Electronic money system

Abstract

To provide an electronic money system that serves as a common currency for overseas remittance and overseas travel.SOLUTION: A hardware constituting an electronic money system according to the present invention comprises a computer maintained by a power supply provider, a computer maintained by a financial institution, a card issued by a financial institution to an electricity retailer, and a card issued by a financial institution to their overseas and domestic users. The computer maintained by the electricity supplier incorporates software that converts electricity transmitted from the electricity retailer into a corresponding value of the common currency, and the converted value (numerical value) calculated by the electricity supplier's computer is transmitted to the financial institution as the value of the common currency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic money system that can be used as a common currency within a region consisting of multiple countries. [Background technology]

[0002] The present inventor has proposed Patent Documents 1 and 2 as a system for providing electronic money (including virtual currency and value information) with the same credibility as convertible paper money.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a value information (virtual currency) system. Specifically, the system is constructed from a server computer provided by a business that retails electricity and an exchange that issues value information such as virtual currency using purchased electricity as collateral (security), and a client computer provided by a purchaser of the value information, a client-server network model is constructed between the server computer and the client computer in which the server provides information held by the server to the client, an autonomous decentralized P2P (peer to peer) network model is constructed between the client terminals, the power plant sells power supply guarantee information that guarantees the supply of electricity when requested, the server computer issues value information such as virtual currency in an amount corresponding to the value of the purchased power supply guarantee information, the client terminal purchases the value information and uses the purchased value information as payment currency to other client terminals, and, if necessary, requests the power plant to supply electricity in an amount corresponding to the value information, and the server computer, upon receiving information in which the value information was used to request the supply of electricity, deletes the power supply guarantee information that supports the value of the value information.

[0004] In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, if regular currency (yen or dollars) is used to purchase the power supply guarantee, there is a problem that the value information system would not be complete without regular currency, so Patent Document 2 has been proposed. Specifically, the proposed value information system includes a server computer provided by an issuing institution that issues value information such as virtual currency, and a client computer provided by a user of the value information, where a client-server network model is established between the server computer and the client computer, where the server provides information held by the server to the client, and an autonomous decentralized P2P (peer to peer) network model is established between the client computers, where the server computer receives power supply guarantee information from an electricity retailer that guarantees the supply of electricity when requested by the client computer as tax or part of tax, issues value information equivalent to the received power supply guarantee information, and sends the issued value information to the client computer in response to a request from the client computer, and when it receives information from the electricity retailer that the value information has been used in the power supply request, it erases or invalidates the power supply guarantee information that supports the value of the value information, and the client computer receives the value information and transmits the received value information to other client terminals as payment currency, and also transmits it to the electricity retailer as payment currency equivalent to the electricity used.

[0005] Patent document 3 also discloses a green power generation device that includes a green power generation unit that generates power using renewable energy or low-environmental-impact power generation resources, a power generation amount measurement unit that measures the amount of power generated by the green power generation unit, an information acquisition unit that acquires power generation amount information indicating the amount of power generation measured by the power generation amount measurement unit, and a power generation certificate issuance unit that issues a power generation certificate to certify the validity of the power generation amount information acquired by the information acquisition unit.It discloses that when power is supplied to another device by a discharge control unit, a power generation certificate is provided to the other device by a power generation certificate providing unit, and the power generation certificate is converted into a coupon or electronic money having a value corresponding to the amount of power generation certified by the power generation certificate in the other device to which the power generation certificate is provided, and the coupon or electronic money converted in the other device to which the power generation certificate is provided is acquired from the other device by a value information acquisition unit and recorded in a memory unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6006266 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6779454 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-164900 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] A common currency would be an extremely effective tool for developing regional agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Furthermore, more than 20 million foreign visitors from many countries visit Japan annually, and given the hassle of exchanging money for these visitors, allowing the use of a common currency would help attract even more inbound tourists.

[0008] Bitcoin is widely known as electronic money and is used for certain commercial transactions due to its anonymity, low transfer fees, and security. However, it cannot become a common currency due to factors such as its large fluctuations over a short period of time.

[0009] Furthermore, although base currencies such as the dollar and the yen are suitable as common currencies because their fluctuation ranges are smaller than other currencies, there is strong resistance to using them as common currencies due to historical backgrounds and the policies of each country.

[0010] On the other hand, the electronic money (value information) proposed by the inventor in Patent Documents 1 and 2 can be considered to be an electricity-based system, so the fluctuation range is small and there has been no historical resistance, so it is thought that it can be used as a common currency. However, there is no mention of what kind of system would be needed to become a common currency, and there are no other prior arts that clearly propose this. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] In order to solve the above problems, the electronic money system of the present invention is an electronic money system comprising a computer installed at an electric power supply company that supplies electricity sent from an electric power retailer to electricity consumers, a computer installed at a financial institution that can send and receive data to and from the computer installed at the electric power supply company, a card issued by the financial institution to the electric power retailer, and cards issued by the financial institution to overseas and domestic users who have accounts at the financial institution or at another affiliated financial institution, wherein the computer installed at the electric power supply company converts the electricity sent from the electric power retailer into an equivalent common currency value and sends this converted value to the computer installed at the financial institution, the financial institution deposits the common currency equivalent to the converted value received by the computer in the account of the electric power retailer and issues a card to the electric power retailer that can be used to withdraw or spend the common currency or the equivalent yen, and the financial institution issues cards to overseas and domestic users who have accounts at the financial institution or at another affiliated financial institution that can withdraw or spend the equivalent common currency from the balance in their account. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, the amount of common currency issued corresponds to the amount of electricity (electricity standard system), so the value of the common currency becomes clear and stable. Compared to gold, which has been converted into currency in the past, electricity has no weight or shape, so it does not require storage space. It can be produced in the amount needed when needed, unlike gold, which has limited reserves. Furthermore, although there is transmission loss, it can be sent in an instant, disappears when used, and generates a certain value when used, making it an ideal convertible currency that guarantees a certain value for electronic money.

[0013] When a region made up of multiple countries conducts commercial transactions using a common currency, it is difficult to make the currency of a specific country the common currency due to historical background and dependence on other countries, but by using newly created electronic money, there will be no resistance from the countries that make up the region. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic money system according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The hardware constituting the electronic money system of the present invention is composed of a computer provided by an electric power supply company, a computer provided by a financial institution, cards issued by the financial institution to an electric power retailer, and cards issued by the financial institution to overseas and domestic users of the financial institution.

[0016] The computers used by power supply companies and financial institutions can be general-purpose computers, which are composed of general hardware such as a CPU, ROM, RAM, HDD, BIOS, communication interface, input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, and a display.

[0017] The ROM, RAM, HDD, BIOS, and communication interface unit are connected to the CPU via a communication bus, and the keyboard and mouse are connected to the CPU via a human interface, and the hardware functions as a receiving means, storage means, transmission means, extraction means, calculation means, etc. in response to instructions from the CPU.

[0018] In addition, the computers of the power supply companies and financial institutions will be connected via the Internet or via dedicated lines to enhance security. The computers of the electricity supplier are equipped with software that converts the electricity transmitted by the electricity retailer into a common currency equivalent to the electricity, for example, based on the electricity purchase price across Japan.

[0019] The electricity retailers include power plants that use wind, thermal, hydroelectric, and nuclear power, as well as ordinary households with solar power generation facilities. The electricity transmitted from the electricity retailers is distributed and supplied to electricity consumers. Electricity consumers pay a set fee to a set financial institution. This financial institution is not related to the financial institutions that make up this system.

[0020] The conversion value (numerical value) calculated by the electricity supplier's computer is sent to the financial institution as a common currency value. Here, if the unit of common currency is assumed to be "electricity," the electricity purchase price is 15 yen / kWh, and the amount of electricity transmitted from the electricity retailer is 100 kWh, then if 1 yen = 1 electricity, the conversion value will be 1,500 electricity. Note that if an adjustment coefficient is used for conversion, the conversion value will not be 1,500.

[0021] The computer of the financial institution that receives the conversion value enters the conversion value into the common currency account of the electricity retailer that has been opened in advance at the financial institution.

[0022] A computer of a financial institution that issues electronic money as a common currency is equipped with a cryptography means, and the financial institution divides or merges the common currency for each unit of power when issuing the common currency equivalent to the received power.

[0023] Furthermore, the electronic common currency is encrypted and contains at least the common currency ID, the amount of convertible energy, the acceptance date, and the encryption date. By embedding this information in the electronic money, the issuing financial institution can know that a specific common currency has been exchanged for electricity.

[0024] Electricity retailers are issued the common currency account card (credit card, cash card, debit card, or an integrated card of these) in advance by a financial institution, so the common currency deposited into the common currency account can be converted into yen or used as common currency without being converted into yen.

[0025] The financial institution issues a card to a user who has an account with the financial institution, allowing the user to use the amount of common currency received as the conversion value from the electricity supplier. The card format shall be the same as that issued to the electricity retailer.

[0026] Overseas users usually do not have a common currency account with the financial institution. In this case, they can also use an account with an overseas financial institution that has an affiliated relationship with the financial institution. Since the currency deposited in an account with an overseas financial institution is the currency of the overseas user's home country, software that converts the currency of the home country into the common currency must be installed in the financial institution's computer.

[0027] Financial institutions make a profit from conversion fees when converting between a common currency and each country's currency.

[0028] In the embodiment, an example was shown in which the electricity supply business operator and the electricity retail business operator are different, but it is also possible for one business operator to perform both electricity retail and supply.Furthermore, in addition to general banks, a new institution managed by the government may be established as a financial institution.

Claims

[Claim 1] An electronic money system comprising a computer provided by an electric power supply company that supplies electric power sent from an electric power retailer to an electric power consumer, a computer provided by a financial institution that can send and receive data to and from the computer provided by the electric power supply company, a card issued by the financial institution to the electric power retailer, and cards issued by the financial institution to overseas and domestic users who have accounts at the financial institution or other affiliated financial institutions, An electronic money system characterized in that a computer installed at the electric power supply company converts the electricity sent from the electric power retailer into an equivalent common currency value and sends this converted value to a computer installed at the financial institution, the financial institution deposits the common currency equivalent to the converted value received by the computer in the electric power retailer's account and issues a card to the electric power retailer that can be used to withdraw or spend the common currency or the equivalent yen, and the financial institution issues cards to overseas and domestic users who have accounts with the financial institution or other affiliated financial institutions that can withdraw or spend the equivalent common currency from the balance in their account.

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