Service provision device, service provision method, and program

Abstract

To support activation of the use of a service.SOLUTION: A service providing device includes: an incentive processing section that gives an incentive to an account of a user who carries out electronic settlement according to the electronic settlement in an electronic settlement service; an authority processing section that gives an authority to participate in a lottery to the account of the user in exchange for the incentive; and a consideration processing section that gives a consideration for winning to the account of the user when the user wins as a result of the lottery using the authority to participate.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, a method for issuing electronic lottery tickets and holding a lottery over a telecommunications network has been disclosed (see, for example, Reference 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-303249 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Conventional techniques have not always been sufficient in contributing to increased use of services.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a service providing device, a service providing system, a service providing method, a program, and an application program that can help promote the use of services. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a service providing device that includes an incentive processing unit that grants an incentive to the account of a user who has made an electronic payment in accordance with the electronic payment in an electronic payment service, an authority processing unit that grants the user's account the authority to participate in a lottery in exchange for the incentive, and a compensation processing unit that grants a compensation related to the winning to the user's account if the user wins as a result of the lottery using the participation authority. Effect 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 service providing method, a program, and an application program that can support increased use of a service. [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] 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of first lottery information 182. FIG. [Figure 8] 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of second lottery information 184. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a top screen IF1 of a payment application 20. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an interface screen IF2. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an interface screen IF3. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an interface screen IF4. [Figure 13] 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processes executed by payment application 20 and payment server 100. FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an interface screen showing set conditions. [Figure 15]13 is a diagram showing an example of an interface screen IF6 displayed by payment application 20. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the payment server of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The application program and the payment server cooperate to provide an electronic payment service. In the following description, the application program is referred to as a payment application. The electronic payment service is a service that supports payments related to the purchase of goods and services at a store. The store is, for example, a physical store (real store) existing in real space, but may also include a virtual store of electronic commerce. The virtual store may also include a store provided by an entity other than the operator of the electronic payment service. In that case, when making a payment for shopping at the virtual store, the screen is controlled to transition to an interface screen of the electronic payment service. In the electronic payment service, the store is treated as belonging to, for example, an affiliated store (brand), and processing such as payment when a purchase is made at the store is mainly performed between the user and the affiliated store. Alternatively, processing such as payment may be performed between the user and the store.

[0010] [overview] The payment server of this embodiment includes an incentive processing unit that grants an incentive to the account of a user who has made an electronic payment in accordance with the electronic payment in the electronic payment service, an authority processing unit that grants the user's account the authority to participate in a lottery in exchange for the incentive, and a compensation processing unit that grants a compensation related to the winning to the user's account if the user wins as a result of the lottery using the participation authority.

[0011] The incentive may be, for example, points that can be used to make an electronic payment in the electronic payment service. The consideration may be, for example, a part or all of the total of incentives exchanged with multiple users who use the electronic payment service. The consideration may be, for example, a product or service provided by a member store that can use the electronic payment service, or a voucher (such as a gift certificate) that can be used at a specified member store of the electronic payment service.

[0012] [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.

[0013] 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.

[0014] The payment application 20 may include one or more mini-apps that provide a service different from the electronic payment service. For example, when the payment application 20 is downloaded to the user terminal device 10, the mini-apps included in the payment application 20 are also downloaded to the user terminal device 10. The mini-apps are applications developed to be able to be launched within the payment application 20. For example, the mini-apps are launched within the payment application 20 and display various screens using a web view function. For example, when the mini-apps are launched, the mini-apps cooperate with an API (Application Programming Interface) provided by the service server corresponding to the mini-app to display content provided by the service server on the display unit of the user terminal device 10. For example, the mini-apps access a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and display HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) content provided by the service server using a web view function. A lottery service, which will be described later, may be implemented by the mini-app instead of the payment application 20 in cooperation with the payment server 100 or another service server (a server different from the payment server).

[0015] 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).

[0016] 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.

[0017] 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.

[0018] 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.

[0019] 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 information capable of identifying a store 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.

[0020] 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).

[0021] 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.

[0022] [Payment server] 4 is a configuration diagram of the payment server 100 according to the first embodiment. The payment server 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a payment content providing unit 120, a payment processing unit 130, an information management unit 140, an incentive granting unit 150, an authority granting unit 152 (an example of an "authority processing unit"), a consideration processing unit 154, a consideration determination unit 156, a lottery processing unit 158 ​​(an example of a "lottery unit"), a lottery content providing unit 160 (an example of a "display control unit"), and a storage unit 170. The components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 170 are realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), etc., or may be realized by a combination of 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 HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (non-transient storage medium) such as DVD or CD-ROM, and installed in the storage device by mounting the storage medium in a drive device.

[0023] 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, lottery content information 178, and lottery information 180.

[0024] 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.

[0025] 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.

[0026] 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.

[0027] 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 information associated with, for example, a user URL, an account ID, a telephone number, a password, an email address, a user ID, a name, an address, a date of birth, a registration date, a charge balance, a post-payment setting, a post-payment limit, a post-payment usage amount, a post-payment available amount, a payment method setting, a bank account, a credit card number, charge history information, payment history information, voucher information, and points. 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.

[0028] The charge balance is information that indicates the balance of electronic money that is set by the user by transferring money to the account in advance. Methods of transfer include transfer from an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) of a designated business (bank) and transfer from a registered bank account.

[0029] The deferred payment limit is the monthly available deferred payment limit, the deferred payment usage amount is the amount of deferred payment already used in the current month, and the available deferred payment amount is the amount of deferred payment available in the current month, 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 may be additional daily upper limits, and the lower of these may be set as the deferred payment limit. Further details of deferred payment will be described later. The payment method setting is setting information indicating whether the user will make an electronic payment using the charge balance or a deferred payment at that time. The bank account and credit card number are information (account number, card number) of a bank account or credit card number that can be deposited into the electronic payment service. The charge history information is a history of the user transferring money to the electronic payment service in advance to increase the charge balance. The payment history information is information indicating the details of the payment made by the user (date and time, store ID of the store where the purchase was made, payment amount, payment method, etc.) for each payment. Voucher information is information such as the amount of the voucher that can be used in the electronic payment service and the type of the voucher (the affiliated store, service provider, and product or service that can be used). Points are points that are awarded in response to the payment of an electronic payment in the electronic payment service and are points that can be used for electronic payment. For example, a certain percentage of the amount of the electronic payment is awarded as points.

[0030] 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 ID. 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.

[0031] The information management unit 140 manages user information 172 and affiliated store / store information 176 based on information acquired from the user terminal device 10 and the second store terminal device 70. The information management unit 140 adds new records to, edits, and deletes the user information 172 and affiliated store / store information 176.

[0032] The incentive granting unit 150 grants an incentive (for example, points) to the account of a user who has made an electronic payment in accordance with the electronic payment in an electronic payment service, for example.

[0033] The authority granting unit 152 grants the authority to participate in a lottery (such as a lottery or a drawing) to the user's account in exchange for the incentive. For example, an exchange ticket that allows participation in a lottery is granted in exchange for the incentive. The authority granting unit 152 generates first lottery information 182 included in the lottery information 180 based on the processing result. For example, the authority granting unit 152 may not allow the authority to participate in a lottery to be granted in exchange for a charge balance, but may allow the authority to participate in a lottery to be granted in exchange for an incentive, or may allow the authority to participate in a lottery to be granted in exchange for a charge balance.

[0034] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the first lottery information 182. The example in Fig. 7 shows information on a ticket acquired by a specific user. The first lottery information 182 is information in which, for example, the lottery number of the ticket used in the drawing, the date the ticket was acquired, and the points required to acquire (purchase) the ticket are associated with each other.

[0035] When a user wins a lottery using the participation authority, the compensation processing unit 154 grants the compensation to the user's account. The compensation may be, for example, a product, service, voucher, or points that can be used at a member store of the electronic payment service.

[0036] The consideration determination unit 156 determines the consideration to be provided to the user who wins the lottery. The consideration determination unit 156 determines, for example, a part or all of the points obtained by selling tickets, or a product or service provided by an affiliated store that allows electronic payment services, or a voucher as the consideration. For example, the consideration determination unit 156 obtains a predetermined percentage of the total points obtained by purchasing tickets until the lottery participation deadline as the consideration for holding the lottery service, and determines the remainder as the consideration for the user.

[0037] The lottery processing unit 158 ​​executes a lottery and determines users who have won the lottery. The lottery processing unit 158 ​​executes a lottery at a preset timing and determines winning numbers for each ranking, such as 1st prize, 2nd prize, etc. A compensation is given to each ranking in advance. The lottery processing unit 158 ​​generates second lottery information 184 based on the above processing results.

[0038] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the second lottery information 184. The second lottery information 184 is information in which, for example, a ranking, a winning number, a winning date (or a planned winning date), and a compensation are associated with each other. In the example shown in Fig. 8, the first prize winner is awarded 100,000 points, the second prize winner is awarded an XX coupon, and the third prize winner is awarded a XX product.

[0039] The lottery content providing unit 160 provides content related to the lottery to the payment application 20. The lottery content providing unit 160 has a function of a Web server, and provides information (content) for displaying various screens related to the lottery to the user terminal device 10. The lottery content providing unit 160 appropriately reads out necessary content from lottery content information 178 including content related to the lottery, and provides it to the user terminal device 10.

[0040] [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.

[0041] 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 that 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 deferred payment available 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. In addition, if the payment amount exceeds the deferred payment available amount at the time of provisional payment, an error notification is returned to the payment application 20.

[0042] [Top page] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the top screen IF1 of the payment application 20. A code image CD is displayed on the top screen IF1. The code image CD includes, for example, a barcode and a QR code. The top screen IF1 also includes a button B1 for displaying an interface screen including content related to the lottery. The "button (switch)" is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) realized in cooperation with a touch panel. When the button B1 is operated, the screen transitions to an interface screen related to the lottery in FIG. 10, which will be described later. The top screen IF1 also includes buttons for starting various services and buttons for starting prepared mini-applications. The various services are various services such as services provided by an electronic payment service and services linked to an electronic payment service.

[0043] 10 is a diagram showing an example of interface screen IF2. Interface screen IF2 is an interface screen displayed after button B1 is operated. Interface screen IF2 includes, for example, areas AR1, AR2, AR3, button 2, and button B3.

[0044] The information in area AR1 indicates the points corresponding to ticket purchases (the total points of tickets purchased by participating users). The more tickets purchased to participate in the lottery, the more points in area AR1 increase. The information in area AR2 is the compensation if a user wins. The information in area AR3 is the number of tickets the user possesses (number of participation rights) and the points possessed. Button B2 is a button that instructs the user to purchase tickets. For example, when a user specifies the number of tickets and operates button B2, the tickets are purchased. Button B3 is a button for purchasing the maximum number of tickets that can be purchased with the points possessed. When a user operates button B3, the number of tickets that can be purchased with the points possessed are purchased.

[0045] When the user operates the button for checking the details of the consideration in the area AR2, an interface screen IF3 is displayed on the display unit. Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the interface screen IF3. The interface screen IF3 includes information on each consideration.

[0046] When a lottery is held, an interface screen IF4 is displayed on the display unit. The consideration processing unit 154, for example, grants points that can be used for payment of electronic payments in an electronic payment service as consideration, and displays an interface screen on the display unit that asks whether the granted points should be exchanged for participation authority in the next lottery or whether the points should be moved to the charge balance of the electronic payment service. When the user instructs on the interface screen to exchange for participation authority in the next lottery, the authority granting unit 152 exchanges the points for participation authority in the next lottery and grants participation authority to the user's account, and when the user instructs to move the points to the charge balance of the electronic payment service, the consideration processing unit 154 adds the points to the charge balance of the user.

[0047] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the interface screen IF4. The interface screen IF4 is an interface screen displayed on the display unit when the user wins. The interface screen IF4 includes, for example, the winning result (for example, information indicating that "500pts" has been won), and buttons B11, B12, and B13. The button B11 is a button for instructing to transfer the winning points to the charge balance. The button B12 is a button for instructing to purchase tickets with the winning points. For example, when the user specifies the number of tickets and operates the button B12, the specified number of tickets are purchased with the winning points. The button B13 is a button for purchasing the maximum number of tickets that can be purchased with the winning points. When the user operates the button B13, the required number of tickets are purchased with the winning points (or the total of the winning points and the owned points).

[0048] As described above, the user can easily charge the winning amount or invest it in the next lottery, thereby improving convenience for the user.

[0049] [Sequence diagram] 13 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the payment application 20 and the payment server 100. First, when a user operates the payment application 20 to purchase a ticket (S100), the payment application 20 transmits operation information to the payment server 100 (S102). The operation information includes information such as the user's identification information and the number of tickets the user has specified to purchase.

[0050] Next, the payment server 100 executes a process for granting a ticket to the user's account based on the operation information (S104). Then, the payment server 100 notifies the payment application 20 that the ticket has been granted (S106).

[0051] The payment server 100 determines whether the lottery timing has arrived (S108). When the lottery timing has arrived, the payment server 100 conducts a lottery (S110) and associates the lottery result with each user (S112). Then, the payment server 100 notifies the payment application 20 of the lottery result (S114). In response to the notification, the payment application 20 displays the lottery result on the display unit (S116).

[0052] Next, the payment application 20 accepts the user's operation (S118) and transmits information corresponding to the operation to the payment server 100 (S120). For example, the payment application 20 transmits to the payment server 100 an instruction to add the winning points to the charge balance, an instruction to purchase a ticket using the winning points, etc. Next, the payment server 100 executes processing corresponding to the information corresponding to the operation transmitted in S120 (S122). For example, when a voucher that can be used in an electronic payment service is won, the payment server 100 executes processing to associate the voucher with the user's account.

[0053] As described above, the payment application 20 and the payment server 100 cooperate with each other to provide the lottery service to users, thereby helping to promote the use of the service.

[0054] By providing users with the lottery service described above, the following benefits can be expected: (1) Electronic payment services make it possible to operate lottery services without incurring costs. A portion of the ticket purchase price can be recorded as consideration for providing the lottery service. As a result, providers of electronic payment services can receive consideration while reducing their burden.

[0055] (2) It is possible to promote the use of electronic payment services by users who wish to use lottery services. Since tickets can be purchased using incentives provided by electronic payments on electronic payment services, it is expected that users will use electronic payments even more. In addition, if many users participate, more compensation can be offered, so it is expected that even more users will participate.

[0056] (3) It is expected that users will launch the payment app 20 to use the lottery service or to check if they have won the lottery, which is expected to promote the use of the payment app 20 and electronic payments. In addition, word of mouth among users will promote the use of electronic payment services.

[0057] (4) Because the consideration includes that provided by affiliated stores of electronic payment services, affiliated stores can use the lottery service for marketing purposes. For example, for a campaign, an affiliated store can make all the consideration for a lottery service that is drawn on a specific day into vouchers that can be used at the affiliated store. In this way, the lottery service that is drawn on a specific day can be used for marketing purposes.

[0058] As described above, the provision of a lottery service using points from an electronic payment service is advantageous for electronic payment service providers, users, and affiliated stores.

[0059] <Variation 1> The lottery events described above are held at predetermined intervals. For example, they are held at predetermined intervals such as one week or one month. The authority granting unit 152 may automatically grant participation authority for each lottery event held at the predetermined interval to the user's account in exchange for points, without depending on the user's operation.

[0060] For example, the lottery content providing unit 160 provides the payment application 20 with an interface for setting whether or not to automatically purchase participation rights for each event as described above. When the user sets, on this interface screen, whether to purchase tickets for each event and the number of tickets to purchase for each event, the authorization granting unit 152 purchases tickets based on the set conditions.

[0061] Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an interface screen showing the set conditions. The interface screen in Fig. 14 shows, for example, that the user is set to participate in every event and purchase tickets for each event as much as can be purchased with points. In this case, the authority granting unit 152 purchases tickets that can be purchased for each event held at a predetermined interval.

[0062] Instead of the above, the user can set any purchase condition. For example, the user can set a purchase condition such as making a purchase when the points are a threshold value, making a purchase using points equal to or greater than the threshold value when the points are equal to or greater than the threshold value, purchasing tickets once a month, etc. The authorization unit 152 purchases tickets based on the set conditions.

[0063] As described above, users can purchase lottery tickets under desired conditions, improving user convenience.

[0064] <Variation 2> The lottery processing unit 158 ​​may adjust the probability of winning based on the user information 172 (the user's electronic payment usage history of the electronic payment service) stored in the storage unit 170. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an interface screen IF6 displayed by the payment application 20. As shown in an area AR2 in FIG. 15, the winning probability of a predetermined user based on the electronic payment usage history of the electronic payment service may be adjusted to be higher. In addition, the participation of a predetermined user based on the electronic payment usage history of the electronic payment service may be restricted. The participation of a predetermined user may be determined based on the electronic payment usage history of the electronic payment service.

[0065] For example, the following users may be targeted for adjustment: (A) A user is a person who has made electronic payments at the applicable affiliated stores to a certain degree or more. The certain degree can refer to various degrees such as the number of times, the amount, and the frequency. (B) The user is not making electronic payments at the applicable affiliated store (not using the applicable affiliated store), or the degree of use of electronic payments at the applicable affiliated store is below a specified level.

[0066] The adjustment means, for example, increasing or decreasing the probability of winning. For example, the number of lottery draws for the target user is multiplied by a predetermined factor (e.g., 2 or 3 times) to increase the probability of winning, and the number of lottery draws for other users is multiplied by a predetermined factor (e.g., 0.8 or 0.5 times) to decrease the probability of winning. The adjustment includes setting the probability to 100 percent or zero percent.

[0067] The lottery processing unit 158 ​​may also increase or decrease the probability of winning as the degree of use of the electronic payment service increases, or may conversely increase or decrease the probability of winning as the degree of use of the electronic payment service decreases.

[0068] By making the above adjustments, it is possible to increase the probability of the targeted users winning, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of marketing.

[0069] The above process may be set for each consideration. For example, if the consideration is points and a voucher that can be used at affiliated store A, the probability of winning may not be adjusted for the points, but the probability of winning may be adjusted for the voucher from affiliated store A. This can maintain the motivation of users who are not eligible to participate in the lottery.

[0070] In the above example, the winning probability is adjusted. However, instead of (in addition to) the adjustment, the conditions for participating in the lottery may be set. The conditions may be the same as the above-mentioned conditions (A) and (B), or may be different. The authorization unit 152 determines whether or not to participate in the lottery based on the user information 172 (the user's electronic payment usage history of the electronic payment service) stored in the storage unit 170. For example, the participants may be users who have used electronic payments at the target affiliated store a predetermined number of times or more, or users who have never made an electronic payment.

[0071] <Modification 3> The lottery processing unit 158 ​​may adjust the probability of winning or determine whether or not the user can participate in the lottery based on the user's location information (e.g., the history of location information) acquired from the payment application 20. For example, the lottery processing unit 158 ​​may increase the winning probability of a user whose location information has a frequency or number of occurrences equal to or greater than a threshold value in a predetermined area, or set a user whose frequency or number of occurrences equal to or greater than the threshold value as a lottery participation condition. For example, if there is an affiliated store that a user who visits a predetermined area wants as a customer, the lottery processing unit 158 ​​can promote use by the desired user by increasing the winning probability of a user who frequently visits this predetermined area or setting it to satisfy the participation condition. Note that in this process, adjustments may also be made for each consideration.

[0072] As described above, the probability of winning can be adjusted or a decision can be made to avoid participating in a lottery based on the location information, thereby improving convenience for affiliated stores that provide compensation.

[0073] According to the embodiment described above, the payment server 100 grants an incentive to the account of a user who has made an electronic payment in response to the electronic payment in the electronic payment service, and grants the user's account the authority to participate in a lottery in exchange for the incentive. If the user wins the lottery using the participation authority, the payment server 100 can help stimulate utilization of the service by granting compensation for the winning to the user's account.

[0074] 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]

[0075] 10 User terminal device 20. Payment App 100 Payment Server 120 Payment Contents Provider 130 Payment processing unit 140 Information Management Department 150 Incentive Granting Department 152 Authorization Department 154 Compensation Processing Unit 156 Pricing Department 158 Lottery Processing Unit 160 Lottery Content Provider 172 User information

Claims

1. An incentive processing unit that provides an incentive to the account of a user who made an electronic payment in response to an electronic payment in an electronic payment service, A rights processing unit that determines whether the user has set up automatic or periodic purchase of participation rights without user intervention, and if such setting is in place, grants the user's account the aforementioned participation rights for the lottery in exchange for the aforementioned incentive. When the timing to respond to the aforementioned lottery arrives, a lottery unit conducts the lottery, which adjusts the probability of winning or determines whether or not the user is eligible to participate in the lottery based on the user's electronic payment history stored in the memory unit, If the user wins the lottery using the aforementioned participation rights, the payment processing unit grants the user's account the payment related to the win. A service provision device equipped with the following features.

2. The lottery unit adjusts the probability of winning or determines whether or not to allow participation in the lottery based on whether or not a payment was made at a specific merchant in the user's electronic payment history stored in the storage unit, or the degree to which the user uses the specific merchant. The service provision device according to claim 1.

3. The authorization processing unit shall The system determines whether the user has configured the system to automatically purchase participation rights without user intervention, and whether the conditions set by the user are met. If the system is configured to automatically purchase participation rights and the conditions are met, the system grants the user the participation rights to the lottery in exchange for the incentive. The service provision device according to claim 1.

4. The condition is that the incentive points are equal to or greater than a threshold. The service provision device according to claim 3.

5. The aforementioned incentive is a point that can be used for electronic payments in the aforementioned electronic payment service. A service provisioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

6. The electronic payment service includes a payment processing unit that executes an electronic payment using either or both of the charge balance associated with the user's account and the points, The authorization processing unit does not permit granting the right to participate in the lottery in exchange for the charge balance, but permits granting the right to participate in the lottery in exchange for the incentive. The service provision device according to claim 5.

7. The aforementioned payment processing unit determines that a portion or all of the total amount of the incentives exchanged with multiple users of the electronic payment service will be the consideration for the lottery. A service provisioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

8. The system further includes a consideration determination unit that determines the goods or services provided by a merchant that can use the aforementioned electronic payment service as the consideration for the aforementioned lottery. A service provisioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

9. The system further includes a consideration determination unit that determines a voucher usable at a designated merchant of the electronic payment service as the consideration for the lottery. A service provisioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

10. The system includes a lottery unit that conducts a lottery when the timing to respond to the aforementioned lottery arrives. The lottery unit adjusts the probability of winning based on the history of the user's location information stored in the memory unit. A service provisioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

11. The authorization processing unit determines whether or not to allow participation in the lottery based on the history of the user's location information stored in the memory unit. A service provisioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

12. The aforementioned payment processing unit grants points that can be used for electronic payments in the electronic payment service as consideration. The system includes a display control unit that displays an interface screen on the display unit asking whether to exchange the awarded points for the right to participate in the next lottery, or to transfer the points to the charge balance of the electronic payment service. A service provisioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

13. If the user gives an instruction on the interface screen to exchange the points for the right to participate in the next lottery, the rights processing unit exchanges the points for the right to participate in the next lottery and grants the right to participate to the user's account. When the user gives instructions to transfer the points to the charge balance of the electronic payment service, the payment processing unit adds the points to the user's charge balance. The service provision device according to claim 12.

14. Computers In response to electronic payments made through the electronic payment service, an incentive is provided to the account of the user who made the electronic payment. The system determines whether the user has set up automatic or periodic purchase of participation rights without user intervention, and if such setting is in place, it grants the user the aforementioned participation rights for the lottery in exchange for the aforementioned incentive. When the timing to respond to the aforementioned lottery arrives, the lottery unit that conducts the lottery adjusts the probability of winning or determines whether or not the user is eligible to participate in the lottery based on the user's electronic payment history stored in the memory unit. If the user wins the lottery using the aforementioned participation rights, the prize related to the win will be added to the user's account. Method of providing services.

15. On the computer, In response to electronic payments made through the electronic payment service, an incentive is provided to the account of the user who made the electronic payment. Determine whether the user has set up automatic or periodic purchase of participation rights without user intervention, and if such setting is in place, grant the user the aforementioned participation rights for the lottery in exchange for the aforementioned incentive. When the time to respond to the aforementioned lottery arrives, the lottery unit that conducts the lottery adjusts the probability of winning or determines whether or not the user is eligible to participate in the lottery based on the user's electronic payment history stored in the memory unit. If, as a result of the lottery using the aforementioned participation rights, the user is selected as the winner, the prize related to the win will be added to the user's account. program.

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