SECURE ELECTRONIC BILLING AND COLLECTION WITH REAL-TIME FUNDS AVAILABILITY

A method including receiving a request from a second financial institution to determine whether any accounts held by a first entity support real-time payment transactions. The method also can include determining one or more first accounts held by the first entity using the directory. The method additionally can include validating that one or more third accounts held by the first entity support real-time payment transactions. The method further can include, after the first entity has enrolled in real-time invoicing and payments, sending an interactive invoice to the first entity, the interactive invoice comprising an option to pay the financial obligation immediately using at least one of the one or more third accounts. The method additionally can include receiving an authorization from the first entity to pay the invoice immediately using at least one of the one or more third accounts. The method further can include facilitating a real-time payment transaction from the at least one of the one or more third accounts maintained by the one or more first financial institutions to the second account maintained by the second financial institution. Other embodiments are provided.