Settlement processor, settlement processing method, and program

Abstract

To execute payment processing to a supplier account during the same day that the payment is withdrawn from an account of a buyer by account transfer.SOLUTION: A settlement processor includes a storage unit and a controller. A controller executes: transmission of account transfer request including at least information of withdrawal date to an account transfer system and receiving result information of account transfer executed based on the account transfer request and storing to a storage unit, with the result information including at least information of withdrawal date; generation of transfer data including information of at least withdrawal date, transfer source account, transfer destination account, and the amount; and generates a transfer telegram based on the transfer data. The transfer source account is an account set with an overdraft facility. The controller reads out data of withdrawal date from request information in the storage unit and generates an account transfer request based on creditor account information, debtor account information, withdrawal date of read data, and the request amount.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a payment processing device, a payment processing method, and a program. More specifically, the present invention relates to a payment processing device, a payment processing method, and a program that executes a deposit process to a deposit account on the same day that funds are debited from a debit account by account transfer. [Background technology]

[0002] In the field of business-to-business (BtoB) transactions, financial institutions are involved in fund transfer operations from buyers (debtors) to suppliers (creditors). Account transfer (also called "direct debit") is known as a payment settlement method for business-to-business transactions (Patent Document 1). Direct debit is a fund transfer that is carried out under specified conditions between a buyer, a supplier, a collection agent, and a financial institution, and is a process in which an account is debited from a buyer's account (debit account) and the debited funds are deposited in a supplier's account (deposit account) via the collection agent. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5334394 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the conventional scheme where a collection agent was used to collect payments from buyers, it took several business days for the funds to be deposited in the supplier's account after the payment was debited from the buyer's account. In the conventional scheme, the funds moved from the buyer's account → the receiving bank account → the collection agent's account → the supplier's account, but because there was a period when the funds were held up in the receiving bank account and the collection agent's account, it took several business days for the funds to reach the supplier.

[0005] Suppliers often need to have cash on hand. Because it takes several days for funds to be transferred via direct debit, direct debit has not been widely used as a funds transfer scheme.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and aims to provide a payment processing device, a payment processing method, and a program that executes the deposit processing to a supplier account on the same day that the price is debited from a buyer account by direct debit. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a payment processing device including a communication unit for communicating with an external network, a storage unit, and a control unit, The storage unit stores billing information and funds transfer information; The control unit is Transmitting an account transfer request including at least information on a deduction date to an account transfer system via the communication unit; receiving result information of the account transfer executed based on the account transfer request and storing the result information in the storage unit, the result information including at least information on the withdrawal date; The method generates transfer data including at least information on the deduction date, the source account, the destination account, and the amount, and generates a transfer message based on the transfer data, the source account being an account for which an overdraft limit has been set. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, the payment processing device can deposit funds into the supplier's account on the same day that the payment processing device processes the supplier's account transfer request, which enables the supplier to collect payment promptly. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] A more detailed understanding of the embodiments disclosed herein can be had from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram of an entire system including a payment processing device 10. FIG. [Diagram 2] 1 is a system configuration diagram of a payment processing device 10. FIG. [Diagram 3] 3 shows an example of a data structure of a user master 106. FIG. [Figure 4] 13 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of contract / payment information 107. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of billing and funds transfer data 108. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a process for depositing the amount debited from a buyer's account into a supplier's account on the same day. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the process flow of FIG. 6 together with the flow of funds. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] (Overall composition) 1 is a configuration diagram of an entire system including a payment processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, an account transfer system 11, a first bank system 12, and a second bank system 13. The payment processing device 10, the account transfer system 11, the first bank system 12, and the second bank system 13 are connected to each other via an arbitrary network 14 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0011] Although payment processing device 10 is described herein as one system or device, the various processes executed by payment processing device 10 may be configured to be distributed and executed by a plurality of systems or devices.

[0012] Although the payment processing device 10 and the account transfer system 11 are described as systems independent of the financial institution's system, the functions of both may be implemented within the financial institution's system (for example, the second bank system 13).

[0013] The payment processing device 10 is a device used for processing payments related to business-to-business transactions, and stores information such as billing details data for transactions between suppliers and buyers, and business-to-business transaction contract data for the suppliers and buyers. This specification describes same-day deposit processing of a collection agency service executed by the payment processing device 10. In detail, the payment processing device 10 generates account transfer request data by the deduction date based on the billing details data for transactions between suppliers and buyers and the business-to-business transaction contract data for the suppliers and buyers, and transmits the data to the account transfer system 11. The account transfer request data includes information such as the debit account and the debit amount. When the payment processing device 10 receives the account transfer result data from the account transfer system 11, it generates a transfer message and transmits it to the second bank system 13.

[0014] The first bank system 12 and the second bank system 13 are bank systems such as accounting systems controlled by financial institutions. The first bank system 12 is the buyer's bank system, manages the buyer's account, and processes deposits and withdrawals to and from the buyer's account. The second bank system 13 is the supplier's and collection agent's bank system, manages the supplier's and collection agent's accounts, and processes deposits and withdrawals to and from the supplier's and collection agent's accounts. If the buyer's bank and the supplier's and collection agent's bank are the same financial institution, the first bank system 12 and the second bank system 13 are the same system.

[0015] When the account transfer system 11 receives the account transfer request data, it generates an account transfer message by the debit date and sends it to the first bank system 12. The account transfer message includes information on the debit date, the debit account, and the debit amount. The first bank system 12 executes the account transfer process (account debit process) based on the account transfer message, generates an account transfer result, and sends it to the account transfer system 11. The account transfer system 11 sends the contents of the first account transfer result received from the first bank system 12 to the payment processing device 10.

[0016] The funds debited by the first bank system 12 are deposited in the collection agent's account via a specified account (for example, a receiving bank account such as a separate account) in the first bank system 12. The debited funds are then deposited from the collection agent's account in the first bank system 12 to the collection agent's account in the second bank system 13. The second bank system 13 transfers the funds to the supplier's account before they arrive at the collection agent's account.

[0017] (System configuration of payment processing device 10) FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of the payment processing device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the payment processing device 10 includes a control unit 101, a main memory unit 102, an auxiliary memory unit 103, an IF unit 104, and an output unit 105, which are connected to each other by a bus 120 or the like, like a general computer. The auxiliary memory unit 103 stores programs that implement each function of the payment processing device 10 and data handled by the programs. The various programs stored in the auxiliary memory unit 103 are executed by the payment processing device 10. The auxiliary memory unit 103 includes a user master 106, contract / payment information 107, and billing & fund transfer data 108 in the form of a file / database or the like. The payment processing device 10 can read, edit, or update information stored in the user master 106, contract / payment information 107, and billing & fund transfer data 108.

[0018] The control unit 101, also called a central processing unit (CPU), controls each component of the payment processing device 10 and performs data calculations, and also reads out and executes various programs stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103 into the main storage unit 102. The main storage unit 102, also called a main memory, stores various received data, computer-executable instructions, and data after calculation processing based on the instructions. The auxiliary storage unit 103 is a storage device typified by a hard disk drive (HDD) and is used for long-term storage of data and programs.

[0019] The embodiment in Fig. 2 describes an embodiment in which control unit 101, main memory unit 102, and auxiliary memory unit 103 are provided inside the same computer, but in another embodiment, payment processing device 10 can be configured to realize parallel distributed processing by multiple computers by using multiple control units 101, main memory units 102, and auxiliary memory units 103. In another embodiment, it is also possible to install multiple servers for payment processing device 10, and have the multiple servers share one auxiliary memory unit 103.

[0020] The IF unit 104 plays the role of an interface (IF) when transmitting and receiving data to and from other systems and devices, and also provides an interface for receiving various commands and input data (various masters, tables, etc.) from a system operator. The output unit 105 provides a display screen for displaying processed data and a printing means for printing the data.

[0021] The user master 106 stores information on users such as suppliers and buyers who use the payment processing device 10. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of the user master 106 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The user master 106 can include a user ID 301, a user name 302, and a payment account 303, but is not limited to these data items and can also include other data items.

[0022] The user ID 301 is an identifier for identifying a user who uses the payment processing device 10, such as a supplier or buyer in a business-to-business transaction, or a collection agent. The user name 302 indicates the name of the user (such as a business name). The payment account 303 indicates the user's account information used when processing deposits and withdrawals.

[0023] Of the settlement accounts of the collection agent, those stored in the second bank system 13 have an overdraft limit set by the financial institution. Overdraft is a service that allows an account to automatically borrow the shortfall in the deposit balance when it is insufficient. Accounts with an overdraft limit set are allowed to have a red balance, that is, a negative balance (for example, a balance of -1 million yen).

[0024] Returning to Fig. 2, the contract / payment information 107 stores contract information and payment information related to transactions between suppliers and buyers in business-to-business transactions. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the contract / payment information 107 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The contract / payment information 107 may include a supplier ID 401, a buyer ID 402, and payment terms 403, but is not limited to these data items and may also include other data items.

[0025] The supplier ID 401 is an identifier indicating a supplier in a business-to-business transaction. The buyer ID 402 is an identifier indicating a buyer in a business-to-business transaction. The identifiers set as the supplier ID 401 and the buyer ID 402 may be the user ID 301. The payment terms 403 may be payment terms, such as a payment date, that are agreed upon in advance between the supplier and the buyer.

[0026] Returning to Fig. 2, the billing & funds transfer data 108 stores billing information and funds transfer information related to transactions between suppliers and buyers. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the billing & funds transfer data 108 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The billing & funds transfer data 108 can include supplier ID 401, buyer ID 402, billing number 501, billing details 502, billing amount 503, payment date 504, account transfer request information 505, account transfer result information 506, and transfer data 507, but is not limited to these data items and can also include other data items.

[0027] The supplier ID 401 is an identifier indicating the supplier related to the billing information. The buyer ID 402 is an identifier indicating the buyer related to the billing information. With respect to the billing information, the supplier is the creditor and the buyer is the debtor. The billing number 501 is an identifier for identifying the billing information. The billing content 502 indicates the content of the bill (e.g., the cost of goods, the cost of services). The billing amount 503 indicates the amount billed by the supplier to the buyer. The payment date 504 indicates the payment date for the bill, that is, the deduction date when the billing amount is debited from the buyer account. The account transfer request information 505 includes information on the account transfer request created based on the billing information, and includes information such as the buyer account (also called the "debtor account") which is the debit account and the deduction amount. The account transfer result information 506 includes result information of the account transfer process executed based on the account transfer request. The result information includes information such as whether the deduction was successful or not due to insufficient balance, and information such as the deduction account. The transfer data 507 includes information on the deposit process from the collection agent account to the supplier account, which is executed after the account transfer process is successfully completed.

[0028] (The process of depositing the amount debited from the buyer's account into the supplier's account on the same day) Fig. 6 is a diagram explaining the process of depositing the amount debited from the buyer's account to the supplier's account on the same day. As a premise of this process, it is assumed that the payment processor 10 stores billing information data on the transaction between the supplier and the buyer in the billing & funds transfer data 108, and that the payment account of the collection agent stored in the second bank system 13 has an overdraft limit set and is allowed to have a negative balance.

[0029] In S601, the payment processing device 10 reads data from the billing & fund transfer data 108 in which the withdrawal date indicated by the payment date 504 falls within a predetermined period, and queries the user master 106 based on the supplier ID 401 and buyer ID 402 of the read data to obtain the supplier's settlement account and the buyer's settlement account. The predetermined period includes at least the date on which the processing date on which the processing flow of FIG. 6 is performed and the withdrawal date indicated by the payment date 504 match, and may additionally include a date in the range up to the next business day in the case where the day after the processing date on which the processing flow of FIG. 6 is performed is not a business day. For example, if the processing date is Friday, July 28, 2023, data indicating that the payment date 504 is Friday, July 28, 2023 and additionally data indicating that the payment date 504 is up to Monday, July 31, 2023 may be read.

[0030] The payment processing device 10 generates an account transfer request based on the acquired supplier payment account, buyer payment account, and the read data of billing amount 503 and payment date 504, and stores it in account transfer request information 505. The account transfer request includes at least the deduction date, buyer payment account (debtor account), and billing amount. If the deduction date indicated by payment date 504 is not a business day of the financial institution, the actual deduction date will be the next business day.

[0031] In S602, the payment processing device 10 transmits the generated account transfer request to the account transfer system 11.

[0032] In S603, when the account transfer system 11 receives the account transfer request from the payment processor 10, it reads out the information of the received account transfer request and generates an account transfer message. The account transfer message is associated with the account transfer request and may include information on the requester in addition to the deduction date, the buyer settlement account, and the billing amount. The transaction bank account of the account transfer message, i.e., the bank account to which the funds are to be transferred, is the settlement account of the collection agent of the first bank system 12.

[0033] In S604, the account transfer system 11 transmits the account transfer message to the first bank system 12 of the financial institution associated with the debit account included in the account transfer message, that is, the buyer settlement account.

[0034] In S605, when the first bank system 12 receives the account transfer message, it checks the balance of the debit account (buyer settlement account) based on the information of the debit account included in the received account transfer message, and if the balance is sufficient, executes the process of debiting the billing amount from the debit account. That is, the first bank system 12 executes the account debit process on the debit date included in the account transfer message. The debited funds are temporarily deposited in a receiving bank account such as a separate account of the first bank system 12, and then deposited in the collection agent account of the first bank system 12. The first bank system 12 transfers the money from the collection agent account of the first bank system 12 to the collection agent account of the second bank system 13.

[0035] At S606, the first bank system 12 generates a first account transfer result based on the information of the received account transfer message and the result of the account debit process, and transmits it to the account transfer system 11. The first account transfer result is associated with the account transfer message, and therefore can include the debit account (buyer settlement account), the debit amount, the account transfer process result, and information for identifying the account transfer message.

[0036] At S607, the account transfer system 11 generates a second account transfer result based on the received information of the first account transfer result and the account transfer request information identified from the account transfer message associated with the first account transfer result, and transmits the second account transfer result to the payment processing device 10.

[0037] In S608, when the payment processing device 10 receives the second account transfer result from the account transfer system 11, it stores information on the second account transfer result in account transfer result information 506 of the data associated with the second account transfer result. The second account transfer result can include the deduction date, the deduction account (buyer settlement account), the deduction amount, and the account transfer processing result. Note that the deposit account of the account transfer result is not the supplier settlement account, but the collection agent account with an overdraft limit set, into which the money will actually be deposited by the account transfer processing. The processing from S609 onwards is executed only if the account transfer processing result indicates success.

[0038] In S609, the payment processing device 10 generates transfer data based on the information in the account transfer result information 506 read from the billing and funds transfer data 108, and stores the data in the transfer data 507. The transfer data is data in which the transfer date is the debit date of the account transfer, the transfer destination is the supplier payment account, the transfer source is the collection agent's account (an account with an overdraft limit set), and the transfer amount is the debit amount, i.e., the amount obtained by subtracting the amount for which the account transfer process was not successful from the billing amount.

[0039] In S610, the payment processor 10 generates a transfer message conforming to the All Banks format based on the generated transfer data, and transmits it to the second bank system 13 having the transfer source account. The All Banks format of the transfer message may be a format for transfer of funds. The transfer source account is a collection agent account with an overdraft limit set.

[0040] In S611, the second bank system 13 executes a transfer process from the collection agent's account to the supplier's payment account based on the transfer message received from the payment processing device 10. Through the above process, on the day the account transfer process is executed, a notice of direct debit is received by the payment processing device 10, and the supplier's account is deposited. The collection agent's account will temporarily have a red balance (negative balance), but the funds transferred from the collection agent's account in the first bank system 12 to the collection agent's account in the second bank system 13 will then be deposited, and the red balance (negative balance) will be eliminated after the deposit.

[0041] Figure 7 is a diagram for explaining the processing flow of Figure 6 together with the flow of funds. In Figure 7, the processing day is assumed to be the Nth day.

[0042] 6, a direct debit message based on a direct debit request from the payment processing device 10 is sent from the account transfer system 11 to the first bank system 12 (Nth day). As explained in S605, in response to receiving the direct debit message, the first bank system 12 debits the invoice amount from the withdrawal account (buyer settlement account) (funds debit (Nth day)) and deposits the amount into the collection agent account of the first bank system 12 (funds deposit (Nth day or N+1th day)).

[0043] On the other hand, after the account withdrawal process, the first bank system 12 notifies the processing result as described in S606 to S607. That is, the first direct debit result is transmitted (Nth day) and the second direct debit result is transmitted (Nth day).

[0044] As described in S609 to S611 of Figure 6, the payment processing device 10 generates a transfer message and sends it to the second bank system 13 (Nth day), and then the second bank system 13 executes the transfer process from the agent account, which has an overdraft limit, to the supplier account in accordance with the transfer message (Nth day).

[0045] When a transfer process is executed, the balance of the agent account in which the overdraft limit is set will be in the red, but the second bank system 13 will clear the red balance by receiving a transfer from the first bank system 12 (N+2 day).

[0046] In the example of FIG. 7, the second banking system 13 has two types of agent accounts: an account with an overdraft limit set, and an account that receives deposits from other financial institutions.

[0047] In the above process, it is assumed that funds withdrawn from multiple buyer accounts are deposited into the same supplier account on the same day. In such a case, when generating the transfer data in S609, the payment processor 10 can merge the deposit information for the same supplier account to generate a single transfer data.

[0048] For example, consider a case where supplier A collects 100,000 yen from buyer X and 150,000 yen from buyer Y by account transfer. The first bank system 12 transmits the results of each transfer to the account transfer system 11, which transmits the results of each transfer to the payment processor 10. The payment processor 10 adds up the billing amounts of data with the same deposit account among the information in the account transfer result information 506 read from the billing & funds transfer data 108, creates transfer data with the transfer destination set to the supplier payment account and the transfer source set to the collection agent's account, and the transfer amount set to the combined amount, and transmits the transfer data to the second bank system 13. This transfer data indicates that a combined amount of 250,000 yen is to be deposited into supplier A's account.

[0049] The above-mentioned process allows the settlement processing device 10 to grasp the fact that the price has been debited from the buyer's account on the day of the debit, and allows the collection agent to transfer the collected funds to the supplier's account before they actually arrive at the collection agent's account, making it possible to deposit the money into the supplier's account on the same day that the price is debited from the buyer's account.

[0050] Although the principles of the present invention have been described above with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various embodiments that change in configuration and details can be realized without departing from the gist of the present invention. That is, the present invention can be embodied as, for example, a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, or a storage medium. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 10 Payment processing device 11 Direct Debit System 12 The First Banking System 13 The Second Banking System 14 Network 101 Control section 102 Main memory 103 Auxiliary storage 104 IF Section 105 Output section 106 User Master 107 Contract / Payment Information 108 Billing & Funds Transfer Data

Claims

1. A payment processing device including a communication unit for communicating with an external network, a storage unit, and a control unit, The storage unit stores billing information and funds transfer information; The control unit is Transmitting an account transfer request including at least information on a deduction date to an account transfer system via the communication unit; receiving result information of the account transfer executed based on the account transfer request and storing the result information in the storage unit, the result information including at least information on the withdrawal date; generating transfer data including at least information on the deduction date, the transfer source account, the transfer destination account, and the amount, and generating a transfer message based on the transfer data, wherein the transfer source account is an account for which an overdraft limit has been set; A payment processor that executes the above.

2. The memory unit stores information on creditor accounts and debtor accounts, The control unit is reading out the deduction date data from the billing information in the storage unit, and acquiring the creditor account and the debtor account based on the creditor information and debtor information in the read out data; generating the account transfer request based on the acquired information on the creditor account and the debtor account, and the information on the withdrawal date and the billing amount from the read data; The payment processing device of claim 1 , further comprising:

3. The creditor account indicates an account of a supplier that is a creditor in a business-to-business transaction associated with the billing information; The debtor account indicates an account of a buyer who is a debtor in a business-to-business transaction associated with the billing information; The payment processing device of claim 2.

4. The payment processing device of claim 1 , wherein the result information includes information on the debit date, debit account, debit amount, and account transfer processing result associated with the account transfer performed based on the account transfer request, and the debit account indicates a debtor account.

5. 2. The payment processing device according to claim 1, wherein the account for which the overdraft limit is set is a collection agent account to which funds are actually deposited by the account transfer process executed based on the account transfer request.

6. 1. A method performed by a payment processor, comprising: The payment processing device includes a communication unit for communicating with an external network, a memory unit, and a control unit, the memory unit stores billing information and funds transfer information, and the method includes: The control unit transmits an account transfer request including at least information on a deduction date to an account transfer system via the communication unit; The control unit receives result information of the account transfer executed based on the account transfer request and stores it in the storage unit, the result information including at least information on the deduction date; The control unit generates transfer data including at least information on the deduction date, the transfer source account, the transfer destination account, and the amount, and generates a transfer message based on the transfer data, the transfer source account being an account for which an overdraft limit has been set; A method for providing the above.

7. A program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 6.

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