Service providing device, service providing system, notification control method, and program

Abstract

To provide a service providing device, a service providing system, a notification control method, and a program that can improve the complexity of notifications in individual applications.SOLUTION: A service providing device provides a service to a user of a terminal device in cooperation with an application program running on the terminal device. The service providing device includes: a category determination unit that determines a category regarding display of a notification in the application program according to a transmission source of the notification; and a notification transmitting unit that transmits information for including and displaying category information about the determined category in the notification to the terminal device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a service providing device, a service providing system, a notification control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] A technique has been proposed for associating notifications from different applications based on the consistency of semantic feature values ​​of the notification messages in the applications (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This technique is convenient because it allows users to easily refer to highly related notifications even if they are from different applications. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6783382 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in recent years, the number of notifications handled by each application has increased, and the notifications have become complicated even for each application, making it difficult for users to check them. In contrast, conventional technologies associate notifications from different applications, and therefore have not always been able to improve the complexity of notifications in each application.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a service providing device, a service providing system, a notification control method, and a program that can improve the complexity of notifications in individual applications. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a service providing device that cooperates with an application program running on a terminal device to provide a service to a user of the terminal device, and that includes: a category determination unit that determines a category for displaying a notification in the application program based on the sender of the notification; and a notification sending unit that sends information to the terminal device for displaying category information for the determined category in the notification. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a service providing device, a service providing system, a notification control method, and a program that can reduce the complexity of notifications in individual applications. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the general flow of electronic payment. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the general flow of electronic payment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a payment server 100. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of user information 172. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store / store information 176. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of a notification control unit 140. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a second example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a third example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a fourth example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a fifth example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The following describes the service providing device, service providing system, notification control method, and program of the present invention with reference to the drawings. The service providing system is realized by one or more processors. The service providing system is a system that provides services such as electronic payment services. In the following description, the service providing system and service providing device are assumed to provide electronic payment services and are referred to as an "electronic payment system" and a "payment server." However, the service providing system and service providing device may also provide any service that requires login, such as shopping, auctions, chat, microblogging, or other services. An electronic payment service is a service that supports payments for the purchase of goods or services at a store. A store is, for example, a physical store (real-world store) that exists in real space. In an electronic payment service, a store is treated as belonging to, for example, an affiliated store (brand), and when a purchase is made at a store, processing such as payment is primarily conducted between the user and the affiliated store. Alternatively, processing such as payment may be conducted between the user and the store.

[0010] [Electronic payment service] Figure 1 shows 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, etc.

[0011] The user terminal device 10 is, for example, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or 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 application 20, which operates in cooperation with the payment server 100 to provide electronic payment services to users. The payment application 20 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, tablet terminal, personal computer, etc. An interface for affiliated stores 72 runs on the second store terminal device 70. The interface for affiliated stores 72 may be an app for affiliated stores or a browser. The interface for affiliated stores 72 accepts coupon settings and the like from 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 the code image displayed by the user terminal device 10 by executing the app for affiliated stores.

[0014] The payment server 100 cooperates with the payment app 20 running on the user terminal device 10 to provide an electronic payment service to the user of the user terminal device 10. The payment server 100 performs 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 this case, payment information is sent from the POS device to the payment server 100 via the affiliated store server. In the following description, this distinction is not made and payment information is assumed to be sent from the first store terminal device 50. The payment server 100 performs electronic payment by, for example, 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, but rather the amount corresponding to the item value of the sales is transferred to a bank account at a cycle determined by an agreement between the affiliated store and the electronic payment service. Electronic payments may include those that allow purchases of amounts greater than the balance at the time of purchase, using methods such as revolving payments or credit payments.

[0015] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the general flow of electronic payment. Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the general flow of electronic payment. Figures 2 and 3 are sequence diagrams illustrating an example of 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 running, decodes the store code image 60 using its 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 store identification information has been added, and is associated with an affiliated store ID, store ID, etc. in the payment server 100 (described below). The payment application 20 sends first payment information including the store URL and account ID to the payment server 100 (S2). The payment server 100 searches for store information (described below) using the affiliated store ID and store ID corresponding to the store URL, acquires the affiliated store name and store name information (S3), and sends this to the payment application 20 (S4). The user enters the payment amount into the user terminal device 10 on the screen displaying the affiliated store name and store name (S5). The user terminal device 10 then generates second payment information including at least the payment amount and sends it to the payment server 100 (S6). The payment server 100 completes the electronic payment as described above based on the received second payment information (S7). The payment server 100 then sends 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 information on the payment amount in addition to the store URL. In this case, the procedure for the user to input the payment amount is omitted, and the payment amount information is included in the first payment information and sent to the payment server 100. Information on the affiliated store name and store name may be included and displayed on the payment completion screen.

[0017] In the case of pattern 2 (hereinafter referred to as store scan) shown in FIG. 3, when the payment app 20 is launched, when a payment operation is performed in the payment app 20, or when the automatic update timing arrives, 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 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 in-store terminal device 50, and the first in-store terminal device 50 decodes the code image using its optical reading function and acquires the one-time code (S15). The first in-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). Information on the payment amount has been acquired in advance by reading a barcode, manually entering, etc. Based on the received information, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the one-time code and completes the electronic payment as described above (S17). Then, the payment server 100 sends 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, issuing a one-time code may be omitted in store scanning, 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. The payment server 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a payment content providing unit 122, a payment processing unit 124, an information management unit 130, a notification control unit 140, and a storage unit 170. The components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 170 are implemented by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be implemented by hardware (including circuitry) such as a large-scale integration (LSI), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a graphics processing unit (GPU), or may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device with a non-transitory storage medium) such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed in the storage device by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

[0020] 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.

[0021] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for connecting to the network NW, and is, for example, a network interface card.

[0022] The payment content providing unit 122 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 122 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 from the user while 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 124 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 124 performs payment processing while referring to the user information 172.

[0024] The information management unit 130 creates new records of user information 172 and updates each data item in already created records based on information obtained from the user terminal device 10, the first store terminal device 50, the second store terminal device 70, etc.

[0025] The notification control unit 140 controls notifications to users of the electronic payment service. More specifically, the notification control unit 140 controls the sending of notifications and the display of notifications on the user terminal device 10. On the user terminal device 10, notifications from the payment server 100 can be displayed by the payment app 20.

[0026] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of user information 172. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of user information 172. User information 172 is an example of user registration information. User information 172 is, for example, a user URL, account ID, phone number, password, as well as an email address, user ID, name, address, date of birth, registration date, charge balance, bank account, credit card number, other service link information, radio wave authentication setting, carrier payment setting, chat friend list, charge history information, payment history information, chat history information, notification history information, and notification setting information, which are associated with the user information. When registering for an electronic payment service, registration of a phone number and password is required. The account ID is issued to the user by payment server 100, and can be set by the user (or does not have to be set). Other information, other than the user URL, account ID, phone number, password, registration date, charge balance, charge history information, and payment history information, can be set by the user. Hereinafter, a user instance (electronic payment account) to which this information is associated is referred to as an account. The user URL is used for processing remittances between users. The registration date is the date the user registered for the electronic payment service (the date the account was created).

[0027] The charge balance is information indicating the balance of electronic money set by a user by transferring funds to the account in advance. Transfer methods include transfers from an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) of a designated service provider (bank) or from a registered bank account. The bank account and credit card number are information (account number, card number) of a bank account or credit card number that can be used to deposit funds into the electronic payment service. The other service link information is the login ID of another service that links with the electronic payment service (for example, operated by an operator belonging to the same business group). The radio wave authentication setting is setting information for authentication through communication with a specific telecommunications carrier. The carrier payment setting is setting information for transferring at least a portion of payments made using the electronic payment service to a telecommunications carrier. The chat friend list is a list of other users who can chat with the user using the chat function provided by the electronic payment service. The charge history information is a history of the user's transfers to the electronic payment service in advance to increase the charge balance. The payment history information is information that shows the details of the payment made by the user for each payment (date and time, store ID of the store where the purchase was made, payment amount, etc.). The chat history information is a history of the content of the chats that the user has had.

[0028] The notification history information is information indicating the history of notifications sent to users by the payment server 100. The notification history information includes information such as the content of the message sent, the date and time the notification was sent, and whether the notification has been read. The notification setting information is setting information related to the display of notifications on the user terminal device 10.

[0029] 6 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store / store information 176. 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 IDs. In addition to this information, affiliated store / store information 176 may also include information such as affiliated store or store categories, store locations, and payment patterns.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of notification control unit 140. Notification control unit 140 includes, for example, category determination unit 142, notification transmission unit 144, priority determination unit 146, and unread message counting unit 148. Category determination unit 142 determines the category for displaying notifications by payment application 20 according to the sender of the notification. More specifically, category determination unit 142 selects the category of the notification to be sent to user terminal device 10 from a group of categories including a first category, which is a category of notifications from electronic payment service providers to users of the electronic payment service, and a second category, which is a category of notifications from affiliated stores of the electronic payment service to users of the affiliated stores. Note that categories may have hierarchical subcategories.

[0031] The notification sending unit 144 includes category information about the category determined by the category determining unit 142 in a notification and sends it to the user terminal device 10. Here, the notification may be meta information or the notification content itself (for example, text or an image). The notification may also be information for displaying the category information included in the notification content, or information including category information so that the category can be recognized separately from the notification content. Note that if a category has hierarchical subcategories, the notification sending unit 144 may change the notification sending frequency based on the attributes of the subcategories and the content of the notifications belonging to the subcategories.

[0032] In this way, by transmitting a notification including category information, payment application 20 in user terminal device 10 can recognize the category of the notification received from payment server 100 and display the notification in association with that category. Furthermore, if a category has hierarchical subcategories, payment application 20 can display information about the received notification by attaching it to the corresponding subcategory among the subcategories of the category of the notification.

[0033] Priority determination unit 146 determines display priorities for multiple categories based on the user's electronic payment service usage history or user behavior history, and notifies payment application 20. By being notified of such priorities, payment application 20 in user terminal device 10 can change the display modes of multiple categories according to the priorities.

[0034] For categories having subcategories hierarchically, unread notification counting unit 148 recognizes whether or not to include unread notifications in the counting, based on setting information registered in advance for each subcategory, and counts the unread notifications, and notifies payment application 20 of the counting result. By being notified of such counting results for unread notifications, payment application 20 can display the number of unread notifications, excluding unread notifications that are not subject to counting, in association with the category or subcategory on user terminal device 10. Regarding the setting of this unread notification counting, payment application 20 accepts a setting operation for each subcategory as to whether or not to include unread notifications in the counting, and transmits the setting information to payment server 100.

[0035] [Notification Control] Hereinafter, specific examples of notification control performed by payment server 100 and payment application 20 will be described with reference to the display examples of notification screens shown in FIGS.

[0036] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a first display example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. Notification screen G100A shown in FIG. 8 displays notifications categorized into categories and subcategories. For example, notification screen G100A includes an application tab G110, an affiliated store tab G120, and a mini-app tab G130 for displaying notifications categorized into multiple categories. In the example of FIG. 8, the application tab G110 is an example of the first category described above and primarily displays notifications from electronic payment service providers to users. Meanwhile, the affiliated store tab G120 is an example of the second category described above and primarily displays notifications from affiliated stores of electronic payment services to users. Note that indicator G140 indicates the currently selected tab and is displayed in association with the selected tab in response to a tab selection operation.

[0037] Furthermore, the mini app tab G130 is an example of a third category, which is different from the first and second categories. Specifically, the third category is a category of notifications sent to users from a provider of a second service when the payment application 20 has a second function that provides a second service in cooperation with the electronic payment function (first function) of an electronic payment service (first service). A payment application 20 having such a function is generally called a "super app," and the second function that cooperates with the electronic payment function of the payment application 20 is called a "mini app." Hereinafter, the second function or the second service provided by the second function may be referred to as a "mini app." An example of a mini app in this embodiment is, for example, a service that allows a member store to provide users with a service that enables the purchase of its own products (or services) in cooperation with the electronic payment function. Another example of a mini app is, for example, a service that an electronic payment service provider uses the electronic payment function to realize another service function.

[0038] Note that the first display example does not limit the number of notification categories to three (first category, second category, and third category). Also, in the first display example, the categories include at least the first category and the second category. With respect to the first display example, the category determination unit 142 selects a category from a category group including at least the first category and the second category for the notification sent to payment application 20. In the first display example, the category group may include the third category described above.

[0039] In addition, the first display example displays notifications categorized into each category by subcategory. For example, the notification screen G100A in FIG. 8 displays notifications categorized into five subcategories G111 to G115, including "System," "Campaign," and "New Information." The notification screen G100A may display icons to enhance the visibility of each subcategory, or may display the title of the subcategory, various information about the most recent notification, the number of unread notifications, and the like. For example, the subcategory G111 in FIG. 8 displays an icon C1, a title T1, information N11 and N12 about the most recent notification, and the number U1 of unread notifications. For example, the information N11 indicates part of the content of the most recent unread notification, and the information N12 indicates the time the most recent unread notification was received.

[0040] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a second display example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. Notification screen G100B shown in FIG. 9 shows a display example of the affiliated store tab G120 described in FIG. 8. Notification screen G100B in the example of FIG. 9 displays notifications categorized in the "affiliated store" category, categorized into subcategories G121 to G125 for each affiliated store. In displaying the subcategories, notification screen G100B may display icons to improve the visibility of the subcategories, the titles of the subcategories, various information related to the most recent notifications, the number of unread notifications, and the like, as in the first display example.

[0041] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a third display example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. Notification screen G100C shown in FIG. 10 shows an example of a notification display for a subcategory selected from a category. The notification screen G100C in the example of FIG. 10 displays notifications N21 and N22 classified into the "Campaign" subcategory selected from the "Application" category. Notification screen G100C also includes an input interface IF23 that accepts operations to display various setting interfaces for the displayed subcategory (here, "Campaign").

[0042] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a fourth display example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. Similar to the third display example, notification screen G100D shown in Fig. 11 shows a display example of a notification in a subcategory selected from a category. Notification screen G100D in the example of Fig. 11 displays notifications N31 and N32 classified into the subcategory "Asset Management" selected from the category "Mini App."

[0043] 10 and 11, in the notification screens G100C and G100D that display notifications of subcategories, each notification may display an icon to improve the visibility of the notification, the content of the notification (which may include text and images), the time the notification was received, etc., as in the first or second display example. In addition to these displays, each notification may also display its read status.

[0044] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a fifth display example of a notification screen displayed by payment application 20. Notification screen G100E shown in FIG. 12 shows a display example of a user interface (hereinafter referred to as a "setting interface") that allows a user to set notification suppression for a subcategory selected from a category. Notification suppression here may include a first notification suppression that suppresses notifications sent by payment application 20 to notify the user of the receipt of a new notification, and a second notification suppression that suppresses the transmission of notifications to payment application 20 altogether. The notification screen G100E in the example of FIG. 12 displays a setting interface IF40 that includes a display area IF41 for information prompting confirmation of targets for notification suppression, and an input interface IF42 that accepts an operation to set notification suppression for the displayed targets. The setting interface IF40 is displayed, for example, by a selection operation of input interface IF23.

[0045] For example, when the first notification suppression is set for a target subcategory, the unread notification counting unit 148 counts unread notifications in a category or subcategory that includes the target subcategory (hereinafter referred to as a "parent category"), excluding unread notifications in the target subcategory. When such a counting result is notified to the payment application 20, the payment application 20 displays the number of unread notifications excluding the unread notifications in the target subcategory as the number of unread notifications in the parent category. In this way, by excluding the subcategory specified by the user from the unread counting, the priority of checking notifications in the subcategory can be lowered, thereby reducing the complexity of notifications.

[0046] In the example of Figure 12, a setting interface IF40 is illustrated for suppressing notifications for the target subcategory, but if notification suppression has already been set for the target subcategory and input interface IF23 is operated, payment application 20 will display a setting interface for canceling notification suppression for the target subcategory.

[0047] 12, the example has been described in which the setting interface is used to set whether or not to suppress notifications for a target subcategory. However, whether or not such suppression of notifications can be set may be controlled based on the display priority of each subcategory. For example, payment application 20 may be configured to not accept a setting operation for determining whether or not a subcategory with a priority higher than a threshold is to be included in the aggregation of unread notifications (for example, not display a setting interface). Such control of the setting interface can prevent important categories or subcategories from being notified to the user.

[0048] According to the embodiment of the electronic payment system 1 described above, the payment server 100, which works in cooperation with the payment application 20 running on the user terminal device 10 to provide electronic payment services to the user of the user terminal device 10, is equipped with a category determination unit 142 that determines the category for displaying notifications in the payment application 20 based on the sender of the notification, and a notification sending unit 144 that sends information to the user terminal device 10 for displaying category information related to the determined category in the notification, thereby reducing the complexity of notifications in the payment application 20.

[0049] For example, in general, applications such as email and chat notify users of information in chronological order, regardless of whether the sender is an individual or a corporation. For this reason, particularly with email, users often set filtering conditions to organize the information. However, as notification information becomes more diverse, it can become cumbersome to sort notification information, as it can include information of high or low importance, information requiring immediate notification (immediacy), and information that is less immediate but of high interest to the user. The electronic payment system 1 according to the embodiment can alleviate this cumbersome task of sorting notification information.

[0050] <Modification> The payment app 20 may be configured to change the display mode of tabs according to their priority. For example, the payment app 20 may rearrange the tabs according to their priority. Furthermore, for example, when the payment app 20 needs to display any tab in a selected state, such as when launching the app, the payment app 20 may automatically select the tab with the highest priority. In this case, for example, the priority determination unit 146 may recognize the importance of each category and subcategory to the user based on the user's operation history (an example of a payment history or behavioral history) performed on the payment app 20, and determine a higher priority according to the importance. By changing the display mode of tabs based on such priority, the electronic payment system 1 can personalize the display mode of multiple tabs according to the user's characteristics. Furthermore, if the user terminal device 10 has a function for acquiring location information, the location information may be used as an example of behavioral history. Furthermore, the payment app 20 may change the display mode of each notification according to its importance. For example, for a user who frequently uses a particular affiliated store, the payment app 20 can suggest to the user the importance of the affiliated store by changing the display mode of the affiliated store (such as the background, background color, or whether or not it is tagged).

[0051] Furthermore, the payment application 20 may change the display mode of subcategories in the tabs for each category according to the priority of the subcategories. Furthermore, the payment application 20 may change the display mode of notifications in subcategories according to the priority of the subcategories. In this case, for example, the payment application 20 may separate notifications into those that must be notified to the user (for example, notifications related to authentication and notifications related to various deadlines (such as payment deadlines and deadlines for remittance requests)) and optional notifications (such as campaign information and coupons), and then change the display order of optional notifications to be notified.

[0052] Furthermore, when the electronic payment system 1 provides an asset management service such as that illustrated in FIG. 11, the notification sending unit 144 may be configured to change the notification sending frequency depending on the type, characteristics, etc. of the investment product. For example, in this case, the notification sending unit 144 may recognize the importance of the notification based on the frequency of confirmation of notifications related to asset management, and may increase the sending frequency of notifications with high importance and decrease the sending frequency of notifications with low importance. Furthermore, for example, the notification sending unit 144 may increase the sending frequency of notifications (e.g., real-time reports) for investment products whose investment status is likely to change suddenly, such as individual stock investments (e.g., see notification N32 in FIG. 11), and may decrease the sending frequency of notifications (e.g., weekly reports) for investment products whose investment status is unlikely to change suddenly, such as investment trusts (e.g., see notification N31 in FIG. 11).

[0053] The notification sending unit 144 may also be configured to send notifications filtered according to the user's preferences. For example, the notification sending unit 144 may be configured to send only notifications related to affiliated stores followed by the user, in principle. Furthermore, for example, the notification sending unit 144 may notify the user of information about affiliated stores that may match the user's preferences, even if the affiliated stores are not followed by the user. The user's preferences may be determined, for example, based on the user's behavioral history or payment history, or based on the types, characteristics, or similarities of affiliated stores followed by the user. For example, the notification sending unit 144 may send a notification recommending an affiliated store that the user has not visited to users with similar behavioral tendencies. By sending such notifications, the electronic payment system 1 can provide notifications more appropriate to the user while suppressing the transmission of unnecessary notifications.

[0054] Furthermore, the notification sending unit 144 may be configured to classify users who follow each affiliated store based on commonalities and send notifications to users in each classification. For example, the notification sending unit 144 may classify users based on the timing or frequency of use (e.g., weekends, once a month, daily, etc.), or by user attributes (student, elderly, gender, age, whether living in a rural area or in Tokyo, whether a light user or a heavy user, etc.).

[0055] Furthermore, the priority determination unit 146 may determine the priority of notifications for each category or subcategory. More specifically, the priority determination unit 146 may determine the priority according to the importance of the notification. For example, the priority determination unit 146 may determine the highest priority for a notification regarding user consent to a revision of terms due to a legal amendment or the like. In this case, the payment application 20 may be configured to display notifications in order of priority, so that the notification is fixed at the top of the category or subcategory until the user confirms it.

[0056] 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]

[0057] 1...electronic payment system, 10...user terminal device, 20...payment application, 50...first store terminal device, 60...store code image, 70...second store terminal device, 72...interface for affiliated stores, 100...payment server, 110...communication unit, 122...payment content providing unit, 124...payment processing unit, 130...information management unit, 140...notification control unit, 142...category determination unit, 144...notification sending unit, 146...priority determination unit, 148...unread counting unit, 170...storage unit, 172...user information, 174...payment content information, 176...store information, 176A...first table, 176B...second table, 176C...third table

Claims

1. A service providing device that cooperates with an application program running on a terminal device to provide a service to a user of the terminal device, a category determination unit that determines a category related to display of a notification transmitted to the application program from among a plurality of categories associated with a plurality of tabs displayed in the application program in accordance with a sender of the notification; a notification sending unit that includes category information related to the determined category in the notification and sends the notification to the terminal device; A service providing device comprising:

2. the service providing device further includes a priority determination unit that determines display priorities for the plurality of categories based on a usage history of the service by the user or a behavior history of the user, and notifies the application program of the determined display priorities. The service providing device according to claim 1 .

3. Each of the plurality of categories has subcategories arranged hierarchically; the application program displays information regarding the notification received from the service providing device, by attaching the information to a corresponding subcategory among the subcategories included in the category indicated by the category information. The service providing device according to claim 1 .

4. Each of the plurality of categories has subcategories arranged hierarchically; the application program accepts a setting operation for determining whether or not to include each of the subcategories in a count of unread notifications, and transmits the setting information to the service providing device; the service providing device further includes an unread notification counting unit that recognizes a subcategory to be counted based on the setting information, counts the unread notifications, and notifies the application program of the counting result; The service providing device according to claim 1 .

5. the application program does not accept a setting operation as to whether or not a subcategory having a priority higher than a threshold among the subcategories is to be included in the counting of unread notifications; The service providing device according to claim 4.

6. Each of the plurality of categories has subcategories arranged hierarchically; the notification sending unit changes a frequency of sending the notification based on an attribute of the subcategory and a content of the notification belonging to the subcategory. The service providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The application program receives an operation to set notification suppression for the subcategory, the unread counting unit excludes the subcategory for which notification suppression is set from the subcategories to be counted. The service providing device according to claim 4.

8. A service providing system comprising: a service providing device that cooperates with an application program running on a terminal device to provide a service to a user of the terminal device; and the application program, The service providing device includes: a category determination unit that determines a category related to display of a notification transmitted to the application program from among a plurality of categories associated with a plurality of tabs displayed in the application program in accordance with a sender of the notification; a notification sending unit that includes category information related to the determined category in the notification and sends the notification to the terminal device; Equipped with the application program displays information related to the notification received from the service providing device in association with a tab among the plurality of tabs corresponding to a category indicated by the category information included in the notification. Service delivery system.

9. a service providing device that cooperates with an application program running on a terminal device to provide a service to a user of the terminal device, determining a category related to display of a notification transmitted to the application program from among a plurality of categories associated with a plurality of tabs displayed in the application program according to a sender of the notification; transmitting category information related to the determined category to the terminal device by including the notification in the notification; A notification control method comprising:

10. An application program that operates on a terminal device of a user and cooperates with a service providing device to provide a service to the user, The terminal device, determining a category related to display of a notification to be transmitted to the application program from among a plurality of categories corresponding to a plurality of tabs displayed in the application program in accordance with a sender of the notification, and receiving the notification from the service providing device which transmits the notification to the terminal device while including category information related to the determined category in the notification; displaying information related to the received notification in association with a tab among the plurality of tabs corresponding to a category indicated by the category information included in the notification; program.

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