JP7554372B1 - Payment server, payment method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a payment server, payment method, and program that can perform multiple electronic payments using a voucher by determining how many units of an electronic voucher, which has a specified amount per unit and can be purchased in multiple units, to consume and then executing the electronic payment. [Solution] A payment server that provides electronic payment services, comprising: a voucher management unit that manages information on electronic vouchers, which have a specified amount per unit, can be used at pre-set stores among stores that offer electronic payment services, have a specified amount per unit, and can be purchased in multiple units, and a payment processing unit that, when an electronic payment using a voucher is requested from a user terminal device or a first store terminal device, determines how many units of the voucher to consume and executes the electronic payment. [Selected Figure] Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a payment server, a payment method, and a program.

Conventionally, there are electronic payment services that provide electronic vouchers and allow users to make electronic payments using the vouchers at stores where the vouchers can be used.

Patent No. 7348419

With conventional technology, when an electronic payment was made using a voucher, the entire available balance on the voucher was consumed in one go, reducing user convenience.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a payment server, a payment method, and a program that can make multiple electronic payments using a voucher by determining how many units of an electronic voucher, which has a predetermined amount per unit and can be purchased in multiple units, to be consumed and then executing the electronic payment.

One aspect of the present invention is a payment server that provides an electronic payment service in cooperation with a payment app that runs on a user terminal device, the payment server comprising: a communication unit that communicates with each of the user terminal device and a first store terminal device; a voucher management unit that manages information on electronic vouchers that have a set expiration date, can be used at a pre-set number of stores that offer electronic payment services, have a predetermined amount set for each unit, and can be purchased in multiple units; and a payment processing unit that, when an electronic payment using the voucher is requested from the user terminal device or the first store terminal device, determines how many units of the voucher to consume and executes the electronic payment.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a payment server, a payment method, and a program that can execute electronic payments by determining how many units of an electronic voucher that can be purchased in multiple units and has a predetermined amount per unit to be consumed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram (part 1) illustrating an example of a general flow of electronic payment. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram (part 2) illustrating an example of a general flow of electronic payment. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a payment server 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of user information 172. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store/store information 176. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of voucher information 178. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a general flow of electronic payment using a voucher. FIG. 11 is a diagram (part 1) showing an example of a display of payment application 20 when electronic payment is made by user scanning. FIG. 2 shows an example of the display of payment application 20 when electronic payment is made by user scanning (part 2). 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the process of the payment server 100 when a user who has set automatic application of a voucher to ON makes an electronic payment. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the payment server 100 regarding a process of calculating a usage amount of a voucher. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the payment server 100 when electronic payment is made using a voucher in combination with another payment method. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a process of the payment server 100 for automatically applying a voucher when a user has a voucher with an expiration date approaching. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the process performed by the settlement server 100 for calculating the amount of a voucher used when a voucher with only a short period of time remaining until its expiration date is held.

The following describes an embodiment of the payment server, the payment method, and the program of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Various devices for providing services to users and performing internal analysis, such as the "server," "management device," and "information providing device" that appear below, may be realized by a group of distributed devices, and each device may be operated by a different business. The owner of the hardware of the device (the cloud server provider) and the business that actually operates the device may also be different. The application program and the payment server work together to provide an electronic payment service. In the following description, the application program is referred to as a payment app. The electronic payment service is a service that supports payments related to the purchase of goods and services at a store. The store is, for example, a physical store (real store) that exists in the real world, but may also include a virtual store for electronic commerce. The virtual store may include one provided by an entity other than the operator of the electronic payment service. In that case, when making a payment for shopping at the virtual store, the screen is controlled to transition to the interface screen of the electronic payment service. In the electronic payment service, the store is treated as belonging to, for example, an affiliated store (brand), and processing such as payment when a purchase is made at the store is mainly performed between the user and the affiliated store. Alternatively, payment and other transactions may be handled between the user and the store.

[Electronic payment service]
1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. The electronic payment service is realized mainly by a payment server 100. The payment server 100 communicates with, for example, one or more user terminal devices 10, one or more first store terminal devices 50, and one or more second store terminal devices 70 via a network NW. The network NW includes, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless base station, a provider device, and the like.

The user terminal device 10 is, for example, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The user terminal device 10 is a computer device having at least an optical reading function, a communication function, a display function, an input acceptance function, and a program execution function. In the following description, the components for realizing these functions are referred to as a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc. In the user terminal device 10, a processor such as a CPU executes a payment app 20, which operates in cooperation with the payment server 100 to provide electronic payment services to users. The payment app 20 is installed in the user terminal device 10 from, for example, an application store, and controls the camera, communication device, touch panel, etc.

The first store terminal device 50 is installed, for example, in a store. The first store terminal device 50 is a computer device having at least a product price acquisition function, an optical reading function, a program execution function, and a communication function. The first store terminal device 50 includes a so-called POS (Point of Sale) device, and the product price acquisition function and the optical reading function may be realized by the POS device. The store code image 60 is placed in the store, and is a code image such as a QR code (registered trademark) printed on a paper or plastic medium. The store code image 60 may be displayed on a display placed in the store (which may be the display of a terminal device such as a smartphone).

The second store terminal device 70 is used by the operator of the affiliated store. The second store terminal device 70 is a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, etc. An interface 72 for affiliated stores runs on the second store terminal device 70. The interface 72 for affiliated stores may be an app for affiliated stores or a browser. The interface 72 for affiliated stores accepts coupon settings and the like made by the operator of the affiliated store and transmits them to the payment server 100. The second store terminal device 70, which is a smartphone, has the function of displaying a code image equivalent to a store code image and reading a code image displayed by the user terminal device 10 by executing the app for affiliated stores.

The payment server 100 realizes electronic payment based on payment information received from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The first store terminal device 50 may include a POS device and an affiliated store server, in which case the payment information is sent from the POS device to the payment server 100 via the affiliated store server. In the following explanation, no distinction is made between these two, and it is assumed that the payment information is sent from the first store terminal device 50.

Figures 2 and 3 are sequence diagrams illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. There may be two patterns for electronic payment: pattern 1 and pattern 2.

In the case of pattern 1 (hereinafter referred to as user scan) shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal device 10 with the payment application 20 activated decodes the store code image 60 by the optical reading function (S1). The store code image 60 includes store URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information. This store URL is the domain of the electronic payment service to which information capable of identifying the store is added, and is associated with the affiliated store ID, store ID, etc. in the payment server 100 (described later). The payment application 20 transmits the first payment information including the store URL and the account ID to the payment server 100 (S2). The payment server 100 searches for store information (described later) from the affiliated store ID and store ID corresponding to the store URL, acquires the affiliated store name and store name information (S3), and transmits it to the payment application 20 (S4). The user inputs the payment amount into the user terminal device 10 on the screen on which the affiliated store name and store name are displayed (S5). Then, the user terminal device 10 generates second payment information including at least the payment amount and transmits it to the payment server 100 (S6). The payment server 100 performs electronic payment based on the received second payment information (S7). The payment server 100 then transmits a payment completion notice (information for displaying a payment completion screen) to the payment application 20 (S8), and the payment application 20 displays the payment completion screen (S9). Note that when the store code image 60 is displayed on a display installed in the store, the store code image 60 may include not only the store URL but also information on the payment amount. In this case, the procedure in which the user inputs the payment amount is omitted, and the first payment information is transmitted to the payment server 100 with the information on the payment amount included. Information on the affiliated store name and store name may be included and displayed on the payment completion screen.

In the case of pattern 2 (hereinafter referred to as store scan) shown in FIG. 3, when the payment app 20 is started, when a payment operation is performed in the payment app 20, when the automatic update timing (for example, every minute) occurs, and at other timings, the payment app 20 sends a request to issue a one-time code to the payment server 100 (S11). The payment server 100 generates a one-time code (S12) and sends it to the payment app 20 (S13). The payment app 20 displays a code image such as a QR code or a barcode generated based on the one-time code (S14). The user holds (presents) the display surface of the user terminal device 10 over the first store terminal device 50, and the first store terminal device 50 decodes the code image using an optical reading function and obtains the one-time code, etc. (S15). Then, the first store terminal device 50 generates payment information including the one-time code, payment amount, affiliated store ID, store ID, etc., and sends it to the payment server 100 (S16). The payment amount information is acquired in advance by reading a barcode or manually entering it. Based on the received information, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the one-time code and performs electronic payment (S17). The payment server 100 then sends a payment completion notice to the payment application 20 (S18), and the payment application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S19).

Note that electronic payment may be made using only one of the above patterns. Furthermore, the "account ID" described in FIG. 2 may be other information (e.g., a phone number) that can be used as user identification information. Furthermore, issuance of a one-time code may be omitted in the store scan, and the payment app 20 may display a code image generated based on the user's account ID. In that case, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the account ID instead of identifying the user corresponding to the one-time code.

[Payment server]
4 is a configuration diagram of the payment server 100 according to the first embodiment. The payment server 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a payment content providing unit 120, a payment processing unit 130, an information management unit 140, and a storage unit 170. The components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 170 are realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory (a storage device with a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium (non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed in the storage device by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

The storage unit 170 is a HDD, flash memory, RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage unit 170 may be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device that the payment server 100 can access via a network. The storage unit 170 stores information such as user information 172, payment content information 174, and affiliated store/shop information 176.

The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for connecting to the network NW. The communication unit 110 is, for example, a network interface card.

The payment content providing unit 120 has, for example, a web server function, and provides information (content) for displaying various screens of the electronic payment service to the user terminal device 10. The payment content providing unit 120 reads out necessary content from the payment content information 174 as appropriate and provides it to the user terminal device 10. The user terminal device 10 accepts various inputs by the user while the content is being played by the payment application 20, and transmits the aforementioned payment information and the like to the payment server 100.

The payment processing unit 130 performs payment processing based on the payment information transmitted by the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The payment processing unit 130 performs payment processing while referring to the user information 172.

5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the user information 172. The user information 172 is an example of the registration information of a user. The user information 172 is associated with information such as a user URL, an account ID, a telephone number, a password, an email address, a user ID, a name, an address, a date of birth, a registration date, a charge balance, a deferred payment setting, a deferred payment limit, a deferred payment amount, a deferred payment available amount, a voucher ID, a terminal payment method, a payment priority setting, a priority order 1, a priority order 2, a card payment method, an affiliated card number, a bank account, a credit card number, a charge history information, and a payment history information. The user URL is used for remittance processing between users. When registering for a new electronic payment service, it is necessary to register a telephone number and a password. The account ID is issued to the user by the payment server 100, and the user ID is an ID that can be set by the user at will (does not have to be set). Similarly, the email address, the name, address, and date of birth are information that can be set by the user at will (does not have to be set). The registration date is the date on which the user registered with the electronic payment service (the date on which the account was created). Hereinafter, the user instance (electronic payment account) to which this information is associated will be referred to as the account.

The charge balance is information indicating the balance of electronic money that is set by the user by transferring money to the account in advance. The means of transfer include transfer from an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) of a designated company (bank) and transfer from a registered bank account. The deferred payment setting is information indicating whether or not the setting for enabling electronic payment by deferred payment has been completed, and is set to either "completed" or "not completed." The deferred payment limit is the limit of deferred payment that can be used each month, the deferred payment usage amount is the amount of deferred payment that has already been used in the current month, and the available deferred payment amount is the amount of deferred payment that can be used in the current month, which is calculated by subtracting the deferred payment usage amount from the deferred payment limit. In the figure, only one deferred payment limit is shown, but in reality, there is also a daily upper limit, and the lower of these may be set as the deferred payment limit. Further details of deferred payment will be described later. The payment method setting is setting information indicating whether the user will make electronic payment using the charge balance or payment by deferred payment at that time. The bank account and credit card number are information on a bank account or credit card number (account number, card number) that can be used to deposit funds into an electronic payment service. The charge history information is a history of the user transferring funds to the electronic payment service in advance to increase the charge balance. The payment history information is information that indicates the details of payments made by the user for each payment (date and time, store ID of the store where the purchase was made, payment amount, payment method, etc.).

The voucher ID is identification information that can identify a voucher. The voucher ID stored in the user information 172 is linked to the voucher ID stored in the voucher information 178 described below. Multiple voucher IDs may be linked to one user. The automatic voucher application setting includes information indicating whether or not to automatically apply the voucher to make an electronic payment when a voucher that can be used by the user is available for electronic payment. Furthermore, the automatic voucher application setting includes a payment method (combined payment method) to be used in conjunction with the voucher amount if the amount of the voucher is less than or equal to the purchase amount. The automatic voucher application setting can be set by the user himself. The combined payment method is set to either payment using the charge balance in the electronic payment service or deferred payment using a credit card.

The payment priority setting is information indicating whether or not the user has set priorities for the payment methods of electronic payments. If the payment priority setting is enabled, it indicates that the user has set priorities for the payment methods of electronic payments. If the payment priority setting is disabled, it indicates that the user has not set priorities for the payment methods of electronic payments. As the payment priority setting, for example, two payment methods can be set (priority 1, 2). The payment method is set, for example, to either payment with the charge balance or payment on delivery.

The payment processing unit 130 may execute auto-charge when the charge balance falls below a certain amount. The user sets in advance in the payment app 20 whether or not to execute auto-charge when the charge balance falls below a certain amount. For example, the setting is that when the charge balance falls below 1,000 yen, 5,000 yen is auto-charged. If the auto-charge setting in the user information 172 is enabled, auto-charge can be executed, and if disabled, auto-charge is not executed. The payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment and compares the charge balance with a certain amount each time the charge balance is updated, and executes auto-charge if it is determined that the charge balance falls below the certain amount. When the payment processing unit 130 executes auto-charge, it updates the user information 172 with the latest charge balance, which is the sum of the auto-charge amount and the charge balance.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store/store information 176. Affiliated store/store information 176 includes, for example, a first table 176A in which affiliated store IDs and store IDs are associated with store URLs, a second table 176B in which affiliated store IDs are associated with affiliated store names and sales amounts (described above), and a third table 176C in which store IDs are associated with store names and local governments that have issued usable vouchers. In addition to this information, affiliated store/store information 176 may also include information such as the affiliated store or store category, store location, and payment patterns.

The information management unit 140 manages the user information 172 and the affiliated store/store information 176 based on information acquired from the user terminal device 10 and the second store terminal device 70. The information management unit 140 adds new records, edits, deletes, etc. for the user information 172 and the affiliated store/store information 176.

The voucher management unit 150 manages information related to vouchers owned by users. Information related to vouchers is stored in voucher information 178. The voucher management unit 150 obtains information from voucher information 178 as necessary, and updates the information each time an electronic payment is made using a voucher.

Vouchers have a set expiration date and can be used at a pre-defined set of stores that offer electronic payment services. A specified amount is set for each unit, and multiple units can be purchased. The number of units that can be used in one electronic payment and the amount of each unit are pre-defined; for example, it is determined that up to two 500 yen vouchers can be used in one electronic payment. The specified amount and number of units that can be used vary for each voucher and are determined by the issuing business.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of voucher information 178. Voucher information 178 is information in which, for example, a voucher ID, which is identification information for a voucher, is associated with information such as unit price, remaining number, maximum number of vouchers that can be used, expiration date, usable stores, and usable cities, wards, towns, and villages. The unit price is the unit price that can be used each time a voucher is used. The remaining number is the number of remaining vouchers. The maximum number of vouchers that can be used is the number of units that can be used in one electronic payment. The expiration date indicates the date by which the voucher can be used. An available store is a store where a voucher can be used. An available municipality is information equivalent to an available store when the voucher is issued by a municipality. The municipality may be a prefecture, a city, ward, town, or village, or an independent organization such as a shopping district.

[Electronic Payment]
When payment information is acquired from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50, the payment processing unit 130 refers to the user information 172 to acquire the "payment method setting" of the user. For a user whose "payment method setting" is set to "charge balance", the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment as follows. For example, the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment by decreasing the charge balance managed in association with the user ID and increasing the item value of the affiliated store's sales. The item value of the affiliated store's sales is not used as electronic money itself, for example, but an amount corresponding to the item value of the sales is transferred to a bank account in a cycle according to an agreement between the affiliated store and the electronic payment service.

The payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment for users whose "setting information" is set to "deferred payment" as follows. Deferred payment is set separately from "credit payment" in cooperation with a credit card company, which is a separate entity from the operator of the electronic payment service, and the operator of the electronic payment service acts as the creditor and allows electronic payment that is not dependent on the charge balance within the deferred payment limit. In order to receive the deferred payment service, it may be required to obtain a credit card provided by the operator of the electronic payment service. The amount used for deferred payment is settled on the payment date of the following month in a lump sum for one month, for example, by debiting from a bank account. In this case, the payment processing unit 130 performs provisional payment by adding the payment amount to the deferred payment amount and subtracting the same amount from the available deferred payment amount, and when the closing date comes, it performs processing to debit the payment for the current month on the payment date of the following month as described above, or requests the operator of the credit card company to perform such processing. In addition, if the payment amount exceeds the available deferred payment amount at the time of provisional payment, an error notification is returned to the payment application 20.

Figure 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the general flow of electronic payment using a voucher. The following mainly explains the differences from Figure 2. In the case of user scanning, the user terminal device 10 with the payment application 20 running decodes the store code image 60 using an optical reading function (S20). The payment application 20 transmits the first payment information, including the store URL and account ID, to the payment server 100 (S21).

Next, the payment server 100 searches for store information using the affiliated store ID and store ID corresponding to the store URL to obtain the affiliated store name and store name information (S22). Next, the payment server 100 identifies vouchers that can be used at the store from among the vouchers granted to the user (S22#), and transmits the information obtained in S22 and S22# described above to the payment app 20 (S23).

The user selects a voucher on a screen that displays the names of affiliated stores, shop names, and available vouchers, and inputs the payment amount into the user terminal device 10 (S24). The user terminal device 10 transmits information about the selected voucher and the input payment amount to the payment server 100 (S25). The payment server 100 causes the payment app 20 to display usage information indicating the amount used and the number of vouchers used (S26). The user terminal device 10 then generates second payment information including at least the payment amount and consent information, and transmits it to the payment server 100 (S27). The payment server 100 performs electronic payment based on the received second payment information (S28). The payment server 100 performs electronic payment, for example, by subtracting the payment amount from the amount available on the voucher. The payment server 100 then transmits a payment completion notification (information for displaying a payment completion screen) to the payment app 20 (S29), and the payment app 20 displays the payment completion screen (S30).

The payment processing unit 130 determines how many units of a voucher to consume when the user selects a voucher or inputs the payment amount (purchase amount). The criteria for determining how many units to consume are the unit price, maximum number of vouchers that can be used, remaining number of vouchers, and the purchase amount, which the voucher management unit 150 obtains from the voucher information 178.

More specifically, the payment processing unit 130 calculates the unit price multiplied by the number (k) of vouchers owned by the user to be close to the purchase amount but not exceeding the purchase amount. The payment processing unit 130 sets the number (k) in the range of 1 to n (n is a natural number). When the purchase amount in electronic payment is n times or more the unit price of the voucher (a specified amount), the payment processing unit 130 executes the electronic payment using a payment method set in advance by the user in combination with either the charge balance in the electronic payment service or deferred payment by credit card. The payment method used in combination at this time is the combined payment method. The payment processing unit 130 uses the smaller of the maximum number of vouchers used or the remaining number as n.

For example, if a user selects to use vouchers that cost 500 yen each, the maximum number of vouchers that can be used is two, and there are four vouchers remaining in an electronic payment for a purchase amount of 1,000 yen, the payment processing unit 130 decides to make an electronic payment of 1,000 yen using two vouchers. Because the maximum number of vouchers that can be used is two and there are four vouchers remaining, the payment processing unit 130 uses the smaller number "2", which is the maximum number of vouchers that can be used, as n.

For example, if a user selects to use a voucher that costs 500 yen each, the maximum number of vouchers that can be used is two, and there is one voucher remaining for an electronic payment of 1,000 yen, the payment processing unit 130 will use the voucher for 500 yen and make an electronic payment for the remaining 500 yen using a different payment method. Because the maximum number of vouchers that can be used is two and there is one voucher remaining, the payment processing unit 130 will use the smaller number of remaining vouchers, "1," as n.

If the sum of the amount used on the voucher and the available amount of the combined payment method falls short of the purchase amount, the payment processing unit 130 may execute the electronic payment by further using the other combined payment method or by increasing the charge amount through auto-charge.

When making an electronic payment by user scanning, the voucher management unit 150 acquires payment information including store identification information via the communication unit 110 from the user terminal device 10 that has read a store code image including store identification information displayed at the set store, and refers to the user information 172 of the user to determine whether or not the user owns a voucher. If the user owns a voucher, the unit amount to use the voucher, the number of vouchers to be used, and the total amount to be used of the voucher calculated by multiplying the unit amount and the number of vouchers to be used are displayed on the payment app 20.

Figures 9 and 10 are diagrams showing an example of the display of the payment app 20 when making an electronic payment by user scanning. When a user uses the user terminal device 10 to read a store code image 60 containing store identification information presented at a store, the payment server 100 causes the payment app 20 to display an interface screen IM1. The interface screen IM1 is a screen on which the purchase amount can be input. When an operation is performed to select the area displaying the payment method in area AR1, the interface screen IM2 is displayed.

The interface screen IM2 is a screen where the payment method can be selected. When the user wishes to use a voucher, he or she selects the area in area AR2 where "Gift Certificate" is displayed, and the payment server 100 causes the payment app 20 to display the interface screen IM3.

The interface screen IM3 is a screen on which the user can select the gift certificate to be used. The voucher management unit 150 displays in the area AR3 information on the gift certificates owned by the user, obtained from the voucher information 178. When the user performs an operation to select the area on which the gift certificate they wish to use is displayed, the payment server 100 displays the interface screen IM4 on the payment app 20.

Interface screen IM4 in FIG. 10 is a screen that can display the unit amount for using a voucher, the number of vouchers to be used, and the total amount of the voucher obtained by multiplying the unit amount by the number of vouchers to be used. Area AR4 displays "value of one gift certificate," "number of gift certificates used," and "amount of gift certificate used." This information is displayed based on calculations made by the payment processing unit 130 using the purchase amount information entered by the user. When the user checks the displayed content and selects "Next," the payment server 100 causes the payment app 20 to display interface screen IM5.

Interface screen IM5 is a screen where the store confirms whether the purchase amount is correct as the amount to be paid. If the user confirms that the displayed amount is correct as the amount to be paid, they select "Pay", and the payment server 100 causes interface screen IM6 to be displayed on the payment app 20. Interface screen IM6 is a screen where the details of the payment can be confirmed. Because the user used the voucher to make an electronic payment, area AR5 displays "XX Prefecture △△ Town Gift Certificate 1000 Yen", indicating that the user used 1000 yen of the gift certificate they selected. Area AR6 displays "XX Prefecture △△ Town Gift Certificate", indicating that an electronic payment was made using the voucher.

When electronic payment is made by store scanning, the first store terminal device 50 reads a code image containing information that can identify the user and is displayed on the user terminal device 10, and when the voucher management unit 150 obtains the code image from the first store terminal device 50 via the communication unit 110, it references the user information 172 of the user identified from the code image to determine whether or not the user owns a voucher, and if the user owns a voucher, causes the payment app 20 to display the unit amount for using the voucher and the number of vouchers to be used.

If the user has set in advance that the voucher will be used preferentially, the voucher will be automatically applied when an electronic payment request is sent from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50, without the user having to select the voucher. For example, the operations on the interface screens IM1 to IM3 in FIG. 9 are omitted, and the operation starts from the interface screen IM4 in FIG. 10.

When automatically applying a voucher, if there are multiple vouchers available for use at the store where the electronic payment is desired, the payment processing unit 130 will prioritize applying a voucher with an amount that allows the electronic payment to be processed using only the voucher (purchase amount > voucher usage amount). When there are multiple vouchers with an amount that allows the electronic payment to be processed using only the voucher (purchase amount > voucher usage amount), the payment processing unit 130 will prioritize applying the voucher with an expiration date that is closest to the use date. Furthermore, if there are multiple vouchers with the same expiration date, the payment processing unit 130 will automatically apply the voucher that was issued to the user earlier first.

The payment processing unit 130 may perform electronic payment by giving priority to vouchers with the shortest number of days until the expiration date. For example, if a user has a voucher with three months until the expiration date and a voucher with six months until the expiration date, the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment by applying the voucher with three months until the expiration date. The payment processing unit 130 may target vouchers with fewer than a certain number of days until the expiration date. The certain number of days may be determined arbitrarily.

The payment processing unit 130 may automatically apply the voucher only if the user owns a voucher with a short period of time until the expiration date (for example, a certain number of days or less). If the user does not own a voucher with a short period of time until the expiration date, the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment using a payment method other than the payment method using the voucher.

Figure 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the payment server 100 when a user who has set automatic voucher application to on makes an electronic payment. The payment processing unit 130 acquires payment information from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50 (S100). The payment information is information about the electronic payment that the user wants to make, including store identification information.

The payment processing unit 130 determines whether the store can use the voucher from the acquired store identification information (S110). If the store cannot use the voucher, electronic payment is made using the charge balance, etc. (S120).

If the process of S110 determines that the store where the user is attempting to make the electronic payment can use the voucher, the payment processing unit 130 determines whether the user has a valid voucher (S130). If the payment processing unit 130 determines that the user does not have a valid voucher, the payment processing unit 130 makes an electronic payment using the charge balance, etc. (S120).

When the payment processing unit 130 determines that the user has a valid voucher, it obtains information about the valid voucher owned by the user from the voucher information 178 via the voucher management unit 150, and calculates the voucher amount to be used in the electronic payment to be made (S140). This process will be explained using FIG. 12.

The payment processing unit 130 determines whether the purchase amount exceeds the calculated voucher usage amount (S150). If the purchase amount is equal to the voucher usage amount, the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment using the voucher (S160). If the purchase amount exceeds the voucher usage amount, the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment using the voucher in combination with another payment method (S170). This process will be explained using FIG. 13.

Figure 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the payment server 100 in the process of calculating the amount of vouchers used. The payment processing unit 130 calculates the number k (k is within the range of vouchers owned by the user) that is less than or equal to the purchase amount and closest to the purchase amount (S200).

The payment processing unit 130 determines whether k exceeds the maximum number of vouchers that can be used (S210). If k exceeds the maximum number of vouchers that can be used, the payment processing unit 130 sets the maximum number of vouchers that can be used to n (S220).

If k is less than the maximum number of vouchers that can be used, k is set to n (S230). After processing of S220 or S230, the process returns to the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 11.

Figure 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the payment server 100 when electronic payment is made using a voucher in combination with another payment method. Note that the processing of this flowchart illustrates processing using the auto-charge setting, but the auto-charge setting may not be used in electronic payment using a voucher. In the figures following Figure 13, the voucher usage amount is expressed as "VUA (Voucher Usage Amount)", the charge balance is expressed as "CB (Charge Balance)", the deferred payment available amount is expressed as "DP (Deferred Payment)", the auto-charge amount is expressed as "AC (Auto Charge)", and the purchase amount is expressed as "PA (Purchase Amount)". It is assumed that the user has set the combined payment method to payment using the charge balance, set the payment method priorities to charge balance, then deferred payment, and enabled the auto-charge setting.

The payment processing unit 130 determines whether the sum of the voucher usage amount and the charge balance exceeds the purchase amount (VUA+CB>PA) (S300).

If the sum of the voucher usage amount and the charge balance exceeds the purchase amount (VUA+CB>PA), the payment processing unit 130 uses both the voucher usage amount and the charge balance to make an electronic payment (S310). If the sum of the voucher usage amount and the charge balance is less than the purchase amount, the payment processing unit 130 determines whether the sum of the voucher usage amount, the charge balance, and the available deferred payment amount is equal to or greater than the purchase amount (VUA+CB+DP≧PA) (S320).

If the sum of the voucher usage amount, the charge balance, and the available deferred payment amount is equal to or greater than the purchase amount, the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment for the sum of the voucher usage amount, the charge balance, and the available deferred payment amount (S330). If the sum of the voucher usage amount, the charge balance, and the available deferred payment amount is less than the purchase amount, the payment processing unit 130 executes auto-charge and determines whether the sum of the voucher usage amount, the charge balance, the available deferred payment amount, and the auto-charge amount is equal to or greater than the purchase amount (VUA+CB+DP+AC≧PA) (S340).

If the total of the voucher usage amount, the charge balance, the available deferred payment amount, and the auto-charge amount is equal to or greater than the purchase amount, the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment for the total of the voucher usage amount, the charge balance, the available deferred payment amount, and the auto-charge amount (S350). If the total of the voucher usage amount, the charge balance, the available deferred payment amount, and the auto-charge amount is less than the purchase amount, the payment processing unit 130 determines that the payment has failed, and causes the payment application 20 to output an error notification (S360). After the processing of S350 or S360, the processing of this flowchart ends, and the processing returns to the flowchart of FIG. 11.

Figure 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the process of the payment server 100 for automatically applying a voucher when a user owns a voucher with an expiry date approaching. The differences from the flowchart in Figure 11 are explained below.

If it is determined in the process of S110 that the store where the user wishes to make an electronic payment can use the voucher, the payment processing unit 130 determines whether or not the user owns a voucher with a short period of time until the expiration date (S130A). If the user owns a voucher with a short period of time until the expiration date, the payment processing unit 130 proceeds to the process of S140, which calculates the amount of the voucher to be used. The process of S140 in FIG. 14 will be explained in FIG. 15. If the user does not own a voucher with a short period of time until the expiration date, the payment processing unit 130 makes the electronic payment using a payment method other than the voucher (S120).

Figure 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing performed by the payment server 100 for calculating the amount of a voucher used when a voucher with a short number of days remaining until expiration is owned. The differences from the flowchart in Figure 12 are explained below.

The payment processing unit 130 calculates the number k that is less than or equal to the purchase amount and closest to the purchase amount (k is within the range of vouchers owned by the user and has a short number of days until the expiration date) (S200A). By calculating the number of vouchers with a short number of days until the expiration date to be used under this condition, it is possible to use vouchers with an appropriate amount and a short number of days until the expiration date.

According to the embodiment described above, a predetermined amount is set for each unit, and multiple units of an electronic voucher can be purchased. By determining how many units to consume and executing the electronic payment, multiple electronic payments can be made using the voucher. Being able to make multiple electronic payments improves user convenience. In addition, the number of times users visit a store increases in order to use the voucher multiple times, which increases opportunities for elderly people and others to go out.

The above describes the form for carrying out the present invention using an embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

10 User terminal device 20 Payment application 100, 100A Payment server 120, 120A Payment content providing unit 122A Display control unit 130 Payment processing unit 140 Information management unit

Claims (8)

A payment server that provides an electronic payment service in cooperation with a payment application that runs on a user terminal device,
a communication unit that communicates with each of the user terminal device and a first store terminal device;
a voucher management unit for managing information on electronic vouchers that have a set expiration date, can be used at preset stores among stores that can use electronic payment services, have a predetermined amount set for each unit, and can be purchased in multiple units;
a payment processing unit that, when an electronic payment using the voucher is requested from the user terminal device or the first store terminal device, determines how many units of the voucher to consume and executes the electronic payment;
When automatic application of the voucher is set to ON for the electronic payment, acquiring store identification information from the user terminal device or the first store terminal device,
refer to correspondence information in which the store's identification information is associated with information indicating whether the voucher can be used, and if it is determined that the store is a store in which the voucher can be used, identify an n-times the predetermined amount that is equal to or less than the payment amount of the electronic payment and is closest to the payment amount;
If the n-th multiple of the predetermined amount exceeds the maximum number of vouchers to be used, set the number of vouchers to be used to the maximum number of vouchers to be used;
If n times the predetermined amount is equal to or less than the maximum number of vouchers to be used, set the number of vouchers to be used to n times the predetermined amount;
Utilizing a set number of said vouchers to execute said electronic payment;
Payment server. When automatic application of the voucher is set to ON for the electronic payment, acquiring store identification information from the user terminal device or the first store terminal device,
When the store is determined to be a store where the voucher cannot be used by referring to the corresponding information in which the store's identification information is associated with information indicating whether the voucher can be used or the user does not have a voucher that can be used at the store,
Executing the electronic payment using a payment method of an electronic payment service different from that of the voucher;
The payment server according to claim 1 . The payment processing unit,
execute the electronic payment by using the set number of vouchers and either one of a charge balance in the electronic payment service or a deferred payment by credit card;
The payment server according to claim 1 or 2. The payment processing unit gives priority to using the voucher whose expiration date is closest to the use date.
The payment server according to claim 1 or 2. the voucher management unit, when acquiring payment information including the store identification information from the user terminal device that has read a store code image including store identification information displayed at the set store, refers to the user information of the user to determine whether or not the user owns the voucher;
When the user has the voucher, displaying on the payment app a unit amount for using the voucher, the number of vouchers to be used, and a usage amount for the voucher obtained by multiplying the unit amount by the number of vouchers to be used;
The payment server according to claim 1 or 2. the voucher management unit, when the first store terminal device reads a code image including information capable of identifying a user and displayed on the user terminal device and acquires the code image from the first store terminal device via the communication unit, determines whether or not the user owns a voucher by referring to user information of the user identified from the code image;
When the user has the voucher, displaying on the payment app a unit amount for using the voucher, the number of vouchers to be used, and a usage amount for the voucher obtained by multiplying the unit amount by the number of vouchers to be used;
The payment server according to claim 1 or 2. A processor of a payment server that provides an electronic payment service in cooperation with a payment application running on a user terminal device,
Communicating with each of the user terminal device and a first store terminal device;
Manage information on electronic vouchers, which have a set expiration date, can be used at preset stores among stores that can use electronic payment services, have a predetermined amount set for each unit, and can be purchased in multiple units;
When an electronic payment using the voucher is requested from the user terminal device or the first store terminal device, determining how many units of the voucher to consume and executing the electronic payment;
When automatic application of the voucher is set to ON for the electronic payment, acquiring store identification information from the user terminal device or the first store terminal device,
refer to correspondence information in which the store's identification information is associated with information indicating whether the voucher can be used, and if it is determined that the store is a store in which the voucher can be used, identify an n-times the predetermined amount that is equal to or less than the payment amount of the electronic payment and is closest to the payment amount;
If the n-th multiple of the predetermined amount exceeds the maximum number of vouchers to be used, set the number of vouchers to be used to the maximum number of vouchers to be used;
If n times the predetermined amount is equal to or less than the maximum number of vouchers to be used, set the number of vouchers to be used to n times the predetermined amount;
Utilizing a set number of said vouchers to execute said electronic payment;
Payment method. A processor of a payment server that provides an electronic payment service in cooperation with a payment application running on a user terminal device,
A process of communicating with each of the user terminal device and a first store terminal device;
A process for managing information on electronic vouchers that have a set expiration date, can be used at preset stores among stores that offer electronic payment services, have a predetermined amount set for each unit, and can be purchased in multiple units;
a process of determining how many units of the voucher to consume and executing the electronic payment when an electronic payment using the voucher is requested from the user terminal device or the first store terminal device;
a process of acquiring store identification information from the user terminal device or the first store terminal device when automatic application of the voucher is set to on for the electronic payment;
a process of referring to association information in which the store's identification information is associated with information indicating whether the voucher can be used, and when it is determined that the store is a store in which the voucher can be used, identifying an n-times amount of the predetermined amount that is equal to or less than the payment amount of the electronic payment and is closest to the payment amount;
If the n-th multiple of the predetermined amount exceeds the maximum number of vouchers that can be used, the process of setting the number of vouchers to be used to the maximum number of vouchers that can be used;
If n times the predetermined amount is equal to or less than the maximum number of vouchers that can be used, setting the number of vouchers that can be used to n times the predetermined amount;
executing said electronic payment using a set number of said vouchers;
A program for executing.

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