Server and program

Abstract

To provide a server and a program.SOLUTION: A server 40 includes: a storage unit 290 including a first storage unit for, when a credit card identified by a credit card identifier is updated to a new credit card in association with the credit card identifier, storing permission information including affiliated store identifier for identifying an affiliated store that permits settlement by the new credit card; and a processing unit 200 including a control unit for, when an issued credit card is updated, performing control to enable settlement by the new credit card at the affiliated store identified by the affiliated store identifier stored in the first storage unit in association with a credit card identifier of the issued credit card.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a server and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a payment service management server that stores, in association with a user's card information, the identification information of a seller and the identification information of a user when the user's card information is registered in the seller's website management section. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-149260

Summary of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect of the present invention, a server is provided. The server includes a first storage unit that stores permission information including a store identifier for identifying a store that permits payment with the new credit card when the credit card identified by the credit card identifier is updated to a new credit card, in association with the credit card identifier. The server includes a control unit that, when updating an issued credit card, performs control to enable payment with the new credit card at the store identified by the store identifier stored in the first storage unit in association with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card.

[0004] In the above server, when updating the issued credit card, the control unit may perform control to transmit credit card information for enabling payment with the new credit card to the store identified by the store identifier stored in the first storage unit in association with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card.

[0005] In any of the above servers, when the control unit updates the issued credit card, the control unit stores in the first storage unit the store identifier stored in the first storage unit in association with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card, in association with the credit card identifier of the new credit card. When receiving the validity confirmation request for the new credit card that is transmitted when the new credit card is used for settlement, the control unit may respond that it is valid on the condition that at least the store identifier of the store where the new credit card is used is stored in association with the credit card identifier of the new credit card.

[0006] Any of the above servers may include a notification control unit that performs control for notifying the user of the issued credit card about the setting of the permission information before updating the issued credit card.

[0007] Any of the above servers may include a second storage unit that stores usage information indicating the usage status of the issued credit card in the store identified by the store identifier, in association with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card and the store identifier. Before updating the issued credit card, the server may include a presentation control unit that performs control for presenting the user with usage information indicating the usage status for each store based on the usage information associated with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card.

[0008] In any of the above servers, the usage information may include at least any one of (i) the number of settlements associated with the issued credit card in each of the stores, (ii) the last settlement date associated with the issued credit card, and (iii) information regarding the consideration given to the user.

[0009] Any of the above servers may include a reception unit that receives an instruction from the user of the new credit card to change the permission information after the issued credit card is updated. When the instruction is an instruction to add a merchant that permits settlement using the new credit card, the server may include a presentation control unit that presents information indicating the consideration given to the user of the new credit card to the user of the new credit card.

[0010] In a second aspect of the present invention, a program is provided. The program causes a computer to function as any of the above servers.

[0011] Note that the above summary of the invention does not list all the features of the present invention. Also, sub - combinations of these feature groups can also be inventions.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 4

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Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Also, not all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution means of the invention.

[0014] FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of the settlement system 10 in one embodiment. The settlement system 10 includes a server 40, a settlement agency server 50, a franchise store server 30, and a user terminal 80.

[0015] The server 40, the settlement agency server 50, the franchise store server 30, and the user terminal 80 can send and receive information to and from each other via the communication network 90. The communication network 90 may include at least one of a wireless packet communication network, the Internet, a P2P network, a dedicated line, a VPN, and a power line communication line. The communication network 90 may include (i) a mobile communication network such as a mobile phone line network, and (ii) a wireless MAN (for example, WiMAX (registered trademark)) and a wireless LAN (for example, WiFi (registered trademark)).

[0016] The user terminal 80 is a terminal associated with the user 82. The user terminal 80 has a function of performing communication through the communication network 90. The user terminal 80 may be a computing device having a communication function. The user terminal 80 may be a mobile phone such as a smartphone, a PDA (registered trademark), a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a laptop computer, a wearable computer, or the like, or may be a desktop computer.

[0017] In this embodiment, the user 82 holds a credit card. The user 82 is assumed to conduct an e-commerce transaction using the held credit card.

[0018] The server 40 is, for example, a server on the credit card issuer side. The server 40 is a server operated by a credit card company that is the issuer of the credit card. The server 40 may constitute at least a part of the server responsible for performing settlement processing.

[0019] The franchise server 30 is a server on the service provider side in the e-commerce transaction. The franchise server 30 is, for example, a server that provides at least a part of an EC (Electronic Commerce) site. The franchise server 30, for example, receives an order for a product from the user terminal 80, communicates with the server 40 or the settlement agency server 50, and performs processing for conducting settlement using the credit card held by the user 82. For example, the franchise server 30 requests the server 40 to conduct a credit card settlement by sending a settlement request including a request for verifying the validity of the credit card used for settlement to the server 40. When the franchise server 30 receives the approval result of the credit card settlement from the server 40, it notifies the user terminal 80 of the approval result of the settlement.

[0020] The settlement agency server 50 performs processing for proxying the settlement of e-commerce transactions conducted on the affiliated store server 30. The settlement agency server 50 is, for example, a server operated by a proxy company that proxies settlements. When the settlement agency server 50 receives a credit card settlement request from the affiliated store server 30, it requests the server 40 to perform a credit card settlement by sending a settlement request including a request for validating the credit card used for the settlement to the server 40. When the settlement agency server 50 receives the approval result of the credit card settlement from the server 40, it notifies the affiliated store server 30 of the approval result of the settlement. The affiliated store server 30 notifies the user terminal 80 of the approval result of the credit card settlement.

[0021] The affiliated store server 30 has a function of pre-registering the information of the credit card held by the user 82. As a result, when the user 82 conducts an e-commerce transaction through the affiliated store server 30, the user can make a payment by credit card settlement using the information of the credit card pre-registered on the affiliated store server 30 without inputting the information of the credit card used for the settlement.

[0022] Normally, a credit card has an expiration date. Before the expiration date of the issued credit card passes, the credit card issuer issues a new credit card to update the issued credit card to the user 82. The credit card issuer concludes a contract with the user 82 in advance regarding the continued use of payments made with the updated new credit card at specific affiliated stores when the issued credit card is updated. In addition, the credit card issuer concludes a contract in advance with the business operator serving as the service provider for e-commerce transactions regarding the continued use of payments made with the updated new credit card when the issued credit card is updated. Based on the pre-contract, the server 40 performs control to enable the continued use of the updated new credit card issued to the user 82 in e-commerce transactions by the affiliated store server 30. In this embodiment, when the issued credit card is updated, the continued use of payments made with the updated new credit card at affiliated stores may be referred to as "automatic linkage".

[0023] For example, when the user 82 permits automatic linkage in e-commerce transactions provided by the affiliated store server 30, when the issued credit card is updated to a new credit card, the server 40, based on the pre-contract, performs processing to update the information of the issued credit card registered in the affiliated store server 30 to the information of the new credit card without an explicit instruction from the user 82. When a payment is made through the payment agency server 50, the server 40 permits a payment using the new credit card in response to a payment request from the payment agency server 50 in e-commerce transactions provided by the affiliated store server 30. As a result, the user 82 can conduct commercial transactions using the updated credit card without re-registering the expiration date of the credit card.

[0024] FIG. 2 schematically shows the functional configuration of the server 40. The server 40 includes a processing unit 200 and a storage unit 290. The processing unit 200 may be implemented by a processor, and the processor may have a volatile storage medium necessary for operation. The storage unit 290 includes at least a non-volatile storage medium. The server 40 may be implemented by a computer, and the storage unit 290 may store a program for causing the computer to function as the server 40.

[0025] The processing unit 200 includes a reception unit 210, a presentation control unit 220, a notification control unit 230, and a control unit 240. The storage unit 290 includes a first storage unit 291 and a second storage unit 292.

[0026] The first storage unit 291 stores permission information including a store identifier for identifying a store that permits settlement by a new credit card when the credit card identified by the credit card identifier is updated to a new credit card, in association with the credit card identifier. When updating an issued credit card, the control unit 240 performs control to enable settlement by the new credit card at the store identified by the store identifier stored in the first storage unit 291 in association with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card.

[0027] When updating an issued credit card, the control unit 240 performs control to transmit credit card information for enabling settlement by the new credit card to the store identified by the store identifier stored in the first storage unit 291 in association with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card. When the control unit 240 updates an issued credit card, it causes the first storage unit 291 to store the store identifier stored in the first storage unit 291 in association with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card in association with the credit card identifier of the new credit card. When receiving a validity confirmation request for a new credit card that is transmitted when the new credit card is used for settlement, the control unit 240 performs a response indicating that it is valid on the condition that at least the store identifier of the store where the new credit card is used is stored in association with the credit card identifier of the new credit card.

[0028] Before updating the issued credit card, the notification control unit 230 performs control to notify the user of the issued credit card regarding the setting of permission information. The second storage unit 292 stores usage information indicating the usage status of the issued credit card at the store identified by the store identifier in association with the credit card identifier and the store identifier of the issued credit card. Before updating the issued credit card, the presentation control unit 220 performs control to present the user with usage information indicating the usage status for each store based on the usage information associated with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card.

[0029] The usage information includes at least any one of (i) the number of settlement times associated with the issued credit card, (ii) the final settlement date associated with the issued credit card, and (iii) information regarding the consideration given to the user, for each store.

[0030] After the issued credit card is updated, the reception unit 210 receives an instruction from the user of the new credit card to change the permission information. When the instruction is an instruction to add a store that permits settlement with the new credit card, the presentation control unit 220 presents the user of the new credit card with information indicating the consideration given to the user of the new credit card.

[0031] FIG. 3 shows an example of issued credit card information stored in the first storage unit 290 of the server 40. The issued credit card information associates a credit card identifier with an expiration date.

[0032] The credit card identifier is identification information of an issued credit card for the user. The expiration date is the expiration date of the issued credit card. The server 40 refers to the issued credit card information and provides guidance on automatic credit card linkage to the user 82 at a time point in advance by a predetermined period from the expiration date of the issued credit card.

[0033] FIG. 4 shows an example of automatic linkage information stored in the first storage unit 291 of the server 40. The automatic linkage information associates a credit card identifier, a store identifier, and an automatic linkage permission flag.

[0034] The credit card identifier is identification information of an issued credit card for the user. The store identifier is identification information for identifying the store of the credit card. The automatic linkage flag is information indicating whether or not to permit automatic linkage.

[0035] In the automatic linkage information, when the store identifier and the credit card identifier are associated with the automatic linkage flag "TRUE", when the issued credit card identified by the credit card identifier is updated to a new credit card, at the store identified by the store identifier, it is permitted to continue using the settlement with the new credit card. The store identifier associated with the automatic linkage flag "TRUE" in the automatic linkage information is an example of the "permission information" in the present invention.

[0036] On the one hand, when the franchise identifier and the credit card identifier in the automatic linkage information are associated with the automatic linkage flag "FALSE", when the issued credit card identified by the credit card identifier is updated to a new credit card, in the franchise identified by the franchise identifier, it indicates that continued use of payment by the new credit card is not permitted.

[0037] FIG. 5 shows an example of credit card usage information stored in the second storage unit 292 of the server 40. The usage information associates a credit card identifier, a franchise identifier, a settlement date, and a settlement amount.

[0038] The settlement date indicates the date when a commercial transaction was conducted at the franchise identified by the franchise identifier using the credit card identified by the credit card identifier. The settlement amount indicates the amount of the commercial transaction conducted at the franchise identified by the franchise identifier using the credit card identified by the credit card identifier. The presentation control unit 220 generates information to be presented to the user 82 when conducting guidance regarding automatic linkage based on the credit card usage information. Information to be presented to the user 82 when conducting guidance regarding automatic linkage will be described later.

[0039] FIG. 6 shows an example of credit card registration information registered in the franchise server 30. The registration information associates a user identifier, a credit card identifier, and an expiration date.

[0040] The user identifier is identification information of a user of an e-commerce transaction provided by the franchise server 30. The user identifier is information assigned by the franchise server 30. The credit card identifier is identification information of a credit card registered by the user with the franchise server 30. The expiration date is the expiration date of the credit card registered by the user with the franchise server 30.

[0041] The credit card identifier is any information that can identify a credit card. The credit card identifier may be a credit card number. When a settlement is made using a token as described later, etc., when the merchant server 30 makes a settlement without holding (i.e., not storing, not processing, and not passing through) the credit card number, the credit card identifier may be an identifier issued by the server 40 or the settlement agency server 50 based on the token. In this case, the merchant server 30 can use the identifier to perform settlement processing (e.g., validity confirmation, etc.) on the server 40 or the settlement agency server 50 that issued the identifier.

[0042] Figure 7 shows the overall processing flow executed in the settlement system 10. Figure 7 includes the processing from the time when a new credit card is issued to the time after the credit card is updated.

[0043] The processes of S302 and S304 are generally the processes performed when a new credit card is issued. In S302, the user 82 who has received the newly issued credit card accesses the settlement agency server 50 using the user terminal 80 to perform initial settings.

[0044] The reception unit 210 receives, from the user terminal 80, merchant information indicating a merchant that permits automatic linkage as part of the initial setting process of the credit card issued to the user terminal 80. In S304, the control unit 240 stores the automatic linkage information in the first storage unit 290 based on the merchant information received in S302.

[0045] The processes from S310 to S314 are generally processes performed from a point in time that is a predetermined period before the expiration date of the issued credit card to a point in time before a new credit card is issued. In S310, the notification control unit 230 notifies the user 82 of a notice regarding the update of the credit card. For example, the notification control unit 230 may notify the notice regarding the update through an application installed on the user terminal 80. The notification control unit 230 may notify the notice regarding the update by an e-mail addressed to the user 82. The notification in S310 is transmitted, for example, three months before the expiration date of the issued credit card. The notice regarding the update includes a notice prompting the confirmation of the attribute information of the user 82 and a notice regarding the setting of automatic linkage. The notice regarding the setting of automatic linkage may be a notice prompting the user 82 to confirm the state of permission and / or non-permission of automatic linkage. Before notifying the user 82 of the notice regarding the update in S310, the server 40 may make an inquiry to the franchise server 30 and obtain information indicating the consideration given to the user 82 by setting automatic linkage from the franchise server 30. In response to the inquiry from the server 40, the franchise server 30 may determine the consideration given to the user 82 by setting automatic linkage based on the usage history of the user 82 at that franchise store and transmit the information indicating the consideration to the server 40.

[0046] In S312, based on the information notified in S310, the user 82 accesses the server 40 using the user terminal 80 and performs the setting of automatic linkage. At this time, the presentation control unit 220 acquires usage information indicating the usage status of the issued credit card from the second storage unit 292. Based on the acquired information, the presentation control unit 220 performs information presentation to the user 82 through the user terminal 80. The content of the information presented to the user 82 will be described in relation to FIG. 8 and the like. In S314, the control unit 240 updates the automatic linkage information based on the information received from the user 82 in S312. In addition to S312, the attribute information (for example, address, income, etc.) of the user 82 may be updated.

[0047] The processes of S320 and S322 are generally the processes performed when a new credit card is issued. In S320, the control unit 240 transmits the updated new credit card information to the merchant server 30. For example, the control unit 240 transmits the credit card identifier before the update, the credit card identifier of the updated new credit card, and the expiration date of the updated new credit card to the merchant server 30. In S322, the merchant server 30 associates and stores the user identifier associated with the credit card identifier before the update among the registration information of the credit cards managed by the merchant server 30 with the credit card identifier and the expiration date of the updated new credit card. Thereby, the merchant server 30 can update the information of the credit card used when the user 82 uses it to the information of the new credit card without an explicit instruction from the user 82.

[0048] The processes from S330 to S336 are generally processes performed after a predetermined period has elapsed since a new credit card was issued. For example, the process of S330 is performed six months after a new credit card is issued. Specifically, in S330, the presentation control unit 220 acquires the credit card usage information of the user 82 among the usage information stored in the second storage unit 292 and the automatic linkage information associated with the credit card identifier of the updated new credit card issued to the user 82. In S332, the notification control unit 230 notifies, based on the information acquired in S330, a guidance regarding the resetting of the automatic linkage information. The guidance regarding the resetting of the automatic linkage information may be transmitted through the application installed in the user terminal 80. The guidance regarding the resetting of the automatic linkage information may be transmitted by an email addressed to the user 82. The guidance regarding the resetting of the automatic linkage may be a guidance for notifying the user 82 of the consideration given to the user 82 by performing the resetting. For example, the guidance regarding the resetting of the automatic linkage may include a message such as "Beneficial automatic linkage campaign! Double points when using the credit card by registering for automatic linkage!". Before notifying the user 82 of the guidance regarding the resetting of the automatic linkage information in S332, the server 40 may inquire of the franchise server 30 and acquire, from the franchise server 30, information indicating the consideration given to the user 82 by resetting the automatic linkage. In response to the inquiry from the server 40, the franchise server 30 may determine the consideration given to the user 82 by resetting the automatic linkage based on the usage history of the user 82 at that franchise store and transmit the information indicating the consideration to the server 40.

[0049] In S334, the user 82 accesses the server 40 using the user terminal 80 and performs the setting of the automatic linkage based on the information notified in S332. The process in S334 is the same as the process of S312, and the presentation control unit 220 performs information presentation to the user 82 through the user terminal 80 based on the usage information acquired in S330. In S336, the control unit 240 updates the automatic linkage information based on the information received from the user 82 in S334.

[0050] Note that the notification control unit 230 may calculate the total settlement amount for each credit card based on the usage information stored in the second storage unit 292, and notify a guidance regarding re - setting on the condition that there is a credit card for which the total settlement amount exceeds a predetermined amount and there is a franchise store for which it is set that automatic linkage for the credit card is not permitted. The notification control unit 230 may calculate the number of settlements using a credit card for each credit card based on the usage information stored in the second storage unit 292, and notify a guidance regarding re - setting on the condition that there is a credit card for which the number of settlements exceeds a predetermined value and there is a franchise store for which it is set that automatic linkage for the credit card is not permitted.

[0051] Note that when the credit card identifier included in the registration information registered in the franchise store server 30 is the identifier issued by the server 40 to the management server 40 as described in relation to FIG. 6, in S320, the server 40 may transmit a new identifier based on the credit card information of the new credit card and the expiration date of the updated new credit card to the franchise store server 30. When the credit card identifier included in the registration information registered in the franchise store server 30 is the identifier issued by the settlement agency server 50 to the management server 40, in S320, the server 40 may notify the settlement agency server 50 of the credit card information of the updated new credit card, cause the settlement agency server 50 to issue a new identifier based on the credit card information, and cause it to be transmitted to the franchise store server 30.

[0052] FIG. 8 schematically shows a screen 350 presented to the user 82 for setting automatic linkage information. The screen 350 in FIG. 8 is presented to the user 82, for example, by being displayed on the user terminal 80 in S312.

[0053] The screen 350 includes list information 352 for each affiliated store. The list information 352 includes items such as "Site", "Automatic Linkage Setting", "Last Use Date", "Usage Count", "Points", and "Point Grant Rate".

[0054] "Site" indicates an affiliated store capable of automatic linkage. "Automatic Linkage Setting" indicates whether automatic linkage is permitted at the corresponding affiliated store. ON indicates permission for automatic linkage, and OFF indicates non - permission for automatic linkage. In the illustrated example, automatic linkage is permitted at the affiliated stores of "A Mall" and "B Shopping", and non - permission for automatic linkage is indicated at the affiliated store of "C Market". The user 82 can set whether to permit automatic linkage by operating the button in the "Automatic Linkage Setting" column.

[0055] "Last Use Date" indicates the date when the last settlement using the target credit card was made at the corresponding affiliated store. "Usage Count" indicates the number of times settlements using the target credit card have been made. The usage count may be the number of times used within a predetermined period. For example, the usage count may be the number of times used in the past five years. Here, the "target credit card" may be a currently issued credit card. The "target credit card" may be not only currently issued credit cards but also credit cards issued before the currently issued credit cards.

[0056] "Points" indicates the current points granted to the user 82 at the corresponding affiliated store. The presentation control unit 220 may obtain information indicating the points granted to the user 82 from the affiliated store server 30. The presentation control unit 220 may obtain the points granted to the user 82 from the affiliated store server 30 by transmitting inquiry information about the points granted to the user 82 to the affiliated store server 30. For example, the presentation control unit 220 may transmit information indicating the credit card identifier of the target credit card to the affiliated store server 30, and the affiliated store server 30 may transmit the current points granted to the user 82 associated with the credit card identifier to the server 40.

[0057] The "point awarding rate" is an example of information regarding the consideration given to user 82. The "point awarding rate" includes, as information, the "current" point awarding rate, the point awarding rate "when using automatic linkage", and the point awarding rate "when using a credit card of another company". The "current" point awarding rate indicates the rate at which points are awarded to user 82 when using an issued credit card. The point awarding rate "when using automatic linkage" indicates the rate at which points are awarded to user 82 when using a new credit card updated using automatic update. The point awarding rate "when using a credit card of another company" indicates the points awarded when making a payment with a credit card of another company at the corresponding affiliated store. The point awarding rate "when using a credit card of another company" may be points of another company awarded when making a credit card payment at the corresponding affiliated store.

[0058] User 82 sets whether to permit automatic linkage for each affiliated store by operating the button in the "automatic linkage setting" column, and then when pressing button 354, user terminal 80 transmits information indicating the setting content of automatic linkage to server 40. In server 40, when reception unit 210 receives the instruction transmitted from user terminal 80, control unit 240 updates the automatic linkage information based on the instruction.

[0059] According to screen 350, a high point awarding rate due to automatic linkage can be presented to user 82. Therefore, the motivation for automatic linkage can be enhanced. As a result, the updated credit card can be used immediately without registering the updated credit card information on the affiliated store site. Consequently, it contributes to the promotion of credit card usage, which is also beneficial for the credit card company. Also, according to screen 350, user 82 can compare the point awarding rate when using automatic linkage with the point awarding rate awarded when using a credit card of another company.

[0060] FIG. 9 schematically shows a screen 370 presented to the user 82 to reset the automatic linkage information. The screen 370 in FIG. 9 is presented to the user 82, for example, by being displayed on the user terminal 80 in S334.

[0061] The screen 370 includes list information 372 for each franchise. The list information 372 includes items such as "Site", "Automatic Linkage Setting", "Last Use Date", "Use Frequency", "Points", and "Point Grant Rate". Since "Site", "Automatic Linkage Setting", "Last Use Date", "Use Frequency", "Points", and "Point Grant Rate" indicate the same content as those described in relation to the screen 350, the description is omitted. The list information 372 on the screen 370 is the same as the list information 352, except that it only includes information on franchises that do not permit automatic linkage. Therefore, the description of the content that overlaps with the content described in relation to the list information 352 is omitted.

[0062] On the screen 370, after the user 82 sets to permit automatic linkage by operating the button in the "Automatic Linkage Setting" column corresponding to the franchise in the "C Market", and then presses the button 374, the user terminal 80 transmits information instructing the change of automatic linkage to the server 40. In the server 40, when the reception unit 210 receives the instruction transmitted from the user terminal 80, the control unit 240 updates the automatic linkage information based on the instruction. In the illustrated example, the control unit 240 adds the franchise identifier in the "C Market" to the permission information. At this time, the presentation control unit 220 changes the "Current" point grant rate of the "Point Grant Rate" from "0.5" times to "2" times. Thereby, the points granted when using the updated credit card can be presented to the user 82.

[0063] FIG. 10 shows an example of the overall processing flow executed when performing a settlement using a token issued by the settlement agency server 50. Here, the case where the user 82 accesses the franchise server 30 using the user terminal 80 and purchases a product through the WEB interface provided by the franchise server 30 is taken up.

[0064] In S402, when the user 82 selects the product to be purchased and enters the credit card information to be used for settlement in the input field for credit card information provided through the WEB interface and presses the settlement button, transaction information indicating the product to be transacted is transmitted to the franchise server 30, and the credit card information to be used for settlement is transmitted to the settlement agency server 50 (S404). In S410, the settlement agency server 50 transmits a token generated based on the input credit card information to the user terminal 80.

[0065] In S412, the user terminal 80 transmits the token received from the settlement agency server 50 to the franchise server 30. In S414, the franchise server 30 transmits a validity confirmation request for requesting confirmation of the validity of the credit card to the settlement agency server 50. The validity confirmation request includes the token received from the user terminal 80 and the settlement amount information. In S416, the settlement agency server 50 transmits a validity confirmation request including the credit card information corresponding to the token received from the franchise server 30, the franchise identifier, and the settlement amount information to the server 40. Note that the credit card information corresponding to the token may be extracted by decrypting the token.

[0066] In S420, the control unit 240 of the server 40 determines the validity of the credit card based on the validity confirmation request received from the settlement agency server 50. The process of S420 will be described later.

[0067] In S422, the control unit 240 transmits a validity response (for example, the authentication result) based on the validity determination result in S420 to the settlement agency server 50. In S424, the settlement agency server 50 transmits the validity response to the franchise server 30.

[0068] In S430, the affiliated store server 30 performs processing related to commercial transactions based on the validity response received from the settlement agency server 50. For example, when the validity response received by the affiliated store server 30 indicates that the credit card is valid, the affiliated store server 30 performs sales processing. When the validity response received by the affiliated store server 30 indicates that the credit card is invalid, the affiliated store server 30 causes the user terminal 80 to present a message indicating that the credit card payment could not be completed. In this way, by using a token corresponding to the credit card information, the affiliated store server 30 can perform the settlement in a form where it cannot substantially receive the credit card information.

[0069] FIG. 11 shows an example of the processing flow when the server 40 receives a validity confirmation request. Specifically, FIG. 11 shows an example of the processing flow of S420 in FIG. 10.

[0070] In S504, the control unit 240 determines whether the affiliated store is one for which automatic linkage is permitted based on the credit card information and the affiliated store identifier included in the received validity confirmation request. Specifically, the control unit 240 refers to the automatic linkage information and determines that the affiliated store is one for which automatic linkage is permitted when the automatic linkage permission flag associated with the credit card identifier and the affiliated store identifier included in the credit card information is TRUE. When the control unit 240 determines that the affiliated store is one for which automatic linkage is permitted, the process proceeds to S506, and when the control unit 240 determines that the affiliated store is one for which automatic linkage is not permitted, the process proceeds to S510.

[0071] In S506, the control unit 240 determines whether it exceeds the credit limit associated with the credit card identifier based on the settlement amount information included in the received validity confirmation request. If the control unit 240 determines that it exceeds the credit limit, the process proceeds to S506. If it determines that it does not exceed the credit limit, the process proceeds to S508. In S508, the control unit 240 performs control to transmit a valid response indicating that the credit card is valid as a validity response to the validity confirmation request to the settlement agency server 50. In S510, the control unit 240 performs control to transmit an invalid response indicating that the credit card is invalid as a validity response to the validity confirmation request to the settlement agency server 50. Thus, the process related to the update of the credit card can also be applied to the form of performing token settlement.

[0072] FIG. 12 shows an example of the overall processing flow executed when performing settlement using the token issued by the server 40. The processing in FIG. 12 is different from the processing in FIG. 10 in that the server 40 issues a token.

[0073] In S602, when the user 82 selects the product to be purchased and enters the credit card information to be used for settlement in the input field for credit card information provided through the WEB interface by the affiliated store server 30 and presses the settlement button, the transaction information indicating the product to be transacted is transmitted to the affiliated store server 30, and the credit card information to be used for settlement is transmitted to the server 40 (S604).

[0074] In S610, the server 40 transmits the token generated based on the received credit card information to the user terminal 80.

[0075] In S612, the user terminal 80 transmits the token received from the franchise store server 30 to the franchise store server 30. In S614, the franchise store server 30 transmits a validity confirmation request (for example, a so-called authorization request) that requests confirmation of the validity of the credit card to the server 40. The validity confirmation request includes the token received from the user terminal 80, the franchise store identifier, and the settlement amount information.

[0076] In S620, the control unit 240 of the server 40 determines the validity of the credit card based on the validity confirmation request received from the franchise store server 30. For the process of S620, the same process as the process described in relation to FIG. 11 can be applied. However, in S504 of FIG. 11, it was assumed that the process of S504 was performed based on the credit card information included in the validity confirmation request received from the settlement agency server 50. When the token is included in the validity confirmation request from the franchise store server 30, the determination of S504 is made based on the credit card information corresponding to the token.

[0077] In S622, the control unit 240 transmits a validity response (for example, a so-called authorization result) based on the validity determination result in S620 to the franchise store server 30.

[0078] In S630, the franchise store server 30 performs processing related to the commercial transaction based on the validity response received from the server 40. For example, when the validity response received from the server 40 indicates that the credit card is valid, the franchise store server 30 performs sales processing. When the validity response received from the server 40 indicates that the credit card is invalid, the franchise store server 30 causes the user 82 to be presented through the user terminal 80 that the credit card settlement could not be made.

[0079] According to the payment system 10 described above, when the credit card is updated, commercial transactions can be conducted without re-registering the information of the new credit card after the update at the affiliated store. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the inability to make payments due to the update of the credit card during commercial transactions. In addition, since the user 82 can be notified early about the guidance regarding the automatic linkage of the credit card, the uneasiness of the user 82 regarding the update of the credit card can be reduced. Since the user 82 can set whether to enable the automatic linkage of the credit card for each affiliated store, the possibility of the credit card payment becoming unavailable at affiliated stores where the credit card payment is frequently used can be lowered.

[0080] Also, for the affiliated store, it is possible to identify customers who will continue to use the service even after the credit card is updated, and thus it may be possible to utilize this for promoting sales to customers who will continue to use the service. In addition, it is possible to reduce the possibility that transactions are cancelled or non-payment occurs due to the user 82 forgetting to register the updated credit card information on the affiliated store website.

[0081] In addition, since it is possible to register affiliated stores that perform automatic linkage in the initial settings when becoming a credit card member, the affiliated store can pre-identify customers who will continue to use the service. Since this leads to the acquisition of affiliated stores, it is also beneficial for the credit card company. Also, by providing early notice of the update guidance associated with the expiration date, it is possible to secure the time for registering the attribute information of the user 82. This leads to obtaining more accurate attribute information regarding the user 82, and thus it becomes possible to conduct promotions based on more accurate information. In addition, since the registration work of the updated credit card information on the affiliated store website can be reduced, the possibility of the user withdrawing from the credit card membership due to the need for registration work can be lowered. Also, since the user 82 is notified to re-set the automatic linkage for users who have not permitted the automatic linkage, it is possible to increase the opportunity to bring back credit card users.

[0082] In the above-described embodiment, the process when updating a credit card has been described. However, it can be applied to the process when reissuing a credit card when the user 82 has lost the credit card. Further, it can be applied to the process when changing the type of the credit card. The case of changing the type of the credit card includes, for example, the case of changing a general card to a gold card or the case of changing the brand. In the present invention, "when the credit card is updated to a new credit card" includes not only the case of updating the credit card according to the expiration date of the credit card, but also the case of reissuing the credit card and the case of changing the type of the credit card.

[0083] In the above-described embodiment, the credit card has been described mainly as a card for conducting credit transactions. However, the credit card is not limited to a card for conducting credit transactions, and may be a card for conducting settlement by immediate debit during commercial transactions. The credit card is an example of a settlement card. The settlement card is an example of a settlement device. The settlement device may be a portable device having a settlement function. At least a part of the process described in relation to the server 40 can be applied to the process related to any settlement device that can be updated or replaced either hardware-wise or software-wise.

[0084] FIG. 13 shows an example of a computer 2000 in which multiple embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in whole or in part. Programs installed in the computer 2000 cause the computer 2000 to function as a system such as the settlement system 10 according to the embodiment or each part of the system, or a device such as the server 40 or each part of the device, execute operations associated with the system or each part of the system or the device or each part of the device, and / or execute a process according to the embodiment or a stage of the process. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 2012 to cause the computer 2000 to execute specific operations associated with some or all of the processing procedures and blocks of the block diagrams described herein.

[0085] The computer 2000 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 2012 and a RAM 2014, which are interconnected by a host controller 2010. The computer 2000 also includes a ROM 2026, a flash memory 2024, a communication interface 2022, and an input / output chip 2040. The ROM 2026, the flash memory 2024, the communication interface 2022, and the input / output chip 2040 are connected to the host controller 2010 via an input / output controller 2020.

[0086] The CPU 2012 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 2026 and the RAM 2014, thereby controlling each unit.

[0087] The communication interface 2022 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The flash memory 2024 stores programs and data used by the CPU 2012 in the computer 2000. The ROM 2026 stores a boot program or the like executed by the computer 2000 when activated, and / or a program that depends on the hardware of the computer 2000. The input / output chip 2040 may also connect various input / output units such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor to the input / output controller 2020 via input / output ports such as a serial port, a parallel port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, a monitor port, a USB port, an HDMI (registered trademark) port, etc.

[0088] The program is provided via a computer-readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a memory card or via a network. The RAM 2014, the ROM 2026, or the flash memory 2024 is an example of a computer-readable storage medium. The program is installed in the flash memory 2024, the RAM 2014, or the ROM 2026 and executed by the CPU 2012. The information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 2000, resulting in the cooperation between the program and the various types of hardware resources described above. The device or method may be configured by realizing the operation or processing of information according to the use of the computer 2000.

[0089] For example, when communication is executed between the computer 2000 and an external device, the CPU 2012 may execute a communication program loaded into the RAM 2014 and instruct the communication interface 2022 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of the CPU 2012, the communication interface 2022 reads the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer processing area provided in a recording medium such as the RAM 2014 and the flash memory 2024, transmits the read transmission data to the network, and writes the received data received from the network to the reception buffer processing area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0090] Also, the CPU 2012 may cause all or a necessary part of a file or database stored in a recording medium such as the flash memory 2024 to be read into the RAM 2014, and may execute various types of processing on the data on the RAM 2014. The CPU 2012 then writes back the processed data to the recording medium.

[0091] Various types of information such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases may be stored in a recording medium and subjected to information processing. The CPU 2012 may perform various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 2014, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgment, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information search / replacement, etc. described in this specification and specified by the instruction sequence of the program, and write back the result to the RAM 2014. Also, the CPU 2012 may search for information in files, databases, etc. within the recording medium. For example, when a plurality of entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 2012 searches for an entry that matches the condition in which the attribute value of the first attribute is specified from among the plurality of entries, reads the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby may obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0092] The programs or software modules described above may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on or near the computer 2000. A recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided within a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium. The program stored in the computer-readable storage medium may be provided to the computer 2000 via a network.

[0093] The program installed in computer 2000 and causing computer 2000 to function as server 40 may act on CPU 2012 or the like to cause computer 2000 to function as each part of server 40. The information processing described in these programs functions as each part of server 40, which is a specific means by which software and the various hardware resources described above cooperate, when read into computer 2000. And by these specific means, by realizing the calculation or processing of information according to the purpose of use of computer 2000 in the present embodiment, a specific server 40 corresponding to the purpose of use is constructed.

[0094] Various embodiments have been described with reference to block diagrams and the like. In a block diagram, each block may represent (1) a stage of a process in which an operation is executed or (2) each part of a device having a role of executing an operation. A specific stage and each part may be implemented by a dedicated circuit, a programmable circuit supplied with a computer-readable instruction stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a processor supplied with a computer-readable instruction stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuit may include digital and / or analog hardware circuits, and may include an integrated circuit (IC) and / or discrete circuits. The programmable circuit may include a reconfigurable hardware circuit including memory elements such as logical AND, logical OR, logical XOR, logical NAND, logical NOR, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), etc.

[0095] A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device that can store instructions executable by an appropriate device. As a result, a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein constitutes at least a part of a product that can be executed to provide means for performing operations specified in a processing procedure or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, etc. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy (registered trademark) disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD), Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk, memory stick, integrated circuit card, etc.

[0096] Computer-readable instructions may include any combination of one or more programming languages, including source code or object code described in assembly instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or object-oriented programming languages such as Smalltalk (registered trademark), JAVA (registered trademark), C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages.

[0097] Computer-readable instructions may be executed to provide means for a processor or programmable circuit of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to execute the described processing procedures or operations specified in the block diagrams, locally or via a wide area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

[0098] As described above, the present invention has been described using embodiments, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the description of the claims that such modified or improved forms can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0099] It should be noted that the execution order of each process such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, the specification, and the drawings is not explicitly indicated as "earlier" or "preceding" etc., and can be realized in any order unless the output of the previous process is used in the subsequent process. Regarding the operation flows in the claims, the specification, and the drawings, even if "first," "next," etc. are used for convenience in the description, it does not mean that it is essential to implement in this order.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0100] 10 Settlement system 30 Franchise store server 40 Server 50 Settlement agency server 80 User terminal 82 User 90 Communication network 200 Processing unit 210 Reception unit 220 Prompt control unit 230 Notification control unit 240 Control unit 290 Memory unit 291 First memory unit 292 Second memory unit 350 Screen 352 List information 354 Button 370 Screen 372 List information 374 Button 2000 Computer 2010 Host controller 2012 CPU 2014 RAM 2020 Input / output controller 2022 Communication interface 2024 Flash memory 2026 ROM 2040 Input / output chip

Claims

1. A first storage unit that stores permission information including a store identifier for identifying a store that permits settlement by a new credit card when the credit card identified by the credit card identifier is updated to a new credit card, associated with the credit card identifier; A control unit that, when updating an issued credit card, performs control to enable settlement by the new credit card at a store identified by the store identifier stored in the first storage unit, associated with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card; A server comprising the above.

2. When updating the issued credit card, the control unit performs control to transmit credit card information for enabling settlement by the new credit card to a store identified by the store identifier stored in the first storage unit, associated with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card. The server according to Claim 1.

3. The control unit: When updating the issued credit card, causes the first storage unit to store the store identifier stored in the first storage unit, associated with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card, associated with the credit card identifier of the new credit card; When receiving a validity confirmation request for the new credit card transmitted when the new credit card is used for settlement, makes a response indicating that it is valid, provided that at least the store identifier of the store where the new credit card is used is stored in association with the credit card identifier of the new credit card. The server according to Claim 1 or 2.

4. A notification control unit that performs control to notify the user of the issued credit card of the setting of the permission information before updating the issued credit card. The server according to Claim 1 or 2, further comprising the above.

5. A second storage unit that stores usage information indicating the usage status of the issued credit card at a store identified by the store identifier, associated with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card and the store identifier. Before updating the issued credit card, a presentation control unit that performs control to present the user with usage information indicating the usage status for each affiliated store based on the usage information associated with the credit card identifier of the issued credit card The server according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising the same.

6. The usage information includes at least any one of (i) the number of settlement times associated with the issued credit card, (ii) the final settlement date associated with the issued credit card, and (iii) information regarding the consideration given to the user, in each of the affiliated stores. The server according to claim 5.

7. After the issued credit card is updated, a reception unit that receives an instruction from the user of the new credit card to change the permission information, and When the instruction is an instruction to add an affiliated store that permits settlement with the new credit card, a presentation control unit that presents the user of the new credit card with information indicating the consideration given to the user of the new credit card The server according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising the same.

8. A program for causing a computer to function as the server according to claim 1 or 2.

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