Information processing device, information processing method, program, and system

Abstract

To improve user convenience by allowing users to make effective use of granted privileges.SOLUTION: There is provided an information processing device comprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire, over a given period, first history information on a history of electronic payments executed by a user of an electronic payment service and a second history information on a usage history of one or more privileges granted in the electronic payment service and used by the user in the electronic payments; a search unit configured to search for potential benefits that could have been gained if the user had used the one or more privileges during the given period, by earning the one or more privileges at different times on the basis of the acquired first history information and the second history information; and a control unit for causing a user terminal device of the user to display the retrieved potential benefits.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, a program, and a system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technique for providing a reward to the account of a user who uses an electronic payment service. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for providing a coupon equivalent to an amount according to the user's use of an SNS service to the user's electronic payment service account. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-169977 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the conventional technology does not provide useful information on how to use a benefit such as a coupon after the benefit is given to a user of an electronic payment service. As a result, the user is unable to effectively use the benefit, resulting in low convenience for the user.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide an information processing device, an information processing method, a program, and a system that enable users to effectively utilize the privileges granted to them and improve convenience for users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is an information processing device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires, for a specified period of time, first history information regarding the history of electronic payments performed by a user of an electronic payment service and second history information regarding the usage history of benefits that the user used in the electronic payment among one or more benefits provided on the electronic payment service; a search unit that searches for potential profits that the user could have obtained by using the one or more benefits during the specified period based on the acquired first history information and second history information by varying the timing of acquisition of the one or more benefits; and a control unit that displays the discovered potential profits on a user terminal device of the user. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing device, an information processing method, a program, and a system that enable users to effectively utilize the benefits granted to them and improve convenience for users. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. [Diagram 2] This is a sequence diagram (part 1) illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. [Diagram 3] This is a sequence diagram (part 2) illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. [Figure 4] 1 is a configuration diagram of a payment server 100 according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of user information 172. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store / store information 176. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of coupon information 178. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of history information 180. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a top screen IM of a payment application 20. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a method for using a coupon by a user terminal device 10. [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram showing an example of potential profit calculated by the information management unit 140 and displayed by the user terminal device 10. FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of detailed information on potential benefits regarding membership registration displayed by the user terminal device 10. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of detailed information of potential profits related to unused coupons displayed by the user terminal device 10. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of detailed information on potential benefits regarding the timing of coupon usage displayed by the user terminal device 10. [Figure 15] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by an information management unit 140. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment of an information processing device, an information processing method, a program, and a system of the present invention will be described. Various devices for providing services to users and performing internal analysis, such as a "server", a "management device", and an "information providing device" that will be described below, may be realized by a group of distributed devices, and each device may be operated by a different business operator. Furthermore, the owner of the hardware of the device (the provider of the cloud server) and the business that actually operates the device may also be different. An application program and a payment server work together to provide an electronic payment service. In the following description, the application program is referred to as a payment application. An electronic payment service is a service that supports payments related to the purchase of goods and services at a store. A 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. A virtual store may include a store provided by an entity different from the operator of the electronic payment service. In that case, when making a payment for shopping at a virtual store, the screen is controlled to transition to an interface screen of the electronic payment service. In an electronic payment service, a store is treated as belonging to, for example, an affiliated store (brand), and processing such as payment when a purchase is made at a store is mainly performed between the user and the affiliated store. Alternatively, processing such as payment may be carried out between the user and the store.

[0010] [Electronic payment service] Fig. 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.

[0011] 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 reception function, and a program execution function. In the following description, 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 application 20, thereby operating to provide an electronic payment service to a user in cooperation with a payment server 100. The payment application 20 is installed in the user terminal device 10 from, for example, an application store, and controls the camera, communication device, touch panel, etc.

[0012] 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).

[0013] 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, or the like. 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 corresponding to a store code image and reading a code image displayed by the user terminal device 10 by executing the app for affiliated stores.

[0014] 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 via the affiliated store server to the payment server 100. 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.

[0015] 2 and 3 are sequence diagrams illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. There may be two patterns of electronic payment: pattern 1 and pattern 2.

[0016] 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 an electronic payment service domain to which store-identifying information is added, and is associated with an affiliated store ID, a 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 the store ID corresponding to the store URL, acquires the affiliated store name and the 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 the 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 step of the user inputting the payment amount is omitted, and the information on the payment amount is included in the first payment information and transmitted to the payment server 100. Information on the affiliated store name and the store name may be included in the payment completion screen and displayed.

[0017] In the case of pattern 2 (hereinafter referred to as store scan) shown in FIG. 3, when the payment application 20 is started, when a payment operation is performed in the payment application 20, when an automatic update timing (e.g., every minute) occurs, and at other timings, the payment application 20 transmits a request for issuing a one-time code to the payment server 100 (S11). The payment server 100 generates a one-time code (S12) and transmits it to the payment application 20 (S13). The payment application 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 by an optical reading function and obtains the one-time code, etc. (S15). The first store terminal device 50 then generates payment information including the one-time code, payment amount, affiliated store ID, store ID, etc., and transmits it to the payment server 100 (S16). The payment amount information is acquired in advance by reading a barcode or manually entering it. The payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the one-time code based on the received information and performs electronic payment (S17). The payment server 100 then transmits a payment completion notice to the payment application 20 (S18), and the payment application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S19).

[0018] Note that electronic payment may be performed 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 application 20 may display a code image generated based on the user's account ID. In this case, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the account ID instead of identifying the user corresponding to the one-time code.

[0019] [Payment server] FIG. 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 a circuit unit; 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 (a storage device having a non-transient storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and may be installed in the storage device by mounting the storage medium in a drive device. The function of the information management unit 140 in the payment server 100 is an example of an "information processing device."

[0020] The storage unit 170 is a HDD, a flash memory, a 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, affiliated store / shop information 176, coupon information 178, and history information 180.

[0021] 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.

[0022] The payment content providing unit 120 has, for example, a function of a Web server, 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 appropriately reads necessary content from the payment content information 174 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 above-mentioned payment information and the like to the payment server 100.

[0023] 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.

[0024] FIG. 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, for example, a user URL, an account ID, a telephone number, a password, as well as information associated with 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 usage amount, a deferred payment available amount, a payment method setting, a bank account, a credit card number, charge history information, a follow affiliated store, an acquired coupon, and an owned point. The user URL is used for a remittance process between users. When registering for the 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, and 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 for the electronic payment service (the date on which the account was created). Hereinafter, the user's instance (electronic payment account) to which this information is associated will be referred to as an account.

[0025] The charge balance is information indicating the balance of electronic money that is set by a user by transferring money to an 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 deferred payment available 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. Although only one deferred payment limit is shown in the figure, 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 perform electronic payment using the charge balance or payment by deferred payment at that time. The bank account and credit card number are information on the bank account or credit card number (account number, card number) that can be used to deposit funds into the 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.

[0026] 6 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store / store information 176. The affiliated store / store information 176 includes, for example, a first table 176A in which an affiliated store ID and a store ID are associated with a store URL, a second table 176B in which an affiliated store name and sales amount (described above) are associated with an affiliated store ID, and a third table 176C in which a store ID is associated with a store name. In addition to this information, the affiliated store / store information 176 may also include information such as the category of the affiliated store or store, the location of the store, and payment patterns.

[0027] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of coupon information 178. Coupon information 178 is information in which, for example, coupon ID, affiliated store ID, shop ID, benefit content, use conditions, maximum number of uses, expiration date, and other information are associated. As will be described later, a coupon is a benefit that is issued to a user by an affiliated store and can be used for electronic payment. In the table shown in FIG. 7, the benefit content is information indicating the content of the benefit provided by the coupon corresponding to the coupon ID. For example, a coupon with coupon ID "0001" means that a user can receive a 5% rebate from the payment amount by using the coupon. The use conditions are information indicating the conditions under which the coupon can be used at the time of payment. For example, a coupon with coupon ID "0002" means that the coupon can be used by a user when the user pays 300 yen or more and is registered as a member of the affiliated store. Whether or not the user has registered as a member with the affiliated store can be determined, for example, when the user uses the user terminal device 10 to access an external service (i.e., a service provided by the affiliated store) different from the electronic payment service and registers as a member, the affiliated store server providing the external service shares information indicating the member registration with the payment server 100, and the information management unit 140 can determine whether or not the user has registered as a member with the affiliated store based on the shared member information. Also, for example, as described later with reference to FIG. 10, the information management unit 140 may inquire of the affiliated store server whether or not the user has registered as a member when the user acquires a coupon. In that case, if the information management unit 140 determines that the user has registered as a member, the information management unit 140 may allow the user to acquire the coupon, whereas if the information management unit 140 does not determine that the user has registered as a member, the information management unit 140 may display, on the user terminal device 10, link information to a member registration page provided by the affiliated store server.

[0028] The maximum number of uses is information indicating the maximum number of times a user can receive a benefit by using the same coupon. The expiration date is information indicating the deadline by which the coupon can be used. For example, the number of times a coupon with coupon ID "0001" can be used is two times, so if a user makes electronic payments of 300 yen, 800 yen, 1200 yen, and 600 yen at the affiliated store that issued the coupon within the expiration date (September 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023) after obtaining the coupon, 40 points and 60 points equivalent to a 5% rebate will be awarded for the electronic payments of 800 yen and 1200 yen, respectively, and the use of the coupon will end.

[0029] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the history information 180. The history information 180 is recorded for each user, and is associated with information such as a payment ID, date and time, affiliated store ID, store ID, payment amount, and used coupon. The payment ID is identification information for identifying each electronic payment performed by the user. The date and time is information indicating the date and time when the electronic payment identified by the payment ID was performed. The payment amount is information indicating the payment amount of the electronic payment performed by the user. The used coupon is a coupon ID indicating the coupon when the user used the coupon in the electronic payment. When the used coupon does not include a coupon ID, this means that the user performed the electronic payment at the store without using the coupon. Among the history information 180, the history information including at least the payment amount is an example of the "first history information", and the history information including at least the used coupon is an example of the "second history information".

[0030] The information management unit 140 manages user information 172, payment content information 174, affiliated store / store information 176, coupon information 178, and history information 180 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, affiliated store / store information 176, coupon information 178, and history information 180. The information management unit 140 is an example of the "acquisition unit," "search unit," and "control unit" in the claims.

[0031] [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, and 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.

[0032] 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 a 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, a credit card provided by the operator of the electronic payment service may be required. The amount used for deferred payment is settled on the payment date of the following month, for example, by debiting from a bank account, for one month. 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.

[0033] [Top page] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the top screen IM of the payment application 20. The top screen IM displays a code image CD. The code image CD includes, for example, a barcode and a QR code. In addition, together with the code image CD, text (in the figure, "Pay with balance") is displayed indicating whether to perform electronic payment using the charge balance or to perform electronic payment by deferred payment. This text is drawn by the payment application 20 based on information updated by the payment application 20 every time the changeover switch SW is operated. The top screen IM also includes an operation area CA including the changeover switch SW, and a transition button TB. This will be described later. Note that the "switch" and "button" are GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) realized in cooperation with a touch panel. The changeover switch SW accepts an operation to switch between performing electronic payment using the charge balance or to perform electronic payment by deferred payment. The changeover switch SW is set to perform electronic payment using the charge balance by default, and every time the changeover switch SW is operated by the user, the setting is switched between performing electronic payment using the charge balance and performing electronic payment by deferred payment. In the figure, the explanation "Postpaid" is displayed, which means that the setting is for postpaid electronic payment. The operation area CA has buttons for instructing the main operations in electronic payment, such as a button for scanning (starting a user scan) and a button for charging. When the transition button TB is operated, the screen transitions to a payment screen that displays the code image used for electronic payment and the available balance.

[0034] Below the operation area CA, for example, a group of buttons (switches) M1 to M2 for activating a mini app are further displayed. A mini app is an app that operates using the payment app 20 as a platform and provides some kind of service. A service provider develops a mini app by referring to a Software Development Kit (SDK), which is a program and technical documentation for app development provided by an administrator of the payment app 20. A mini app is an app that operates, for example, while the payment app 20 is activated. For example, a part or all of the mini app may be installed when the payment app 20 is installed, or a part or all of the mini app may be installed from a service server corresponding to the mini app. For example, when the mini app is activated, a service server (not shown) that provides a service corresponding to the mini app is accessed, and the mini app and the service server work together to provide the service to the user. At this time, the service server may be the payment server 100 itself, or may be an external server different from the payment server 100. 7, as an example, a button M1 for a mini-app that provides a coupon function (including a coupon and a second coupon) described below, and a button M2 for a mini-app that provides a function for asset management of a charge balance are displayed, but buttons for launching various types of mini-apps, such as a payment app for paying public transportation fares, may be displayed. Furthermore, separate buttons may be provided for the coupon and the second coupon described below.

[0035] [Use coupon] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of how a coupon can be used by the user terminal device 10. The screen on the left side of Fig. 10 represents a screen displayed on the user terminal device 10 when, for example, the user accesses a dedicated page of an affiliated store of the electronic payment service via the payment application 20 of the user terminal device 10. This screen is displayed, for example, when the user clicks the coupon button M1 on the top screen IM of Fig. 9 and searches for a store that offers a coupon.

[0036] The affiliated store dedicated page includes, for example, an area A1 in which summary information of the affiliated store is displayed, a button B1 for following the affiliated store, and an area A2 in which detailed information of the affiliated store is displayed switchably by tabs. When the user presses the follow button B1, the payment application 20 transmits information indicating that the follow button B1 has been pressed together with the user's identification information (e.g., account ID) to the payment server 100, and the information management unit 140 stores the identification information of the affiliated store (e.g., affiliated store ID) in "followed affiliated store" of the user information 172. As a result, for example, every time the affiliated store updates the content of the affiliated store dedicated page, the payment server 100 notifies the user via the payment application 20 that the content of the affiliated store dedicated page has been updated.

[0037] In FIG. 10, for example, when the user taps on "Coupon," one of the tabs included in area A2, coupons that the user can currently use for electronic payment at the store are displayed. When the user, for example, follows an affiliated store and presses button B2 for acquiring a coupon, the payment application 20 transmits information indicating that the Acquire button B2 has been pressed together with the user's identification information (e.g., account ID) to the payment server 100, and the information management unit 140 stores the identification information (e.g., coupon ID) of the coupon acquired by the user in "Acquired coupon" of the user information 172. This allows the user to be associated with the coupon acquired by the user.

[0038] After the user acquires the coupon, when the user terminal device 10 executes the electronic payment, the information management unit 140 refers to the coupon information 178 and judges whether the electronic payment satisfies the use conditions of the coupon acquired by the user and is within the upper limit number of times of use and the expiration date. If the information management unit 140 judges that the electronic payment satisfies the use conditions of the coupon acquired by the user and is within the upper limit number of times of use and the expiration date, the information management unit 140 grants the user a benefit according to the coupon content. For example, in the case of the coupon ID "C0001" of the coupon information 178 shown in FIG. 7, if the information management unit 140 judges that the user's payment amount is "500 yen" or more, the electronic payment is within the upper limit number of times of use "2 times" and the expiration date is "September 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023", the information management unit 140 grants points equivalent to 5% of the payment amount.

[0039] Thereafter, the payment application 20 displays, as a payment completion screen, an area A3 displaying the payment store, an area A4 displaying the payment amount, and an area A5 displaying the granted benefit. The right part of FIG. 10 shows, as an example, a case where 25 yen points are granted for a payment of 500 yen in response to the user acquiring a 5% off coupon. In this case, the information management unit 140 stores the 25 yen worth of points in the "owned points" of the user information 172, and the payment processing unit 130 preferentially subtracts the owned points from the payment amount at the user's next electronic payment, and subtracts the remaining amount from the charge balance or the available amount for later payment. In another embodiment, the coupon may be subtracted directly from the payment amount on the day without being added as points available for payment.

[0040] [Operation of Information Management Department] In this way, a user can receive benefits such as points by, for example, visiting a page dedicated to an affiliated store to obtain a coupon provided by the affiliated store and making an electronic payment using the obtained coupon. However, in the conventional technology, a user does not necessarily know all types of coupons that can be used for his / her electronic payment, and even if he / she uses a coupon, he / she does not necessarily use it in a way that maximizes his / her profit. As a result, the user cannot effectively use the provided benefits, and the coupon system provided by the conventional technology may be less convenient for the user.

[0041] In light of the above circumstances, in this embodiment, the information management unit 140 acquires history information 180 for a predetermined period, calculates potential profits that the user could have gained by using coupons during the predetermined period for each of a plurality of categories based on the acquired history information 180, and displays the calculated potential history for each of the plurality of categories on the user terminal device 10. The process executed by the information management unit 140 will be described in detail below.

[0042] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of potential profits calculated by the information management unit 140 and displayed by the user terminal device 10. As an example, the potential profits shown in Fig. 11 are calculated by the information management unit 140 for a predetermined period of one month based on the history information 180 shown in Fig. 8, and displayed on the user terminal device 10. The screen shown in Fig. 11 may be displayed when the user selects the coupon button M1 on the top screen shown in Fig. 9 and then further selects the report screen, or may be displayed on the user terminal device 10 by, for example, a push notification without the user making a selection.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 11, the information management unit 140 displays, for example, on the user terminal device 10, an area A6 showing points acquired by the user using coupons during a predetermined period, and areas A7 to A9 for displaying the user's potential profits for each of a plurality of categories. The area A7 represents a category related to potential profits that would have been acquired by using coupons that the user can use because the user has already registered with an external service different from the electronic payment service. For example, in the history information 180 shown in FIG. 8, the user makes an electronic payment of 900 yen on September 17th without using a coupon with coupon ID "C0002" that would have been acquired if the user had registered as a member with the affiliated store ID "24685". That is, in this case, the user has missed out on acquiring 45 points that would have been acquired by using the coupon, and therefore the information management unit 140 displays, as the user's potential profits, information in the area A7 indicating that the user could have acquired an additional 45 points if the user had registered as a member. At this time, the information management unit 140 may further display a button B3 for checking details of potential benefits related to membership registration, and transition to a page detailing the potential benefits in response to the user clicking the button.

[0044] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of detailed information of potential benefits related to membership registration displayed by the user terminal device 10. The screen shown in FIG. 12 is displayed, for example, when the user presses button B3 on the screen shown in FIG. 11. As shown in area A10 of FIG. 12, the information management unit 140 displays, as detailed information of potential benefits, information indicating, for example, when the user registered as a member of an external service during a predetermined period and acquired a coupon, the potential benefits could have actually been received. For example, in the case of the history information 180 shown in FIG. 8, the information management unit 140 displays, on the user terminal device 10, information indicating that the user could have actually received the potential benefits (i.e., 45 points) if the user registered as a member of an external service before September 17 and acquired a coupon. At this time, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 12, the information management unit 140 may display, on the user terminal device 10, an external link for transitioning to a dedicated page for registering as a member of an external service as button B6. In this way, by displaying an external link to the member registration page together with detailed information on the potential benefits of member registration, it is possible to encourage users to register as members and increase convenience for those users.Furthermore, it is possible to effectively support the promotional activities of affiliated stores that wish to promote member registration.

[0045] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 11, the area A8 represents a category related to potential profits that the user would have obtained by using a coupon that the user did not use during a predetermined period. For example, in the history information 180 shown in FIG. 8, the user made an electronic payment of 1,400 yen on September 22nd without using a coupon with a coupon ID of "C0003" issued by a member store with an ID of "472213". That is, in this case, the user failed to obtain 42 points that would have been obtained by using the coupon, so the information management unit 140 displays information in the area A8 indicating that the user would have been able to obtain an additional 42 points if the coupon had been obtained, as the user's potential profit. At this time, the information management unit 140 may further display a button B4 for checking details of potential profits related to the unused coupon, and transition to a page of details of potential profits in response to a click by the user.

[0046] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of detailed information of potential profits related to unused coupons displayed by the user terminal device 10. The screen shown in FIG. 13 is displayed, for example, when the user presses the button B4 on the screen shown in FIG. 11. As shown in an area A11 in FIG. 13, the information management unit 140 displays, as detailed information of potential profits, information indicating, for example, when the user had acquired the coupon during a predetermined period, the potential profits could have actually been received. For example, in the case of the history information 180 shown in FIG. 8, the information management unit 140 displays, on the user terminal device 10, information indicating that the user could have actually received the potential profits (i.e., 42 points) if the coupon had been acquired before September 22. At this time, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 13, the information management unit 140 may display, on the user terminal device 10, an external link for transitioning to a dedicated page of the affiliated store as a button B7, or, if the affiliated store has issued another coupon, may display an acquisition button B8 for acquiring the coupon. In another embodiment, the information management unit 140 may cause the user terminal device 10 to display the affiliated store follow button B1 shown in Fig. 10. As a result, as described above, for example, a notification is sent to the user terminal device 10 every time an affiliated store issues a new coupon. In this way, by displaying an external link to an affiliated store's dedicated page, a coupon acquisition button B8, a follow button B1, etc. together with detailed information on potential profits related to unused coupons, it is possible to encourage users to acquire coupons and increase convenience for the users.

[0047] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 11, area A9 represents a category related to potential benefits that a user could have obtained by changing (advancing) the timing of coupon usage (acquisition timing) during a predetermined period. For example, in the history information 180 shown in FIG. 8, the user used a coupon with coupon ID "C0001" issued by a member store with member store ID "651874" for an electronic payment of 800 yen on September 21 and an electronic payment of 1000 yen on September 27, and acquired 90 points. On the other hand, if the user had acquired the coupon before September 11 and used it for an electronic payment of 1700 yen on September 11 and an electronic payment of 800 yen on September 21, the user would have acquired 125 points. That is, in this case, the user misses out on the 35 points that could have been obtained by using the coupon earlier, so the information management unit 140 displays in area A9, as a potential benefit to the user, information indicating that the user could have obtained an additional 35 points if the coupon had been obtained earlier. At this time, the information management unit 140 may further display a button B5 for checking details of the potential benefit related to the timing of coupon use, and transition to a page detailing the potential benefit in response to the user's click.

[0048] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of detailed information of potential benefits related to the timing of coupon use, displayed by the user terminal device 10. The screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed, for example, when the user presses button B5 on the screen shown in FIG. 11. As shown in area A12 of FIG. 14, the information management unit 140 displays, as detailed information of potential benefits, information indicating, for example, how early in a predetermined period the user would have been able to receive the potential benefits if the coupon had been acquired. For example, in the case of the history information 180 shown in FIG. 8, the information management unit 140 displays, on the user terminal device 10, information indicating that the user would have actually been able to receive the potential benefits (i.e., 35 points) if the coupon had been acquired before September 11. At this time, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 14, the information management unit 140 may display, in more detail, in area A13, information that allows comparison between the actual coupon use timing by the user and the usage timing at which more points could have been acquired. Furthermore, the information management unit 140 may also display an external link to a member store page and coupon information that can be currently obtained, as in the case of Fig. 13. In this way, by displaying information that allows a comparison between the actual coupon usage timing by the user and the usage timing at which more points could have been obtained, an external link to a member store page, a coupon acquisition button, etc., together with detailed information on the potential benefits related to the timing of coupon usage, it is possible to encourage users to acquire coupons and increase convenience for the users.

[0049] In the above description of FIG. 14, the information management unit 140 calculates the potential profit to be gained by advancing the timing of using the coupon as the potential profit related to the timing of using the coupon, and displays it on the user terminal device 10. On the other hand, depending on the contents of the history information 180, the user may be able to obtain larger points by delaying the timing of using the coupon. However, the information management unit 140 does not calculate the potential profit to be gained by delaying the timing of using the coupon, but calculates only the potential profit to be gained by advancing the timing of using the coupon. This is because there is a concern that presenting the potential profit to be gained by delaying the timing of using the coupon to the user may stagnate the user's coupon acquisition behavior. By calculating and displaying only the potential profit to be gained by advancing the timing of using the coupon, it is possible to reduce the processing load of the information management unit 140 while promoting the user's coupon acquisition behavior.

[0050] 11 to 14, for the sake of convenience, an example has been described in which the potential profit related to member registration, the potential profit related to unused coupons, and the potential profit related to the timing of coupon usage each apply to a single coupon. However, more generally, the information management unit 140 can calculate the potential profits even when the potential profit related to member registration, the potential profit related to unused coupons, and the potential profit related to the timing of coupon usage each apply to a plurality of coupons, by comprehensively extracting candidate coupons that the user has used or could have used in a predetermined period of time in the past based on the history information 180 and comprehensively searching for combinations of the acquisition timing of the extracted candidate coupons.

[0051] In this case, for example, when there are multiple coupons that correspond to the potential profit related to the membership registration, the information management unit 140 may display the total value of the potential profit of these coupons as the potential profit related to the membership registration in the area A7 of the screen shown in FIG. 11, or may display the potential profit for each coupon. Furthermore, in this case, the information management unit 140 may display multiple external links for performing membership registration for multiple external services on the screen shown in FIG. 12. Similarly, when there are multiple coupons that correspond to the potential profit related to the unused coupon, the information management unit 140 may display the total value of the potential profit of these coupons as the potential profit related to the unused coupon in the area A8 of the screen shown in FIG. 11, or may display the potential profit for each coupon. Similarly, when there are multiple coupons that correspond to the potential profit related to the timing of coupon use, the information management unit 140 may display the total value of the potential profit of these coupons as the potential profit related to the timing of coupon use in the area A9 of the screen shown in FIG. 11, or may display the potential profit for each coupon. When displaying potential profits for each coupon, information management unit 140 may separately calculate the timing of coupon acquisition corresponding to each potential profit and display it on user terminal device 10. Furthermore, for example, information management unit 140 may identify a single coupon acquisition timing at which the sum of the potential profits of each coupon is maximized and display it on user terminal device 10. This allows the user to know the coupon acquisition timing at which the potential profit is maximized by a single access, without having to access payment app 20 multiple times.

[0052] Further, in the above description of FIG. 11 to FIG. 14, the information management unit 140 calculates and displays the maximum potential profit for the user (except when the timing of using the coupon is delayed). Meanwhile, as another embodiment, the information management unit 140 may calculate and display the potential profit that the user would have gained if he or she had registered as a member and acquired the coupon at the initial timing when the coupon was issued (for example, the first day of the validity period of the coupon). For example, in the case of FIG. 13, the information management unit 140 displays on the user terminal device 10 the value and timing at which the potential profit is maximized (i.e., 42 points on September 22) as the potential profit related to the unused coupon, but the information management unit 140 may calculate and display the potential profit that the user would have gained if the user had acquired the coupon on the first day of the validity period. In this case, the information management unit 140 displays on the user terminal device 10, on the screen shown in FIG. 13, information indicating that 30 points could have been acquired for the payment on September 20 as the potential profit related to the unused coupon. This configuration can encourage users to acquire coupons at an early stage.

[0053] In general, the potential profit obtained when the coupon is acquired at an early timing (e.g., the first day) of the valid period is equal to or less than the potential profit obtained when the coupon is actually acquired earlier (this is because the actual acquisition timing of the coupon is necessarily after the early timing of the valid period of the coupon). When these potential profits have the same value, the information management unit 140 may cause the user terminal device 10 to display the period from the former timing to the latter timing as the timing when the potential profit of the coupon is maximized. For example, in the case of FIG. 14, the potential profit obtained when the coupon is acquired at the first day of the valid period (i.e., September 1) and the potential profit obtained when the coupon is acquired before September 11 are the same value (i.e., 35 points), so the information management unit 140 may cause the user terminal device 10 to display the period from September 1 to September 11 as the timing when the potential profit of the coupon is maximized. In another embodiment, the information management unit 140 may display, by default, the potential profit that would have been obtained if the coupon had been acquired at an early timing of the validity period, and display the potential profit that would have been obtained if the actual coupon had been acquired earlier only if the potential profit that would have been obtained if the actual coupon had been acquired earlier exceeds the potential profit. In either case, the information management unit 140 may display either the initial timing corresponding to the potential profit or the timing at which the actual coupon was acquired earlier, or both.

[0054] [Processing flow] Next, a process flow executed by the information management unit 140 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 15. Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow executed by the information management unit 140. The process of the flowchart shown in Fig. 15 is executed every time a predetermined period of time, such as one month, elapses.

[0055] First, the information management unit 140 acquires history information 180 for each user for a predetermined period (step S100). Next, the information management unit 140 deletes records from the history information 180 for which there are no applicable coupons based on the coupon information 178 (step S102). The records of the history information 180 remaining after this process are records related to electronic payments for which the user used a coupon during the predetermined period, and electronic payments for which the user did not use a coupon even though the coupon was available during the predetermined period.

[0056] Next, the information management unit 140 classifies the remaining records of the history information 180 into groups to which only a single coupon can be applied (step S104). For example, in the case of the history information 180 shown in Fig. 8, the information management unit 140 classifies the records into a group including records of payment IDs "T0100", "T0101", "T0104", "T0106", and "T0107" to which only the coupon ID "C0001" can be applied, a group including records of payment ID "T0102" to which only the coupon ID "C0002" can be applied, and a group including records of payment IDs "T0103" and "T0105" to which only the coupon ID "C0003" can be applied.

[0057] Next, the information management unit 140 identifies a category of potential profit for each classified group (step S106). For example, the information management unit 140 may determine whether each group falls into either the category of potential profit related to membership registration or the category of potential profit related to unused coupons, and automatically classify a group determined not to fall into either of these into the category of potential profit related to the timing of coupon use. Next, the information management unit 140 comprehensively searches for the timing of coupon acquisition for each classified group to calculate potential profit (step S108). Next, the information management unit 140 transmits the calculated total value of potential profit and its detailed information (for example, potential profit for each group, coupon acquisition timing that maximizes potential profit, link information to external services, etc.) to the user terminal device 10, and displays them by category (step S110). This ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0058] According to the embodiment described above, first history information on the history of electronic payments executed by a user of an electronic payment service and second history information on the usage history of benefits used by the user in electronic payments among one or more benefits provided on the electronic payment service are acquired for a predetermined period, potential profits that the user would have gained by using one or more benefits during the predetermined period are searched for based on the acquired first history information and second history information by varying the timing of acquisition of the one or more benefits, and the potential profits searched for are displayed on the user terminal device of the user. This allows the user to effectively use the granted benefits, improving convenience for the user.

[0059] 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 within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 10 User terminal device 20. Payment App 100 Payment Server 120 Payment Contents Provider 130 Payment processing unit 140 Information Management Department 170 Storage section

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires, for a predetermined period of time, first history information on a history of electronic payments executed by a user of an electronic payment service, and second history information on a usage history of a privilege that the user used in the electronic payment, among one or more privileges provided on the electronic payment service; a search unit that searches for potential benefits that the user could have obtained by using the one or more benefits during the predetermined period based on the acquired first history information and the acquired second history information by varying the timing of obtaining the one or more benefits; and a control unit that displays the searched potential profit on a user terminal device of the user. Information processing device.

2. The search unit searches for the potential benefit by the user by accelerating the timing of obtaining the benefit, not by delaying the timing of obtaining the benefit. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The search unit searches for potential benefits that the user would have gained by acquiring the benefit at the start timing of the validity period of the benefit. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

4. The control unit causes the user terminal device to display information indicating the acquisition timing corresponding to the potential profit together with the potential profit. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

5. The computer Acquire, for a predetermined period of time, first history information on a history of electronic payments executed by a user of an electronic payment service, and second history information on a usage history of a benefit used by the user in the electronic payment, among one or more benefits provided on the electronic payment service; Based on the acquired first history information and the acquired second history information, exploring potential benefits that the user could have obtained by using the one or more benefits during the specified period by varying the timing of obtaining the one or more benefits; displaying the explored potential profits on a user terminal device of the user; Information processing methods.

6. On the computer, acquiring, for a predetermined period of time, first history information relating to a history of electronic payments executed by a user of an electronic payment service, and second history information relating to a usage history of a benefit used by the user in the electronic payment, among one or more benefits provided on the electronic payment service; Based on the acquired first history information and the acquired second history information, a potential benefit that the user would have obtained by using the one or more benefits during the predetermined period is explored by varying the timing of obtaining the one or more benefits; displaying the explored potential profits on a user terminal device of the user; program.

7. A system including an information processing device and a user terminal device, The information processing device includes: Acquire, for a predetermined period of time, first history information relating to a history of electronic payments executed by a user of an electronic payment service, and second history information relating to a usage history of a benefit used by the user in the electronic payment, among one or more benefits provided on the electronic payment service; Based on the acquired first history information and the acquired second history information, exploring potential benefits that the user could have obtained by using the one or more benefits during the specified period by varying the timing of obtaining the one or more benefits; Transmitting the explored potential profits to the user terminal device; The user terminal device displays the received potential profit on the user terminal device of the user. system.

Images