Information processing apparatus, information processing method, program, and system

Abstract

To provide an information processor, an information processing method, a program and a system for enabling a user to grasp whether or not at least a part of privilege imparting conditions is satisfied even when the user performs electronic settlement without using a settlement application.SOLUTION: In an electronic payment service, a payment server 100 including an information management unit 140 that is an information processing device includes an acquisition unit 142 that acquires payment information regarding payment for a service by a user via the electronic payment service from a service server that provides the service used by the user, a determination unit 144 that determines whether or not the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of a privilege granting condition of a privilege provided by the service on the electronic payment service, and an output unit 146 that outputs notification information indicating that at least a part of the privilege granting condition is satisfied to the service server when it is determined that the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of the privilege granting condition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, a program, and a system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technique for providing a reward to an account of a user of an electronic payment service in accordance with an electronic payment. For example, Patent Document 1 describes that when it is determined that a user has purchased a predetermined object by using a payment method with a user terminal, a stamp corresponding to the predetermined object is provided to the stamp card of the user. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-176038 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, with conventional technology, notification information indicating that at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit have been met (for example, as described above, notification information indicating that a stamp has been granted to a stamp card) is simply displayed on the payment app installed on the user's terminal, and if a user makes an electronic payment without using the payment app (for example, if the user makes an electronic payment using an external service), the user may not be able to know whether at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit have been met.

[0005] The present invention has been made taking these circumstances into consideration, and one of its objectives is to provide an information processing device, information processing method, program, and system that allows a user to know whether at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit have been met, even when the user makes an electronic payment without using a payment app. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is an information processing device that includes an acquisition unit that acquires payment information regarding payment for a service by a user via an electronic payment service from a service server that provides the service used by the user; a judgment unit that determines whether the acquired payment information satisfies at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit provided by the service on the electronic payment service; and an output unit that, when it is determined that the acquired payment information satisfies at least some of the conditions for granting the benefit, outputs notification information to the service server indicating that at least some of the conditions for granting the benefit have been fulfilled. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, an information processing device, information processing method, program, and system can be provided that allow a user to know whether at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit have been met, even if the user makes an electronic payment without using a payment app. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. [Figure 2] This is a sequence diagram (part 1) illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. [Figure 3] This is a sequence diagram (part 2) illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a payment server 100 according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of user information 172. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store / store information 176. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a top screen of the payment application 20. [Figure 8]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of stamp card information 178. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a stamp giving screen displayed on the payment application 20 when a stamp is given to a stamp card. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a stamp completion screen displayed on payment application 20 when all stamps on a stamp card have been collected. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a scene in which a user makes a payment via an electronic payment service on an external service. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification object displayed on a payment completion screen of an online shopping site. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a notification object displayed on a payment completion screen of an online shopping site. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a details screen showing details of a stamp card. [Figure 15] 1 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the user terminal device 10, the payment server 100, and the service server 200 in cooperation with each other. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of an information processing device, an information processing method, a program, and a system according to the present invention will be described. Various devices, such as a "server," a "management device," and an "information providing device," that provide services to users or perform internal analysis, may be implemented as a group of distributed devices, and each device may be operated by a different business. Furthermore, the hardware owner (the cloud server provider) and the business that actually operates the device may also be different. An application program and a payment server work together to provide an electronic payment service. In the following description, the application program is referred to as a "payment app." An electronic payment service is a service that supports payments for the purchase of goods and services at a store. A store is, for example, a physical store (real-world store) existing in the real world, but may also include a virtual store for e-commerce transactions. A virtual store may also include a store operated by an entity other than the operator of the electronic payment service. In such a case, when making a payment for a purchase at the virtual store, the user is controlled to transition to the interface screen of the electronic payment service. In an electronic payment service, a store is treated as belonging to, for example, an affiliated store (brand), and when a purchase is made at a store, processing such as payment is primarily conducted between the user and the affiliated store. Alternatively, processing such as payment may be carried out between the user and the store.

[0010] [Electronic payment service] Figure 1 shows an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. The electronic payment service is realized mainly by a payment server 100. The payment server 100 communicates with, for example, one or more user terminal devices 10, one or more first store terminal devices 50, one or more second store terminal devices 70, and one or more service servers 200 via a network NW. The network NW includes, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless base station, a provider device, etc.

[0011] The user terminal device 10 is, for example, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or tablet terminal. The user terminal device 10 is a computer device having at least an optical reading function, a communication function, a display function, an input acceptance function, and a program execution function. In the following description, components for realizing these functions are referred to as a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc. In the user terminal device 10, a processor such as a CPU executes a payment app 20, which operates in cooperation with the payment server 100 to provide electronic payment services to users. The payment app 20 is installed on the user terminal device 10 from, for example, an application store, and controls the camera, communication device, touch panel, etc.

[0012] The first store terminal device 50 is installed, for example, in a store. The first store terminal device 50 is a computer device having at least a product price acquisition function, an optical reading function, a program execution function, and a communication function. The first store terminal device 50 includes a so-called POS (Point of Sale) device, and the product price acquisition function and the optical reading function may be realized by the POS device. The store code image 60 is placed in the store and is a code image such as a QR code (registered trademark) printed on a paper or plastic medium. The store code image 60 may be displayed on a display placed in the store (which may be the display of a terminal device such as a smartphone).

[0013] The second store terminal device 70 is used by the operator of the affiliated store. The second store terminal device 70 is a smartphone, tablet terminal, personal computer, etc. An interface for affiliated stores 72 runs on the second store terminal device 70. The interface for affiliated stores 72 may be an app for affiliated stores or a browser. The interface for affiliated stores 72 accepts coupon settings and the like from the operator of the affiliated store and transmits them to the payment server 100. The second store terminal device 70, which is a smartphone, has the function of displaying a code image corresponding to a store code image and reading the code image displayed by the user terminal device 10 by executing the app for affiliated stores.

[0014] The payment server 100 realizes electronic payment based on payment information received from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The first store terminal device 50 may include a POS device and an affiliated store server, in which case payment information is sent from the POS device via the affiliated store server to the payment server 100. In the following explanation, this distinction will not be made and it is assumed that payment information is sent from the first store terminal device 50.

[0015] Service server 200 provides a service operated by a different operator from the electronic payment service. In this embodiment, service server 200 provides an online shopping service for books on an online shopping site. As will be described later, a user of the electronic payment service inputs user information (e.g., account ID and password) for the electronic payment service on the online shopping site, and service server 200 queries payment server 100 for the input user information. Payment server 100 authenticates the user information and transmits information indicating that the queried user information is valid to service server 200. This allows the user to use the electronic payment service to make payments on the online shopping site.

[0016] 2 and 3 are sequence diagrams illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. There may be two patterns for electronic payment: Pattern 1 and Pattern 2.

[0017] In the case of pattern 1 (hereinafter referred to as user scan) shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal device 10, with the payment application 20 running, decodes the store code image 60 using its optical reading function (S1). The store code image 60 includes store URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information. This store URL is the domain of the electronic payment service to which store identification information has been added, and is associated with an affiliated store ID, store ID, etc. in the payment server 100 (described below). The payment application 20 sends first payment information including the store URL and account ID to the payment server 100 (S2). The payment server 100 searches for store information (described below) using the affiliated store ID and store ID corresponding to the store URL, acquires the affiliated store name and store name information (S3), and sends this to the payment application 20 (S4). The user enters the payment amount into the user terminal device 10 on the screen displaying the affiliated store name and store name (S5). Then, the user terminal device 10 generates second payment information including at least the payment amount and sends it to the payment server 100 (S6). The payment server 100 makes the electronic payment based on the received second payment information (S7). The payment server 100 then sends a payment completion notice (information for displaying a payment completion screen) to the payment app 20 (S8), and the payment app 20 displays the payment completion screen (S9). Note that when the store code image 60 is displayed on a display installed in the store, the store code image 60 may include information on the payment amount in addition to the store URL. In this case, the step of the user inputting the payment amount is omitted, and the payment amount information is included in the first payment information and sent to the payment server 100. Information on the affiliated store name and store name may be included and displayed on the payment completion screen.

[0018] In the case of pattern 2 (hereinafter referred to as store scan) shown in FIG. 3, the payment app 20 sends a request to issue a one-time code to the payment server 100 when the payment app 20 is launched, when a payment operation is performed in the payment app 20, at the automatic update timing (e.g., every minute), and at other timings (S11). The payment server 100 generates a one-time code (S12) and sends it to the payment app 20 (S13). The payment app 20 displays a code image, such as a QR code or barcode, generated based on the one-time code (S14). The user holds (presents) the display surface of the user terminal device 10 over the first in-store terminal device 50, and the first in-store terminal device 50 decodes the code image using its optical reading function and obtains the one-time code, etc. (S15). The first in-store terminal device 50 then generates payment information including the one-time code, payment amount, affiliated store ID, store ID, etc., and sends it to the payment server 100 (S16). The payment amount information is acquired in advance by reading a barcode, manually entering it, etc. Based on the received information, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the one-time code and performs electronic payment (S17). Then, the payment server 100 sends a payment completion notice to the payment application 20 (S18), and the payment application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S19).

[0019] Note that electronic payment may be performed using only one of the above patterns. Furthermore, the "account ID" described in FIG. 2 may be other information (e.g., a phone number) that can be used as user identification information. Furthermore, issuing a one-time code may be omitted in store scanning, and the payment application 20 may display a code image generated based on the user's account ID. In this case, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the account ID instead of identifying the user corresponding to the one-time code.

[0020] [Payment server] FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the payment server 100 according to the first embodiment. The payment server 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a payment content providing unit 120, a payment processing unit 130, an information management unit 140, and a storage unit 170. The components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 170 are implemented by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be implemented by hardware (including circuitry) such as a large-scale integration (LSI), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a graphics processing unit (GPU), or may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device with a non-transitory storage medium) such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed in the storage device by inserting the storage medium into a drive device. The information management unit 140 further includes an acquisition unit 142, a determination unit 144, and an output unit 146. Details of these functional units will be described later. The information management unit 140 is an example of an "information processing device" in the claims.

[0021] The storage unit 170 is a HDD, flash memory, RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage unit 170 may be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device that the payment server 100 can access via a network. The storage unit 170 stores information such as user information 172, payment content information 174, affiliated store / shop information 176, and stamp card information 178.

[0022] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for connecting to the network NW, and is, for example, a network interface card.

[0023] The payment content providing unit 120 has, for example, a function of a web server, and provides information (content) for displaying various screens of the electronic payment service to the user terminal device 10. The payment content providing unit 120 reads out necessary content from the payment content information 174 as appropriate and provides it to the user terminal device 10. The user terminal device 10 accepts various inputs from the user while content is being played by the payment application 20, and transmits the above-mentioned payment information and the like to the payment server 100.

[0024] The payment processing unit 130 performs payment processing based on the payment information transmitted by the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The payment processing unit 130 performs payment processing while referring to the user information 172.

[0025] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of user information 172. User information 172 is an example of user registration information. User information 172 includes, for example, a user URL, account ID, telephone number, and password, as well as an email address, user ID, name, address, date of birth, registration date, remaining balance, credit card payment settings, credit card limit, credit card payment amount, available credit card payment amount, payment method settings, bank account, credit card number, charge history information, payment history information, owned points, participating stamp cards, and number of stamps. The user URL is used for remittance processing between users. When registering for the electronic payment service, registration of a phone number and password is required. The account ID is issued to the user by the payment server 100, and the user ID can be set by the user (or does not have to be set). The email address, name, address, and date of birth are also information that can be set by the user (or do not have to be set). The registration date is the date on which the user registered for the electronic payment service (the date on which the account was created). Hereinafter, the user's instance (electronic payment account) to which this information is associated will be referred to as an account.

[0026] The charge balance indicates the balance of electronic money set by the user by transferring funds to the account in advance. Transfer methods include transfers from a designated bank's ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) or from a registered bank account. The credit payment setting indicates whether the settings for electronic credit payment have been completed and is set to either "Completed" or "Not Completed." The credit payment limit is the monthly credit payment limit. The credit payment amount is the amount of credit payment already used in the current month. The available credit payment amount is the amount of credit payment available in the current month, calculated by subtracting the credit payment amount from the credit payment limit. While the figure shows only one credit payment limit, in reality, there may also be daily limits, and the lower of these may be set as the credit payment limit. Further details on credit payments will be discussed later. The payment method setting indicates whether the user will currently make electronic payments using the charge balance or by credit payment. The bank account and credit card number are information on the bank account or credit card number (account number, card number) that can be used to deposit funds into the electronic payment service. The charge history information is a history of the user's previous transfers to the electronic payment service to increase the charge balance. The payment history information is information that shows the breakdown of payments made by the user for each payment (date and time, store ID of the store where the purchase was made, payment amount, payment method, etc.). Details on owned points, participating stamp cards, and number of stamps will be provided later.

[0027] 6 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store / store information 176. The affiliated store / store information 176 includes, for example, a first table 176A in which an affiliated store ID and a store ID are associated with a store URL, a second table 176B in which an affiliated store ID is associated with an affiliated store name and sales amount (described above), and a third table 176C in which a store ID is associated with a store name. In addition to this information, the affiliated store / store information 176 may also include information such as the category of the affiliated store or store, the store's location, and payment patterns.

[0028] The information management unit 140 manages user information 172, affiliated store / store information 176, and stamp card information 178 based on information acquired from the user terminal device 10 and the second store terminal device 70. The information management unit 140 adds new records, edits, deletes, etc. for the user information 172, affiliated store / store information 176, and stamp card information 178.

[0029] [Electronic Payment] When payment information is acquired from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50, the payment processing unit 130 references the user information 172 to acquire the "payment method setting" of the user. For users whose "payment method setting" is set to "charge balance," the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment as follows: For example, the payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment by decreasing the charge balance managed in association with the user ID and increasing the item value of the affiliated store's sales proceeds. The item value of the affiliated store's sales proceeds is not itself used as electronic money, for example, but rather the amount corresponding to the item value of the sales proceeds is transferred to a bank account in a cycle according to an agreement between the affiliated store and the electronic payment service.

[0030] The payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payments for users whose "setting information" is set to "credit card payment" as follows. Credit card payment is a payment method in cooperation with a credit card company, which is a separate entity from the operator of the electronic payment service. The operator of the electronic payment service acts as the creditor, allowing electronic payments within the credit card payment limit and independent of the remaining balance. To receive the credit card payment service, a user may be required to obtain a credit card provided by the operator of the electronic payment service. The monthly amount used for credit card payment is settled on the following month's payment date, for example, by debit from a bank account. In this case, the payment processing unit 130 makes a provisional settlement by adding the settlement amount to the credit card payment amount and subtracting the same amount from the available credit card balance. On the closing date, the payment processing unit 130 performs the process described above to debit the current month's payment on the following month's payment date, or requests the credit card company operator to perform this process. If the settlement amount exceeds the available credit card balance at the time of provisional settlement, an error notification is returned to the payment app 20.

[0031] [Top screen] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the top screen of the payment application 20. A code image CI is displayed on the top screen. The code image CI includes, for example, a barcode and a QR code. A selector switch SW is displayed next to the code image CI, allowing the user to select whether to make an electronic payment using the remaining balance or a credit card payment. The "switch" and "button" refer to a graphical user interface (GUI) implemented in cooperation with a touch panel. In FIG. 7, "credit" is displayed, indicating that the electronic payment is set to be made using a credit card. For example, a user can swipe the selector switch SW to select whether to make an electronic payment using the remaining balance or a credit card payment. The top screen also includes an operation area OA, a transition button TB1, and a transition button TB2. The operation area OA includes buttons for instructing key operations in electronic payment, such as a button for instructing scanning (starting a user scan), a button for transferring the remaining balance to another user, a button for displaying the points earned by the user, and a button for displaying the history of electronic payments made by the user. When transition button TB1 is pressed, the screen transitions to a payment screen that displays the code image used for electronic payment and the available balance. When transition button TB2 is pressed, the screen transitions to a screen that displays the available balance for balance payment or credit payment. In Figure 7, electronic payment using the charge balance is set, so when transition button TB2 is pressed, the available balance for balance payment is displayed.

[0032] Below the operation area OA, a group of buttons (switches) M1, M2, ... for launching mini apps are further displayed. A mini app is an app that operates using the payment app 20 as a platform and provides some kind of service. A service provider develops a mini app by referring to a Software Development Kit (SDK), which is an app development program and technical documentation provided by the administrator of the payment app 20. A mini app is an app that operates while the payment app 20 is running. For example, a part or all of the mini app may be installed when the payment app 20 is installed, or a part or all of the mini app may be installed from a service server corresponding to the mini app. For example, when a mini app is launched, it accesses a service server (not shown) that provides a service corresponding to the mini app, and the mini app and the service server work together to provide the service to the user. In this case, the service server may be the payment server 100 itself or an external server different from the payment server 100. As an example, Figure 7 displays a mini-app button M1 that provides the function of viewing information about coupons offered by affiliated stores, and a mini-app button M2 that provides the function of viewing information about stamp cards. However, buttons for launching various types of mini-apps may be displayed, such as an investment app for managing a charge balance or a payment app for paying public transportation fares.

[0033] For example, when a user clicks button M2 on the top screen of FIG. 7, the payment application 20 transitions to a screen for viewing stamp cards provided by each affiliated store. Here, a stamp card refers to a benefit in which a user is provided with value (e.g., predetermined points) that can be used in an electronic payment service in response to a predetermined number (e.g., five) of electronic payments that satisfy predetermined conditions set by the affiliated store (e.g., payments of 500 yen or more). The stamp card is automatically counted by the payment server 100, and the value is automatically granted to the user in response to the predetermined number of electronic payments being made. On the other hand, a coupon is granted to a user in response to the user performing an acquisition operation on the payment application 20 in advance (e.g., pressing the coupon acquisition button on the affiliated store's dedicated page) and making an electronic payment that satisfies the applicable conditions.

[0034] When a user makes an electronic payment that satisfies predetermined conditions for the first time, the information management unit 140 stores the stamp card's identification information as a "participating stamp card" in the user information 172 and stores "1" in the corresponding "number of stamps." Thereafter, each time the user makes an electronic payment that satisfies the predetermined conditions, the payment server 100 increments the "number of stamps." Thereafter, when the user makes an electronic payment that satisfies the predetermined conditions the predetermined number of times specified on the stamp card, the information management unit 140 determines that the stamp card is complete and grants the user the benefit specified on the stamp card. For example, when a user earns points by completing the stamp card, the information management unit 140 stores (adds) the points to the "owned points" in the user information 172 and resets the "participating stamp card" and "number of stamps" in the user information 172 to zero. 5, for the sake of simplicity, the user information 172 includes only one combination of "participating stamp card" and "number of stamps," but a user can participate in multiple stamp cards. In that case, the user information 172 may include multiple combinations of "participating stamp card" and "number of stamps," and the storage unit 170 may hold a table for managing combinations of "participating stamp card" and "number of stamps" for each user.

[0035] When the user then makes an electronic payment using the electronic payment service, the payment processing unit 130 first subtracts the points held from the payment amount, and subtracts the remaining amount from the charge balance or the available balance for later payment. This allows the user to obtain economic benefits by utilizing the points earned by completing the stamp card. If the stamp card reward is an electronic ticket, the user presents the electronic ticket at an affiliated store, and the store clerk scans the presented electronic ticket with the first store terminal device 50 and grants the product to the user.

[0036] [Stamp card] In FIG. 8, stamp card information 178 associates, for example, a stamp card ID with information such as a member store ID, benefit details, stamp granting conditions, stamp completion conditions, and expiration date. The member store ID is identification information of the member store that issued the stamp card corresponding to the stamp card ID. If a store belonging to the member store issues a stamp card, stamp card information 178 may store identification information of the store that issued the stamp card. The benefit details are information indicating the value granted to a user when the stamp card is completed. As described above, the benefit details may be points or a ticket for a product that can be redeemed at the member store. The stamp granting conditions are information indicating the conditions related to the payment details required to grant one stamp. The stamp completion conditions are information indicating the number of stamps required to complete the stamp collection (the number of payments that meet the stamp granting conditions required to complete the stamp collection). The expiration date is information indicating the deadline for granting a benefit when the stamp card is completed. In other words, the user will only receive value if he or she completes the stamp card before the expiration date.

[0037] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a stamp granting screen displayed on the payment app 20 when a stamp is granted to a stamp card. FIG. 9 shows, as an example, a case in which the information management unit 140 grants a stamp to a user in response to the user making an electronic payment at a physical store that satisfies the stamp granting conditions, and the payment app 20 notifies the user of the granting of the stamp on a payment completion screen. In this case, the payment app 20 displays, as the payment completion screen, an area A1 that displays the payment store, an area A2 that displays the payment amount, and an area A3 that displays information related to the granting of the stamp. Area A3 includes, for example, information indicating that a stamp has been granted to the stamp card, information indicating the number of stamps the user has acquired (including the current electronic payment) out of the total number of stamps required for a complete collection, and a stamp card depicting the number of stamps the user has acquired. This allows a user who has made an electronic payment at a physical store to visually understand that a stamp has been granted to them as a result of the electronic payment.

[0038] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a stamp completion screen displayed on the payment app 20 when all stamps on the stamp card are collected. FIG. 10 illustrates an example in which the information management unit 140 awards stamps to a user in response to the user making an electronic payment at a physical store that satisfies the stamp awarding conditions, thereby satisfying the stamp completion conditions, and the payment app 20 notifies the user that the stamps have been collected on a payment completion screen. In this case, the payment app 20 displays, as the payment completion screen, an area A1 that displays the payment store, an area A2 that displays the payment amount, and an area A4 that displays information about the stamp collection. Area A4 includes, for example, information indicating that the stamps on the stamp card have been collected, information indicating the value of the completed collection, and a stamp card depicting the number of stamps the user has collected. This allows a user who has made an electronic payment at a physical store to visually understand that the stamp collection has been completed through the electronic payment.

[0039] [Use of external services] In this way, when a user makes an electronic payment using payment app 20 and the electronic payment satisfies the stamp granting condition or stamp completion condition, payment app 20 displays information on user terminal device 10 indicating that a stamp has been granted or completed, allowing the user to recognize that a stamp has been granted or completed as a result of the electronic payment. However, in the prior art, when a user makes a payment via an electronic payment service on an external service (e.g., an online shopping service) different from the electronic payment service, even if a stamp has been granted to the user as a result of the payment, the user may not be able to recognize that a stamp has been granted to them. The present invention addresses this issue by linking payment server 100 and service server 200.

[0040] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a situation in which a user makes a payment via an electronic payment service on an external service. FIG. 11 illustrates, as an example, a situation in which a user accesses an online book shopping site provided by the service server 200 using a web browser on the user terminal device 10 and transitions to a book purchase screen. The purchase screen includes, for example, an area A5 showing the title and price of the book the user has selected to purchase, a selection area A6 for selecting a payment method, and a "Purchase" button B1. The payment method selection area A6 includes, for example, radio buttons for selecting payment by credit card, payment on delivery, and payment via an electronic payment service. When a user selects payment via an electronic payment service, as described above, the user must first enter user information (e.g., account ID and password) for the electronic payment service on the online shopping site and enable the service server 200 to link with the electronic payment service. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the service server 200 may obtain the user's charge balance or available deferred payment balance from the electronic payment service and display it on the purchase screen.

[0041] When the user selects a payment method and presses the purchase button B1, the user terminal device 10 sends information indicating that the purchase button B1 has been pressed, along with the identification information of the purchased item and the payment method designation information, to the service server 200. If the payment method designation information indicates credit card or cash on delivery, the service server 200 executes payment processing for the item according to the designated payment method. On the other hand, if the payment method designation information indicates an electronic payment service, the service server 200 sends information indicating that the payment method is an electronic payment service, along with the payment amount, to the payment server 100 as payment information. At this time, the service server 200 also sends the user's identification information for the electronic payment service (e.g., account ID) to the payment server 100.

[0042] The acquisition unit 142 acquires payment information and user identification information from the service server 200. When the acquisition unit 142 acquires the payment information and user identification information from the service server 200, the payment processing unit 130 determines whether the payment information is valid for the user identified by the user's identification information (for example, whether the payment amount is less than the charge balance). If the payment processing unit 130 determines that the payment information is valid, it processes the payment based on the payment information (for example, subtracts the payment amount from the charge balance). At the same time, the determination unit 144 determines whether the payment information satisfies the stamp granting conditions for a stamp card provided by the operator of the service server 200 as an affiliated store in the electronic payment service. If it is determined that the payment information satisfies the stamp granting conditions for the stamp card, the information management unit 140 grants a stamp to the user's stamp card, and the output unit 146 outputs to the service server 200 the processing result of the electronic payment and notification information indicating that a stamp has been granted to the user's stamp card. At this time, the notification information includes, for example, information indicating the number of stamps that the user has already acquired and identification information indicating whether or not the stamp collection is complete.

[0043] Upon receiving the electronic payment processing result and notification information, the service server 200 displays a notification object corresponding to the received notification information on the payment completion screen of the online shopping site. FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a notification object displayed on the payment completion screen of the online shopping site. The notification object OB1 shown in FIG. 12 is displayed, for example, when the identification information included in the notification information does not indicate that the stamps have been completed. As shown in FIG. 12, the notification object OB1 includes, for example, information indicating that a stamp has been applied to the stamp card, information indicating the number of stamps the user has acquired (including the current electronic payment) out of the total number of stamps required to complete the collection, a stamp card depicting the number of stamps the user has acquired, and a details button B2 for viewing detailed information on the stamp card. This allows a user who has made an electronic payment on an external service other than the electronic payment service to visually understand that stamps have been awarded to them as a result of the electronic payment.

[0044] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example of a notification object displayed on the payment completion screen of an online shopping site. The notification object OB2 shown in FIG. 13 is displayed, for example, when the identification information included in the notification information indicates that a stamp collection has been completed. As shown in FIG. 13, the notification object OB2 includes, for example, information indicating that the stamps on the stamp card have been completed, information indicating the value of the completed collection, and a stamp card depicting the number of stamps the user has acquired. This allows a user who has made an electronic payment on an external service other than the electronic payment service to visually understand that their stamp collection has been completed through the electronic payment.

[0045] In this way, when the payment server 100 receives payment information from the service server 200, which uses an electronic payment service as the payment method, the determination unit 144 determines whether the payment information satisfies the stamp granting conditions of the stamp card. If the determination unit 144 determines that the payment information satisfies the stamp granting conditions, the determination unit 144 further determines whether the stamps are complete with the current stamp grant. The output unit 146 then outputs identification information indicating whether the stamps are complete to the service server 200, and the service server 200 outputs a different display to the user terminal device 10 depending on whether the stamps are complete. This allows the user to understand whether at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit are satisfied, even if the user makes an electronic payment without using a payment app. When the stamps are not complete, this is an example of a case where "only some of the conditions for granting a benefit are satisfied" in the claims, and when the stamps are complete, this is an example of a case where "all of the conditions for granting a benefit are satisfied" in the claims.

[0046] Furthermore, when payment server 100 and service server 200 cooperate as described above in terms of granting stamps, a user can receive and confirm stamps both when making an electronic payment using payment application 20 and when making an electronic payment on an external service provided by service server 200. Even if a service provider of a service provided by service server 200 does not have a physical store, the provider can issue a stamp card that can be used in the electronic payment service, and the user can receive and confirm stamps. This increases the incentive for users to use electronic payment services.

[0047] Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a details screen showing details of a stamp card. The details screen shown in Fig. 14 is displayed, for example, when a user presses the details button B2 on the screen shown in Fig. 12. More specifically, when a user presses the details button B2 on the screen shown in Fig. 12, the service server 200 starts the payment application 20 of the user terminal device 10 and transitions the screen of the user terminal device 10 to a details screen relating to the details of the stamp card. The details screen includes, for example, an area A7 showing summary information of the stamp card and an area A8 showing detailed information about the stamp card.

[0048] In this way, if the stamps are not complete, the service server 200 transitions the screen of the online shopping site displayed on the user terminal device 10 to a details screen of the payment application 20. Alternatively, the service server 200 may transition the screen of the online shopping site displayed on the user terminal device 10 to a screen of a website provided by the electronic payment service. This allows the user to quickly check detailed information about the stamp card even while using an external service other than the electronic payment service. Note that the stamp card details screen shown in FIG. 14 may be the same screen that is displayed when the user launches the stamp card mini app M2 on the top screen shown in FIG. 7 and searches for the stamp card.

[0049] [Processing flow] Next, the flow of processing according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 15. Fig. 15 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the user terminal device 10, the payment server 100, and the service server 200 in cooperation with each other.

[0050] First, a user accesses the service server 200 using the user terminal device 10 (S10). In response, the service server 200 provides a service (e.g., an online shopping service) to the user terminal device 10 (S12). Next, the user uses an electronic payment service on the service (e.g., by selecting the electronic payment service as a payment method) (S14).

[0051] Next, the user terminal device 10 transmits notification information to the service server 200, which includes at least the payment amount and user identification information and indicates that the electronic payment service will be used (S16). Upon receiving the notification information, the service server 200 transmits notification information to the payment server 100, which includes at least the payment amount and user identification information and indicates that the electronic payment service will be used (S18).

[0052] When the payment server 100 receives the notification information, the payment processing unit 130 executes electronic payment for the user of the electronic payment service identified by the user identification information, and the determination unit 144 executes stamp determination processing to determine whether the payment information satisfies the stamp granting conditions of the stamp card provided by the operator of the service server 200 on the electronic payment service (S20). Next, the output unit 146 outputs the processing result of the electronic payment and (if it is determined that the stamp granting conditions are satisfied) notification information indicating that a stamp has been granted to the user's stamp card (S22).

[0053] Next, upon receiving the electronic payment processing result and notification information, the service server 200 generates an object according to the notification information (S24). More specifically, as described above, the service server 200 generates a different object depending on whether the stamp collection is complete or not. Next, the service server 200 outputs a payment completion screen including the generated object to the user terminal device 10 for display (S26). This completes the processing of this sequence diagram.

[0054] In the above embodiment, the case where the benefit to be notified by the service server 200 is a stamp card has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and the benefit to be notified by the service server 200 may be, for example, a coupon. As described above, a coupon is granted to a user in response to the user performing an acquisition operation on the payment app 20 in advance (e.g., pressing a coupon acquisition button on a dedicated page of an affiliated store) and making an electronic payment that satisfies the application conditions. Therefore, the determination unit 144 may determine whether the user's payment in the external service satisfies the application conditions of the coupon that the user has acquired. If it is determined that the coupon application conditions are met, the service server 200 may display a payment completion screen on the user terminal device 10, including an object indicating that the coupon has been applied.

[0055] According to the embodiment described above, payment information regarding a payment made by a user for a service via an electronic payment service is obtained from a service server that provides the service used by the user, and the system determines whether the obtained payment information satisfies at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit provided by the service on the electronic payment service. If it is determined that the obtained payment information satisfies at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit, the system outputs notification information to the service server indicating that at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit have been satisfied. This allows the user to know whether at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit have been satisfied, even if the user makes an electronic payment without using a payment app.

[0056] The above describes the form for carrying out the present invention using an embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 10 User terminal device 20. Payment App 100 Payment Server 110 Communications Department 120 Payment Contents Department 130 Payment processing unit 140 Information Management Department 142 Acquisition Department 144 Judgment section 146 Output section 170 Storage section

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires payment information regarding payment for a service by a user via an electronic payment service from a service server that provides the service used by the user; a determination unit that determines whether the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of the conditions for granting a benefit provided by the service on the electronic payment service; an output unit that, when it is determined that the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of the conditions for granting the benefit, outputs notification information indicating that at least a part of the conditions for granting the benefit have been satisfied to the service server; Information processing device.

2. The output unit outputs the notification information to the service server so that the service server outputs a different display to the user terminal device of the user depending on whether the acquired payment information satisfies only some of the conditions for granting the benefit or satisfies all of the conditions for granting the benefit. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The reward is a value that can be used in the electronic payment service that is given to the user's account in response to a predetermined number of payments that satisfy predetermined conditions being made within a predetermined period of time. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

4. the determination unit determines whether the acquired payment information satisfies the predetermined condition, and if it is determined that the predetermined condition is satisfied, determines whether payments that satisfy the predetermined condition have been executed a predetermined number of times. The information processing device according to claim 3 .

5. the output unit outputs the notification information to the service server so that the service server outputs a different display to the user terminal device of the user depending on whether or not the payment satisfying the predetermined condition has been executed a predetermined number of times. The information processing device according to claim 4 .

6. A system including a service server that provides a service and a payment server that provides an electronic payment service, The service server transmits payment information regarding payment for the service by the user via the electronic payment service to the payment server; the payment server determines whether the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of the conditions for granting a benefit provided by the service on the electronic payment service, and if it is determined that the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of the conditions for granting a benefit, outputs notification information to the service server indicating that at least a part of the conditions for granting a benefit have been satisfied; the service server outputs a display including an object corresponding to the output notification information to the user terminal device of the user; system.

7. When the object is operated on the user terminal device, the service server transitions the screen of the user terminal device to a detailed screen regarding the benefit. The system of claim 6.

8. The computer Acquires payment information regarding payment for a service by a user via an electronic payment service from a service server that provides the service used by the user; determining whether the acquired payment information satisfies at least some of the conditions for granting a benefit provided by the service on the electronic payment service; If it is determined that the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of the conditions for granting the benefit, outputting notification information indicating that at least a part of the conditions for granting the benefit have been satisfied to the service server. Information processing methods.

9. On the computer, acquires payment information regarding payment for a service by a user via an electronic payment service from a service server that provides the service used by the user; determining whether the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of the conditions for granting a benefit provided by the service on the electronic payment service; when it is determined that the acquired payment information satisfies at least a part of the conditions for granting the benefit, outputting notification information to the service server indicating that at least a part of the conditions for granting the benefit have been satisfied; program.

Images