to pay the amount of money to the supplier is transmitted as a modified payment file, or as an original payment file, to the bank system. The modified payment file, or the original payment file, is received within the bank system and the bank system5 performs payment processing based upon the information contained in the payment file received by the bank from the decision transactions platform. Fig.3 shoves an example of a possible payment flow. A Buyer receives goods from a supplier. At the same time as, or subsequent to, receipt of the goods, the buyer receives an invoice from the Supplier. The invoice is processed by the ERR system (see Fig. 1 and Fig.2) of the buyer. The ERR system of the buyer transmits payment files to the buyer’s

5 bank. The payment files comprises data about which supplier to pay, the amount of money to pay to the supplier and at what point of time, payment is to be performed.

In a situation, where the decision transactions platform is not Involved in the money transaction, because the buyer is not a client of the decision transactions platform,0 buyer’s bank transmits, via a money transaction, the amount of money to be paid to a bank account, which the supplier holds in a supplier's bank, at the point of time, at which the money has to be paid, part of the data of the payment file received from the buyer.

However, in a situation, where the buyer is a client of the decision transactions platform5 and the decision transactions platform therefore is to be involved in the money

transaction, the buyer’s bank transmits to the decision transactional platform the payment file received from the buyer’s ERR system to the decision transactions platform.

Possibly, the payment file comprises data with information that the invoice is to paid0 within, as example, within 15 days after the date of issue of the invoice. The decision transactions platform has information from the buyer having received the invoice about terms and conditions, which the buyer is ready to offer to a supplier in general or to the specific supplier having issued the Invoice. The terms and conditions may be more or less statically based. As example, if the buyer offers to pay an invoice earlier than as example5 within 30 days, possibly within only 30 days, after issue of the invoice, the supplier must accept a fixed rebate of 5% of the amount of money to pay according to invoice.

Preferably, the terms and conditions that the byer is ready to offer a supplier is more or less dynamically based. As example, if the buyer normally has 30 days payment term,0 but the buyer offers to pay the invoice within 30 days, the supplier may be offered a rebate. The buyer may set as an annual rebate rate of, as example, 12% p.a. which the buyer demands as eariy-payment rebate of the amount of money to paid according to invoice. Accordingly, if the buyer offers the supplier payment immediately after issue of the Invoice Instead of within 90 days, and the supplier accepts the offer, the supplier5 must admit a rebate on the invoice of 3%, that is, 12% p.a., multiplied by ¼ because 30 days is ¼ of a year. Thus, the supplier must accept a rebate to the buyer of 3% of the invoice amount as issued if the invoice as issued amount to 1000 EUR, and If the buyer offers to pay Immediately and the supplier accepts the offer, the decision transaction platform will change the payment file to state that only 970 EUR is to be paid.

If the buyer offers the supplier to pay the invoice within 45 days, instead of 90 days, and

5 the supplier accepts the offer, the supplier must admit a rebate on the invoice of 1 ,5%, that is, 12% p.a., multiplied by 1/8 because 45 days is 1/8 of a year. Thus, the supplier must accept a rebate to the buyer of 1.5% of the amount of money to paid according to invoice. If the invoice as issued amount to 1000 EUR, and if the buyer offers to pay within 45 days and the supplier accepts the offer, the decision transaction platform will0 change the payment file to state that only 985 EUR is to be paid.

If the buyer offers the supplier to pay immediately or within any shortened period of time compared to, as example, 90 days payment term, but the supplier denies the offer, the buyer has to pay the full invoice amount of 1000 EUR, but the buyer needs not pay the5 invoice before the 90 days, as originally stated on the invoice as the payment term.

In the above example, an interest rate of 12% is used as an example. The buyer may state any rebate rate of the amount of money to be paid according to invoice, and which the buyer demands as rebate from the suppliers, possible demanding different rebate0 rates to different suppliers.

Also, in the above example, an original payment term of 90 days is used as an example, but the supplier may state any payment term for payment according to Invoice, and within which the supplier wants invoices to be paid, possibly stating different payment5 terms to different buyers.

Summarizing, when calculating a rebate amount om a more or less dynamic basis as described above, the calculation is based on the flowing formula. The calculation is only relevant if the buyer pays the invoice before the last day of the payment term of the0 Invoice. If the buyer pays the invoice on the last day of the payment term of the invoice (or perhaps later), the buyer of course have to pay the full amount, with no rebate.

If a rebate calculation is relevant, the formula to use Is the following formula: 5 ‘Rebate Money Amount’ = ‘Invoice Money Amount’ multiplied by‘Rebate Percentage Rate’ and multiplied by‘Number of days between Issue date of Invoice and Payment Day of Invoice’ and divided by‘380 days’. The offer, which the buyer is ready to offer the supplier, Is communicated to the supplier, as exampie by email. The supplier then considers the offer. Either, the supplier may accept the offer, or the supplier may deny the offer or the supplier may neglect the offer.

5 If the supplier neglects the offer, by not responding to the email, the decision

transactions platform considers that as the supplier denying the offer.

If the supplier accept the offer, information about the acceptance Is communicated to the decision transactions platform. The decision transactions platform modifies the original0 payment file previously received from the buyer’s bank. The payment file Is modified with the amount of money to be paid to the supplier being deducted by 5% and with the point of time for paying the invoice being 7 days after issue of the invoice. The modified payment file Is then transmitted to the buyer’s Bank as Changed Payment. 5 Buyer's bank transmits, via a payment transaction, the amount of money to be paid to a bank account, which the supplier holds In a supplier’s bank, at the modified point of time, comprised as part of the data of the changed payment file received from the decision transactions platform. The money transaction is limited by 5% in relation to the amount of money stated In the invoice, and the payment is performed 7 days after issue of the0 Invoice.

Subsequently, information may be transmitted from the supplier’s bank to the supplier about the amount of mone having been paid by the buyer and the point of time the amount of money has been paid. Alternatively, the supplier may retrieve, via an on-line5 banking interface, information about the amount of money having been paid to the

supplier’s bank account in the supplier’s bank, and the point of time the amount of money has been paid. Receiving or retrieving information about the amount of money having been paid, and the point of time the amount of money has been paid, gives the supplier a possibility of controlling, that the offer from the Buyer, as accepted by the0 supplier, is handled by the decision transactions platform and the buyer’s bank as

accepted.

Transmitting, by the decision transactions platform, to the supplier information of the amount of money having been paid and the point of time the amount of money has been5 paid is a service provided by the decision transactions platform as an alternative, or as a supplement, to the supplier itself receiving of retrieving, via an on-line banking interface, Information about the amount of money having been paid to the supplier’s bank account in the supplier's Bank, and the point of time the amount of money has been paid.

In addition or as an alternative, and as a possible further or possible other service by the decision transactions platform, Information about the amount of money having been paid and the point of time the amount of money has been paid is transmitted to the buyer, possibly as a CSV file via an API integration. Trans itting, by the decision transactions platform, to the buyer Information of the amount of money having been paid and the point of time the amount of money has been paid is a service provided by the decision transactions platform as an alternative, or as a supplement, to the buyer Itself receiving of retrieving, via an on-line banking Interface, information about the amount of money having been paid from the buyer’s bank account in the buyer's bank, and the point of time the amount of money has been paid. The description and the examples given above are shown merely for illustration and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. It will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

CL.AI MS

1 A method for facilitating a decision transaction for a future money transaction between a buyer of goods and/or services and a supplier of said goods and/or services, said

5 method comprising applying a decision transactions platform for deciding upon future payment of an amount of money, by invoice, by the money transaction, for the delivery of the goods and/or services from the supplier to the buyer, said future money transaction including payment at a future date later than a date of issue of the invoice;

- providing a decision transactions platform for payment instructions from a buyer or0 from a bank or other financial party handling payment instructions of the buyer, said decision transactions platform having a frontend with a user interface for suppliers, a user interface for buyers and a user interface for a bank or other financial part,

- the bank or other financial part, via a dlgita! gateway, receiving or retrieving from the buyer a preliminary payment instruction related to an Invoice Issued by the supplier to5 the buyer, and the bank or other financial part controlling, 'whether the buyer is client of a provider of the decision transactions platform,

- with the proviso, that the buyer is client of the decision transactions platform, the bank or other financial part transmitting to the decision transactions platform the payment instruction received or retrieved from the buyer,

0 - the decision transactions platform provider transmitting to the supplier an offer for early payment of the invoice, said early payment including payment of the invoice at a point of time being earlier than the due-date of the invoice for paying the invoice,

- the offer for early payment demanding a rebate on the amount of money to be paid by the invoice, said offer for early payment and said rebate being in accordance with

5 instructions given by the buyer to the decision transactions platform provider,

- the supplier responding to the offer in one of the following three manners: accepting the offer for early payment, denying the offer for early payment, neglecting the offer for early payment, said neglecting construed as a denial of the offer for early payment,

- with the proviso, that that the supplier accepts the offer for early payment, the supplier0 transmitting to the decision transactions platform a notification of accepting the offer for early payment, said accept for early payment also being an accept of the rebate,

- the decision transactions platform receiving accept of the offer for early payment, and the decision transactions platform provider modifying the preliminary payment

Instruction to include the rebate and a modified point of time for payment of the Invoice,5 - the decision transactions platform provider transmitting to the bank or other financial part the modified payment Instruction, where-after the bank or other financial part executes the payment of the invoice based upon the modified payment instruction, paying the modified amount of money and paying the invoice at the modified point of time eariier than the due-date of the invoice.

2. A method according to ciaim 1 , where a first rebate percentage or second rebate

5 amount is given by the supplier if the buyer offers an early payment at one point of time before the due date of the invoice, and where a second rebate percentage or second rebate amount is given by the supplier, if the buyer offers an early payment at another point of time before the due date of the invoice, and where the second rebate percentage or the second rebate amount is higher than the first rebate percentage or first rebate0 amount, and where the one point of time is closer to the due date of the Invoice than the other point of time.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, where modifying payment Instructions is performed by the decision transactions platform by either amending the amount of

5 money to be paid and the point of time for payment of the preliminary payment

Instructions or by generating new payment instructions with the amount of money to be paid and the point of time, as a substitute for the preliminary payment instructions.

4. A method according to any of the preceding claims, where the buyer offers the early0 payment based on a per-invoice from a given supplier, and where the offer of early

payment is transmitted from the decision transaction platform to the given supplier each time a new Invoice to the buyer is issued by the given supplier, and where the given supplier either accepts or denies, based on a per-offer from the buyer, the offer for early payment transmitted from the decision transaction platform, or where the supplier

5 denies, based on a per-offer from the buyer, the offer for early payment by neglecting the offer for early payment transmitted from the decision transaction platform.

5. A method according to claim 1-3, where the buyer offers the early payment based on any invoice from a given supplier, and where the offer of early payment is transmitted0 from the decision transaction platform one time to the given supplier, when a new

invoice to the buyer is issued by the given supplier, and where the supplier either accepts or denies the offer for early payment by transmitting a notification to the decision transactions platform, or where the supplier denies the offer for early payment by neglecting the offer for early payment transmitted from the decision transaction platform.5

6. A method according to claim 1-3, where the buyer offers the early payment based on any invoice from any supplier of the buyer, and where the offer for early payment is transmitted from the decision transaction platform one time, commonly to any supplier of the buyer, when the buyer becomes client of the decision transactions platform, and where each supplier, based on the offer from the buyer, individually either accepts or denies the offer tor early payment by transmitting a notification to the decision

5 transactions platform, or where the supplier, based on the offer from the buyer, denies the offer for early payment by neglecting the offer for early payment

7. Method according to any of claims 1-6, where an original notification of an invoice having been issued by a supplier to a buyer being a client of the decision transactions0 platform is transmitted from the buyer’s bank or other financial part to a provider of the decision transactions platform, where the provider of the decision transactions platform modifies the original notification, If the supplier has accepted the offer for early payment, and where the modified notification is transmitted from the provider of decisions transactions platform to the buyer’s bank, said modified notification including a modified5 amount of money to be paid, based upon the rebate required by the buyer and accepted by the supplier, and said modified notification including a modified point of time for paying the invoice, based upon an early payment date offered by the buyer and accepted by the supplier. 0 8. Method according to any of claims 1-6, where an original notification of an invoice having been issued by a supplier to a buyer being a client of the decision transactions platform Is transmitted from the buyer’s bank or other financial part to a provider of the decision transactions platform, where the provider of the decision transactions platform does not modify the original notification, if the supplier denies or neglects the offer for5 early payment, and where the original notification is transmitted from the provider of decisions transactions platform to the buyer’s bank, said original notification not including any modified amount of money to be paid, as no rebate is accepted by the supplier, and said original notification not including a modified point of time for paying the invoice, as no early payment date offered by the buyer is accepted by the supplier.

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9. Method according to any of claim 1-7, where the provider of the decision transaction platform provides an early payment Information, if the supplier has accepted the offer for early payment, and where the early payment information is transmitted from the provider of decisions transactions platform to at least one of the following parties: the5 supplier and the buyer, and said early payment Information including Information about a modified amount of money to be paid, based upon the rebate required by the buyer and accepted by the supplier, and said early payment information including Information about a modified point of time for paying the invoice, based upon an early payment date offered by the buyer and accepted by the supplier.

10. A method according to claim 9, where the buyer’s bank transmits to the decision

5 transaction platform an executed payment information of the amount of money having been paid to a supplier’s bank and the point of time of paying the money to the supplier’s bank, said executed payment information based upon a notification previously received by the buyer’s bank from the decision transactions platform, and where the decision transactions platform subsequently transmits to at least the supplier, possibly also to the0 buyer, information about payment having been executed based upon to the early

payment offered by the buyer and accepted by the supplier.

11. A method according to any of claims 1-10, where an early-payment rebate is calculated based upon a Rebate Percentage Rate, which the buyer demands from one or5 more suppliers, and based upon a payment term, which the one or more suppliers

demands from the buyer compared to the actual payment day of the invoice by the buyer, and where the rebate money amount is calculated based on the flowing formula, and with the proviso that the invoice is paid before the last day of the payment term: ‘Rebate Money Amount’ = ‘Invoice Money Amount’ multiplied by‘Rebate Percentage0 Rate’ and multiplied by‘Number of days between Issue date of Invoice and Payment Day of Invoice’ and divided by‘360 days’.

12. System for facilitating the method according to any of claims 1-11, the system comprising

5 - a number of stakeholders being at least a bank or other financial part, a supplier of goods and/or services, a byer of said goods and/or services and a provider of a decision transactions platform,

- a user interface of the decision transactions platform, said user interface comprising a bank user interface, a supplier user interface and a buyer user interface,

0 - a gateway for transmitting from the bank or other financial part to the decision

transactions platform information received or retrieved by the bank from the buyer about Invoices from the supplier to be paid by the buyer,

- a gateway for transmitting, between the decisions information platform and the supplier, information of an early payment offer from the buyer to the supplier and a5 possible accept by the supplier of the early payment offer, and

- a gateway for transmitting from the decision transactions platform to the bank or other financial part information about possible modified payment terms of the invoices from the supplier to be paid by the buyer

13 System according to claim 12, where the decision transactions platform comprises a 5 receiver for receiving original payment files or other original payment instructions from the bank or other financial part, and the decision transactions platform comprising a means for generating or modifying payment files or modifying other payment

instructions, and the decision transactions platform comprising a transmitter for transmitting generated or modified payment files or other modified payment Instructions0 from the decision transactions platform to the bank or other financial part

14 System according to claim 12 or 13, where the bank or other financial parts comprises a receiver for receiving modified payment files or other modified payment Instructions from the decision transactions platform, and where the bank or other5 financial parts is capable of neglecting the original payment files or other original

payment instructions, and is capable of performing money transaction based upon generated or modified payment files or other generated or modified payment

Instructions, instead of performing money transaction based upon the original payment files or other original payment instructions.