Point management device, program, and point management method

Abstract

To improve the convenience of a point service by permitting advance borrowing of points while preventing the advance borrowing points from becoming unrecoverable. [Solution] The point server 20 of the present disclosure includes a reception unit 230c and a determination unit 230d. The reception unit 230c receives an application for borrowing points to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of a first payment from a user U who is subscribed to a point service B that allows points awarded in accordance with a first payment to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of a second payment subsequent to the first payment. If the user U is a subscriber of a payment service A different from the point service B, the determination unit 230d determines whether to permit the user U to apply the points applied for in advance to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a point management device, a program, and a point management method. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to improve the convenience of point services that award points in response to a first payment that can be used to cover at least part of the payment amount in a second payment that follows the first payment, a point advance borrowing service has been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-228151 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-55398 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, if unlimited borrowing of points is permitted, there is a risk that the borrowed points will become unrecoverable. Therefore, the present disclosure aims to improve the convenience of point services by permitting the borrowing of points while avoiding the situation where borrowed points become unrecoverable. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] A point management device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a reception unit that receives an application from a first user who is subscribed to a point service that allows points awarded in accordance with a first payment to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of a second payment that follows the first payment, for borrowing points to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment, and a determination unit that, if the first user is a subscriber to a service in which the payment amount of the first payment is collected as part of the usage fee of a service other than the point service, determines whether to allow the first user to make an advance payment in which the points applied to be borrowed in advance by the application are applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment.

[0006] In addition, a program according to one aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to communicate with a management device of a point service that grants points to a first user who made a first payment that can be used to cover at least a portion of the payment amount in a second payment that follows the first payment, thereby displaying a first screen on a display device that includes the balance of points held by the first user; sending an application for borrowing points to the management device in response to an operation instructing the advance of points to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment; and, when a response allowing the advance of points is received from the management device that determines whether or not to allow the advance of points to be applied to a user contract holder whose payment amount is collected including the usage fee of a service other than the point service, displaying a second screen on the display device for applying the points that have been allowed to be borrowed to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment.

[0007] In addition, a point management method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes accepting an application from a first user who is subscribed to a point service that allows points awarded in accordance with a first payment to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of a second payment that follows the first payment, to borrow points to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment, and, if the first user is a subscriber to a service for which the payment amount of the first payment is collected as part of the usage fee for another service different from the point service, determining whether to allow the first user to make an advance payment in which the points applied to be borrowed in advance by the application are applied to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present disclosure, by determining whether to allow advance payments for users of other services who have a certain level of credibility, it is possible to improve the convenience of point services while avoiding advance points becoming unrecoverable. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a payment system 1 including a point server 20 according to an embodiment of a management device of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a first management table TBL1 stored in the payment server 30. FIG. [Figure 3] 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a second management table TBL2 stored in the point server 20. FIG. [Figure 4] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a terminal 10. FIG. [Figure 5] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a first UI screen GA displayed on a display device 140 of the terminal 10. FIG. [Figure 6] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a second UI screen GB displayed on the display device 140 of the terminal 10. FIG. [Figure 7]10 is a diagram showing an example of a third UI screen GC displayed on the display device 140 of the terminal 10. FIG. [Figure 8] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a fourth UI screen GD displayed on the display device 140 of the terminal 10. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a point server 20. [Figure 10] 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a third management table TBL3 stored in the point server 20. FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of communication in the payment system 1. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the advance loan review process in the management method executed by the processing device 230 of the point server 20 according to the program PR2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] (A. Embodiment) Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a payment system 1 including a point server 20 according to an embodiment of the management device of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1, the payment system 1 includes a terminal 10 and a payment server 30 in addition to the point server 20. In Fig. 1, a user U using the terminal 10 is indicated by a dotted line. As shown in Fig. 1, the terminal 10, the point server 20, and the payment server 30 are connected to a communication network NW by wire or wirelessly. The communication network NW is, for example, the Internet.

[0011] The terminal 10 is a computer device equipped with a communication function for communicating with other devices via a communication network NW and a program execution function. The terminal 10 in this embodiment is a smartphone, but may also be a tablet terminal, a notebook personal computer, or the like. Furthermore, the terminal 10 is not limited to portable computer devices such as smartphones, tablet terminals, or notebook personal computers, but may also be a stationary computer device such as a stationary personal computer. Although one terminal 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1, multiple terminals 10 may be included in the payment system 1.

[0012] The payment server 30 is a computer device for providing a payment service (hereinafter, payment service A) that mediates payments in commercial transactions conducted via a communication network NW. In payment service A, the payment amount made using payment service A is collected and included in the usage fee for payment service A. Payment service A is an example of another service in the present disclosure. The payment server 30 is operated and managed by a business operator (hereinafter, business operator X) that provides the payment service. When user U uses payment service A, an application program dedicated to payment service A must be installed on the terminal 10. In this embodiment, the application program is pre-installed on the terminal 10. In payment service A in this embodiment, user U can deposit money to business operator X in advance by transfer or the like to be used to pay the payment amount and the usage fee for payment service A. Hereinafter, depositing money to business operator X by transfer or the like is referred to as "charging."

[0013] The payment server 30 stores a first management table TBL1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the first management table TBL1. As shown in FIG. 2, the first management table TBL1 stores data indicating the balance of money charged by a user (hereinafter referred to as the charge balance) in association with user identification information for uniquely identifying the user who has registered to use payment service A. User U in this embodiment is a user who has registered to use payment service A, and the user identifier of user U is "UID_1". FIG. 2 shows that user U's charge balance is 30,100 yen.

[0014] The point server 20 is a computer device for providing a point service (hereinafter, point service B) that awards points (hereinafter, points PA) according to the payment amount. For example, when a user U uses payment service A to make a first payment and a second payment subsequent to the first payment, the user U can use the points awarded by point service B according to the first payment, for example, with 1 point being 1 yen, as at least a part of the payment amount for the second payment.

[0015] In this embodiment, the point server 20 is operated by an operator X. In this embodiment, payment service A and point service B are provided by the same operator, but payment service A and point service B may be provided by different operators. User U in this embodiment is a user who has registered to use payment service A and also registered to use point service B. User U is an example of a first user in the present disclosure.

[0016] The point server 20 stores a second management table TBL2. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the second management table TBL2. As shown in FIG. 3, the second management table TBL2 stores the quantity of points PA held by a user U (i.e., the balance of held points, hereinafter referred to as the number of held points) in association with the user identification information of the user U. FIG. 3 shows that the number of held points for user U is 5,375 points. If the charge balance is 30,100 yen and the number of held points is 5,375 points, user U can make a payment of a maximum of 35,475 yen by applying all of the held points to the payment amount.

[0017] In this embodiment, when the payment server 30 processes the payment, the payment server 30 transmits a completion notification indicating the details of the payment to the point server 20. This completion notification includes the user identification information of the user who made the payment, the number of points PA allocated to the payment amount, the number of points PA newly awarded in response to the payment, and type information indicating the type of payment. Based on the completion notification, the point server 20 updates the number of points held by the user indicated by the user identification information. For example, if the payment server 30 transmits a completion notification to the point server 20 indicating that user U has made a payment by allocating 100 points PA to part of the payment amount and that the number of points PA newly awarded in response to the payment is 1,000, the point server 20 updates the number of points held, which is stored in the second management table TBL2 in association with user U's user identification information "UID_1," to 5,375-100+1,000=6,275. The payment type will be described in detail later.

[0018] Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the terminal 10. As shown in Fig. 4, the terminal 10 includes a communication device 110, a storage device 120, a processing device 130, a display device 140, an input device 150, and a bus 160 that interconnects these devices.

[0019] The communication device 110 includes, for example, a wireless communication circuit. The communication device 110 communicates with other devices wirelessly via a communication network NW. Specific examples of other devices that communicate with the communication device 110 include the point server 20 and the payment server 30.

[0020] The display device 140 includes a liquid crystal display and a drive circuit for the liquid crystal display. The display device 140 displays various images under the control of the processing device 130. The input device 150 is, for example, a transparent touch sensor that covers the display area of ​​the display device 140. In this embodiment, the display device 140 and the input device 150 form a touch panel. The input device 150 detects a touch operation by the user U. The input device 150 provides operation content data representing the detected operation content to the processing device 130. By exchanging this operation content data, the operation performed by the user U on the input device 150 is transmitted to the processing device 130. The input device 150 may include an operator such as a numeric keypad, or may also include a pointing device such as a mouse.

[0021] The storage device 120 is a recording medium readable by the processing device 130. The storage device 120 includes, for example, a non-volatile memory and a volatile memory. The non-volatile memory is, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). The volatile memory is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage device 120 stores a payment program PR1. The payment program PR1 is a dedicated application program for using payment service A.

[0022] The processing device 130 includes one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units). The one or more CPUs are an example of one or more processors. Each of the processors and CPUs is an example of a computer. When an instruction to execute the payment program PR1 is issued by an operation on the input device 150, the processing device 130 reads the payment program PR1 from the storage device 120. The processing device 130 then executes the payment program PR1 read from the storage device 120. The processing device 130 operating in accordance with the payment program PR1 functions as a first display control unit 130a, a transmission unit 130b, and a second display control unit 130c.

[0023] The first display control unit 130a communicates with the payment server 30 to acquire the charge balance stored in the first management table TBL1 in association with the user U's user identification information. As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the charge balance "30,100" is stored in the first management table TBL1 in association with the user U's user identification information "UID_1." Therefore, the first display control unit 130a acquires "30,100" as the charge balance of the user U. Furthermore, the first display control unit 130a communicates with the point server 20 to acquire the point balance stored in the second management table TBL2 in association with the user U's user identification information. As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the point balance "5,375" is stored in the second management table TBL2 in association with the user U's user identification information "UID_1." Therefore, the first display control unit 130a acquires "5,375" as the point balance of the user U. Then, the first display control unit 130a displays on the display device 140 the first UI screen GA including the user U's charge balance and point balance.

[0024] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a first UI screen GA. As shown in FIG. 5, the first UI screen GA includes a display area A1, a display area A2, a virtual operator B1, a virtual operator B2, and a virtual operator B3. The display area A1 is an area for displaying the charge balance of the user U. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the display area A1 displays the charge balance of the user U, "30,100." The display area A2 is an area for displaying the number of points held by the user U. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the display area A2 displays the number of points held by the user U, "5,375." The user U can check the balance of money available for payment and the number of points held through the first UI screen GA displayed on the display device 140. The first UI screen GA is an example of a first screen in the present disclosure.

[0025] In this embodiment, user U can charge money to business X, borrow points PA, and purchase investment trusts by using payment program PR1. Virtual operator B1 is a virtual operator that instructs the user to charge an amount usable for payment. Virtual operator B3 is a virtual operator that displays an investment screen containing a list of available investment trusts and allows user U to select the investment trust he or she desires to purchase. In this embodiment, user U can purchase investment trusts by selecting virtual operator B3. However, selecting virtual operator B3 may also display a product purchase screen containing a list of daily necessities, books, food, etc., and allow the user to purchase products by operating the product purchase screen. Virtual operator B2 is a virtual operator that instructs the user to borrow points PA to be applied to the payment amount. When virtual operator B2 is selected by operating input device 150, first display control unit 130a displays second UI screen GB on display device 140, allowing the user to perform various operations related to point borrowing.

[0026] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the second UI screen GB. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the second UI screen GB includes a display area A3, an input area A4, a virtual operator B4, and a virtual operator B5. The display area A3 is an area for displaying the upper limit of points that the user U can borrow. As will be described in detail later, in this embodiment, the upper limit of points PA that the user U can borrow is stored in the point server 20 in association with the user U's user identification information. The first display control unit 130a acquires the upper limit for the user U by communicating with the point server 20 upon detecting an operation to select the virtual operator B2 on the first UI screen GA. The first display control unit 130a then displays the second UI screen GB, in which the acquired upper limit is written in the display area A3, on the display device 140.

[0027] The input area A4 on the second UI screen GB is an area for allowing the user to input the number of points desired to be borrowed. The user U viewing the second UI screen GB can specify the number of points desired to be borrowed by operating the input device 150. The virtual operator B4 on the second UI screen GB is a virtual operator for allowing the user to instruct the user to cancel an operation related to the point borrowing. When an operation on the virtual operator B4 is detected, the first display control unit 130a cancels the display of the second UI screen GB and displays the first UI screen GA again on the display device 140. The virtual operator B5 is a virtual operator for allowing the user to apply for the point borrowing. When an operation on the virtual operator B5 is detected and a number of points exceeding the upper limit has been entered in the input area A4, the first display control unit 130a displays an error message on the display device 140, such as "The desired number of points exceeds the upper limit." When an operation on the virtual operator B5 is detected and a number of points equal to or less than the upper limit has been input in the input area A4, the processing device 130 functions as the transmission section 130b.

[0028] The transmitter 130b transmits an application message for borrowing points PA to the point server 20. This application message includes the user U's user identification information and the number of points desired to be borrowed (the number of points entered in the input field A4 of the second UI screen GB). As will be described in detail later, upon receiving the application message, the point server 20 determines whether to permit the point borrowing and returns a response message according to the determination result to the sender of the application message. The response message returned from the point server 20 includes two types: an approval message that permits the point borrowing and a denial message that does not permit the point borrowing. The approval message includes data indicating the number of points permitted to be borrowed. Once the point borrowing is permitted, the user can use the permitted points to make a payment. For example, if the charge balance is 30,100 yen, the number of owned points is 5,375 points, and the number of points permitted to be borrowed is 100, the user U can make a payment of a maximum of 35,575 yen.

[0029] When the second display control unit 130c receives a permission message from the point server 20, it displays on the display device 140 a third UI screen GC for displaying to the user the number of points that the user is permitted to borrow. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the third UI screen GC. As shown in FIG. 7, the third UI screen GC differs from the first UI screen GA in that it has a display area A5. The number of points that the user is permitted to borrow is displayed in the display area A5. FIG. 7 shows an example of the third UI screen GC when the number of points that the user is permitted to borrow is 100.

[0030] When a user U views the third UI screen GC shown in FIG. 7 and wishes to purchase an investment trust, the user U selects virtual operator B3 on the third UI screen GC to display a list of investment trusts. When an operation to select an investment trust to purchase from this list is performed, the second display control unit 130c displays the fourth UI screen GD shown in FIG. 8 on the display device 140. As shown in FIG. 8, the fourth UI screen GD includes a display area A6, an input area A7, virtual operators B6, and virtual operators B7. The display area A6 is a display area for displaying the payment amount for the purchase of the selected investment trust. The input area A7 is an input area for allowing the user to input the number of points to be applied to the payment amount. The maximum number of points that can be applied to the payment amount is the sum of the owned points and the points that the user is permitted to borrow in advance. 7 shows an example of the display of the fourth UI screen GD when the payment amount for the purchase of the investment trust selected by the user U is 10,000 yen and 100 points are specified as the number of points to be applied to this payment amount. The fourth UI screen GD is an example of the second screen in the present disclosure.

[0031] The virtual operator B6 is a virtual operator for instructing the user U to cancel a payment operation. When an operation on the virtual operator B6 is detected, the second display control unit 130c cancels the display of the fourth UI screen GD and displays the third UI screen GC on the display device 140 again. The virtual operator B7 is a virtual operator for instructing the user U to execute payment. When an operation on the virtual operator B7 is detected and the number of points entered in the input field A7 exceeds the maximum number of points that can be applied to the payment, the second display control unit 130c displays an error message such as "The number of applied points exceeds the number of available points" on the display device 140. When an operation on the virtual operator B8 is detected and the number of points entered in the input field A7 is equal to or less than the maximum number of points that can be applied to the payment, the processing device 130 sends a payment message to the payment server 30 instructing the user to execute payment. This payment message includes user identification information of the user making the payment, data indicating the investment trust to be purchased, data indicating the payment amount, data indicating the number of points to be applied to the payment amount, and type information indicating the type of payment. In this embodiment, there are two types of payment: "advance payment," in which payment is made by applying borrowed points to the payment amount, and "normal payment," in which payment is made without borrowing points. The type information indicates whether it is an "advance payment" or a "normal payment." If user U makes a payment by borrowing points, data indicating "advance payment" is set in the type information. Upon receiving the payment message, the payment server 30 cooperates with the point server 20 to make a payment by applying points PA to at least a portion of the payment amount. The above is the configuration of the terminal 10.

[0032] Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the point server 20. As shown in Fig. 9, the point server 20 includes a communication device 210, a storage device 220, a processing device 230, and a bus 260 that interconnects these devices.

[0033] The communication device 210 has an interface to which other devices can be connected, and communicates with other devices wirelessly or via a wired connection via a communication network NW. Specific examples of other devices that communicate with the communication device 210 include the terminal 10 and the payment server 30. The storage device 220, like the storage device 120, includes a non-volatile memory and a volatile memory. The non-volatile memory is, for example, a ROM, an EPROM, and an EEPROM. The volatile memory is, for example, a RAM. The storage device 220 stores the second management table TBL2, the third management table TBL3, and the program PR2 described above.

[0034] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the third management table TBL3. As shown in FIG. 10, the third management table TBL3 stores a flag, performance information, an upper limit, and the number of advance points in association with user identification information. The flag indicates whether the user indicated by the user identification information stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the flag is a subscriber of payment service A. In this embodiment, the flag is set to 1 or 0. A flag of 1 means that the user indicated by the user identification information stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the flag is a subscriber of payment service A. A flag of 0 means that the user indicated by the user identification information stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the flag is not a subscriber of payment service A. As described above, since user U is a subscriber of payment service A, the flag stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with user U's user identification information "UID_1" is set to 1, as shown in FIG. 10.

[0035] The performance information represents the point PA grant record for the user indicated by the user identification information stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the performance information. More specifically, the performance information in this embodiment represents the average value of points PA granted per month over the last N months (N is an integer equal to or greater than 2) to the user indicated by the user identification information stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the performance information. Note that the performance information may represent the point PA usage record (average number of points used per month) for the user indicated by the user identification information stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the performance information, or may represent the user's payment record (average payment amount per month).

[0036] FIG. 10 shows that a user with user identification information "UID_1" (i.e., user U) has earned 108 points PA per month over the past N months. The upper limit value represents the upper limit of points PA that can be borrowed by the user identified by the user identification information stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the upper limit value. In this embodiment, the upper limit value is set to the largest multiple of 10 that does not exceed the average value represented by the performance information, but a value 10 times the average value may also be set as the upper limit value. As described above, since the performance information for user U is 108, in this embodiment, 100 is set as the upper limit value for user U. The number of borrowed points represents the number of points borrowed by the user identified by the user identification information stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the number of borrowed points. The number of borrowed points is initially set to 0.

[0037] The processing device 230 includes one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units). The one or more CPUs are an example of one or more processors. Each of the processor and the CPU is an example of a computer. The processing device 230 reads the program PR2 from the storage device 220, for example, when the power (not shown) of the payment server 30 is turned on. The processing device 230 executes the program PR2 read from the storage device 220. The processing device 230 operating in accordance with the program PR2 functions as a management unit 230a, a determination unit 230b, a reception unit 230c, a judgment unit 230d, an update unit 230e, and a settlement unit 230f.

[0038] The management unit 230a manages the performance information of each user who has registered to use point service B by updating the performance information stored in the third management table TBL3 based on the usage status of point service B. The update of the performance information by the management unit 230a is performed periodically at a fixed cycle, for example, in synchronization with the closing of payment service A.

[0039] The determination unit 230b determines the upper limit of points PA that can be borrowed for each user who has registered to use point service B based on the performance information. In this embodiment, the determination unit 230b determines the upper limit to be the largest multiple of 10 that does not exceed the performance information. According to this embodiment, point borrowing can be permitted within a range that corresponds to the point grant performance, so that borrowed points can be settled using newly granted points, thereby reducing the number of borrowed points that cannot be collected. The update of the upper limit by the determination unit 230b is also performed periodically, for example, in synchronization with the closing of payment service A.

[0040] The reception unit 230c receives an application for borrowing points from each user who has registered to use point service B. In this embodiment, the reception unit 230c receives the application for borrowing points by receiving the application message described above. This application message includes the user identification information of the user who wishes to borrow points and the number of points that the user wishes to borrow.

[0041] The determination unit 230d determines whether to allow a user who has requested to borrow points to make a payment in advance. A payment in advance refers to a payment in which borrowed points are used to cover at least a portion of the payment amount. In this embodiment, the determination unit 230d allows a payment in advance if the flag stored in the third management table TBL3 associated with the user's user identification information is 1, and the sum of the number of points requested to be borrowed and the number of points borrowed stored in the third management table TBL3 is less than or equal to the upper limit stored in the third management table TBL3 associated with the user's identification information. In other words, in this embodiment, the payment in advance is allowed if the user who requested to borrow points is a subscriber of payment service A, and the sum of the number of points newly requested to be borrowed and the number of existing points borrowed is less than or equal to the upper limit for the user. If the point borrow is not allowed, the determination unit 230d returns the aforementioned rejection message. If the point borrow is allowed, the determination unit 230d returns the aforementioned permission message.

[0042] When the determination unit 230d permits the advance payment, the update unit 230e updates the number of points to be borrowed by the user by adding the number of points to be borrowed that the user has requested to borrow to the number of points to be borrowed that is stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the user identification information of the user who requested the advance payment. In this embodiment, points can be borrowed multiple times within the upper limit.

[0043] Upon receiving a completion notification indicating the completion of the payment, the settlement unit 230f updates the number of owned points or the number of borrowed points for the user who made the payment. This completion notification includes the user identification information of the user who made the payment, the number of points applied to the payment amount (hereinafter referred to as the number of points P1), the number of points newly granted to the user in response to the payment (hereinafter referred to as the number of points P2), and type information indicating the type of payment.

[0044] When the settlement unit 230f receives a completion notification indicating the completion of the advance payment, if the number of points P1 is equal to or greater than the number of advance points (hereinafter referred to as the number of points P3) stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the user identification information included in the completion notification, the settlement unit 230f subtracts the difference between the number of points P1 and the number of points P3 from the number of owned points stored in the second management table TBL2 in association with the user identification information, and then adds the number of points P2 to update the number of owned points of the user indicated by the user identifier. On the other hand, if the number of points P1 is less than the number of points P3, the settlement unit 230f updates the number of advance points by rewriting the number of advance points stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the user identification information to the number of points P1, and updates the number of owned points by adding the number of points P2 to the number of owned points stored in the second management table TBL2 in association with the user identification information.

[0045] Furthermore, when the settlement unit 230f receives a completion notice regarding a normal payment after the completion of the advance payment, it settles the advance points using the points granted in accordance with the normal payment. If the number of points P2 is equal to or greater than the number of advance points (hereinafter referred to as the number of points P4) stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the user identification information included in the completion notice indicating the completion of the normal payment, the settlement unit 230f updates the number of advance points stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the above user identification information to 0. The settlement unit 230f then adds the difference between the number of points P2 and the number of points P4 to the number of points held by the user, and further updates the number of held points by subtracting the number of points P1 from the result of the addition. Conversely, if the number of points P2 is less than the number of points P4, the settlement unit 230f updates the number of borrowed points by subtracting the number of points P2 from the number of borrowed points P4 stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the user identification information, and then updates the number of held points by subtracting the number of points P1 from the number of points held by the user. In other words, the settlement unit 230f offsets the borrowed points with the points newly awarded in accordance with the regular payment after the advance payment, and if the newly awarded points are greater than the borrowed points, adds the difference between the former and latter to the held points. According to this embodiment, borrowed points can be settled using points earned in regular payments made after the advance payment, facilitating the collection of borrowed points.

[0046] Next, the operation of each device included in the payment system 1 will be explained using the example of a case where a user U who has not yet borrowed points borrows 100 points and uses the borrowed points to pay for the purchase of an investment trust. In the operation example described below, the processing device 230 of the point server 20 operates in accordance with program PR2. In the following, it is assumed that the first management table TBL1 stored in the payment server 30 is in the state shown in Figure 2. It is also assumed that the second management table TBL2 stored in the point server 20 is in the state shown in Figure 3, and the third management table TBL3 stored in the point server 20 is in the state shown in Figure 10.

[0047] When the user U operates the input device 150 of the terminal 10 to instruct execution of the payment program PR1, the processing device 130 starts executing the payment program PR1. After starting execution of the payment program PR1, the processing device 130 functions as the first display control unit 130a and acquires the user U's charge balance by communicating with the payment server 30. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of communication executed by each device included in the payment system 1 in this operation example. In FIG. 11, the communication for acquiring the charge balance is indicated by a dashed-dotted arrow. In this operation example, 30,100 yen is acquired as the charge balance for user U. The processing device 130 also acquires the number of points held by user U by communicating with the point server 20. In FIG. 11, the communication for acquiring the number of points held is indicated by a dashed-dotted arrow. In this operation example, 5,375 points are acquired as the number of points held by user U. After acquiring the charge balance and the number of points, the processing device 130 executes a first display process SA110 to display a first UI screen GA on the display device 140. In this operation example, 30,100 yen is acquired as the charge balance for user U, and 5,375 points are acquired as the number of owned points for user U, so the first UI screen GA shown in FIG.

[0048] When the virtual operator B3 is selected by the user U operating the input device 150 on the terminal 10 while the first UI screen GA is displayed on the display device 140, the processing device 130 functions as the first display control unit 130a and acquires the upper limit value for the user U by communicating with the point server 20. In FIG. 11, the communication for acquiring the upper limit value is indicated by a dotted arrow. In this operation example, 100 points are acquired as the upper limit value for the user U. After acquiring the upper limit value, the processing device 130 executes second display processing SA120 to display the second UI screen GB on the display device 140. In this operation example, 100 points are acquired as the upper limit value for the user U, and therefore the second UI screen GB shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display device 140.

[0049] With the second UI screen GB displayed on the display device 140, the user U operates the input device 150 to input 100 into the input area A4, and then selects the virtual operator B5. The processing device 130 functions as the transmitter 130b and executes a transmission process SA130 that transmits an application message MES1 to the point server 20. As described above, the application message MES1 includes the user U's user identification information "UID_1" and the number of points "100" that the user wishes to borrow.

[0050] The processing device 230, operating according to the program PR2, functions as the reception unit 230c upon receiving the application message MES1 and accepts an application for borrowing points in advance. The processing device 230, which has accepted the application for borrowing points in advance, executes the advance borrowing review process SB110, which is one embodiment of the management method of the present disclosure. Figure 12 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the advance borrowing review process SB110. As shown in Figure 12, the advance borrowing review process SB110 includes the processes of steps SB1110, SB1120, SB1130, and SB1140.

[0051] In step SB1110, the processing device 230 functions as the judgment unit 230d. In step SB1110, the processing device 230 judges whether or not to permit an advance payment for a user who has requested to borrow points. As described above, in this embodiment, an advance payment is permitted if the user who has requested to borrow points is a subscriber of payment service A, and if the sum of the number of points requested to be borrowed and the number of existing points to be borrowed is less than or equal to the upper limit for the user. If the advance payment is permitted, the judgment result in step SB1110 is "Yes." If the advance payment is not permitted, the judgment result in step SB1110 is "No."

[0052] As described above, in this embodiment, user U is a subscriber of payment service A, and the value of the flag stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with user U's user identification information "UID_1" is 1 (see FIG. 10). Furthermore, before the start of this operation example, user U has not borrowed any points, and the number of borrowed points stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with user U's user identification information "UID_1" is 0 (see FIG. 10). The number of points that user U has newly applied to borrow is 100, so the sum of this number of points and the existing number of borrowed points is 100 + 0 = 100, which is less than the upper limit for user U (100, see FIG. 10). Therefore, in this operation example, the determination result of step SB1110 is "Yes."

[0053] If the determination result of step SB1110 is No, the processing device 230 executes the process of step SB1120. In step SB1120, the processing device 230 returns a rejection message to the sender of the application message MES1. In contrast, if the determination result of step SB1110 is Yes, the processing device 230 executes the processes of steps SB1130 and SB1140. In step SB1130, the processing device 230 returns an approval message to the sender of the application message MES1. In this operation example, the determination result of step SB1110 is "Yes," so an approval message MES2 is returned from the point server 20 to the terminal 10. In step SB1140 following step SB1130, the processing device 230 functions as an update unit 230e and adds the number of points requested to be borrowed by the user who applied to borrow points to the number of borrowed points stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the user identification information of the user. In this operation example, the number of advance points stored in the third management table TBL3 in association with the user U's user identification information "UID_1" is updated from 0 to 100.

[0054] Upon receiving the permission message MES2, the processing device 130 of the terminal 10 functions as the second display control unit 130c and executes a third display process SA140 to display a third UI screen GC (see FIG. 7) on the display device 140. Viewing the third UI screen GC, the user U selects the virtual operator B3 to display a list of investment trusts. When an operation to select a desired investment trust from this list is performed, the processing device 130 executes a fourth display process SA150 to display a fourth UI screen GD (see FIG. 8) on the display device 140. Viewing the fourth UI screen GD, the user U inputs the number of points to be applied to the payment amount in the input field A7 and further selects the virtual operator B7. The processing device 130 detects an operation on the virtual operator B7, and if the number of points input in the input field A7 is equal to or less than the maximum number of points that can be applied to the payment amount, transmits a payment message MES3 to the payment server 30 to instruct the execution of the payment. The payment message MES3 includes data indicating the investment trust to be purchased, user identification information of user U who purchased the investment trust, data indicating the payment amount of "10,000 yen," data indicating the number of points to be applied to the payment amount of "100 points," and type information indicating advance payment.

[0055] Upon receiving the payment message MES3, the payment server 30 executes payment processing SC110 according to the contents of the payment message MES3. Specifically, the payment server 30 executes payment by subtracting the amount (i.e., 9,900 yen) obtained by subtracting the amount corresponding to the number of points (100 points) to be applied to the payment amount (10,000 yen) from the payment amount (100 yen in this operation example) from the charge amount of user U. As a result, the charge amount stored in the first management table TBL1 in association with user U's user identification information "UID_1" is updated to 20,200 yen. Upon completing the payment, the payment server 30 transmits a completion notice to the point server 20. The completion notice includes the user identification information of user U who made the payment, the number of points applied to the payment amount, the number of points generated in response to the payment, and the type information included in the payment message MES3. Since the type information included in the payment message MES3 indicates "advance payment," the completion notification sent from the payment server 30 to the point server 20 in this operation example is a completion notification regarding "advance payment." Upon receiving the completion notification, the processing device 230 of the point server 20 functions as the settlement unit 230f and updates at least one of the number of points held by user U and the number of points borrowed.

[0056] According to this embodiment, by determining whether to allow a person with a certain level of credibility, such as a user of another service (payment service A in the above embodiment), to make an advance payment, it is possible to prevent the advance points from becoming unrecoverable and improve the convenience of point service B. Furthermore, according to the above embodiment, it is possible to make investments using points, which has the effect of encouraging investments while reducing the financial burden on users.

[0057] (B: Transformation) The above embodiment can be modified as follows. (B-1: Variation 1) In the above embodiment, an example of allocating points PA to the purchase price of a mutual fund has been described. However, points PA may also be allocated to the purchase price of stocks or bonds, or to the subscription fees for various insurance policies.

[0058] (B-2: Variation 2) In the above embodiment, the payment program PR1 is pre-stored in the storage device 120 of the terminal 10, but the payment program PR1 may be manufactured or sold separately. When selling the payment program PR1, the payment program PR1 may be provided to the purchaser by being written to a computer-readable recording medium such as a flash ROM and distributed, or by being downloaded via a telecommunications line. Similarly, the program PR2 may be manufactured or sold separately.

[0059] (C:Other) (1) In the above-described embodiment, ROM and RAM are exemplified as storage device 120 and storage device 220, but storage device 120 and storage device 220 may also be a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-ROM), a register, a removable disk, a hard disk, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, a database, a server, or other suitable storage medium.

[0060] (2) In the above-described embodiments, the described information, signals, etc. may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0061] (3) In the above-described embodiment, input and output information may be stored in a specific location (for example, memory) or may be managed using a table. Input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or added to. Output information may be deleted. Input information may be transmitted to another device.

[0062] (4) In the above-described embodiment, the determination may be made based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean value (true or false), or a comparison of numerical values ​​(e.g., comparison with a predetermined value).

[0063] (5) The order of the process procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc. illustrated in the above-described embodiments may be rearranged unless inconsistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an example order, and are not limited to the particular order presented.

[0064] (6) Each function illustrated in FIG. 4 is realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Similarly, each function illustrated in FIG. 9 is realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using a single device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are connected directly or indirectly (for example, using wires, wirelessly, etc.) and these multiple devices. A functional block may be realized by combining the single device or the multiple devices with software.

[0065] (7) The programs exemplified in the above-described embodiments should be broadly construed to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., regardless of whether they are called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or by other names.

[0066] Software, instructions, information, etc. may also be transmitted or received over a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), and / or wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave), then these wired and / or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission media.

[0067] (8) In each of the foregoing embodiments, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

[0068] (9) The information, parameters, etc. described in this disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, relative values ​​from a predetermined value, or corresponding other information.

[0069] (10) In the above-described embodiments, the terms "connected," "coupled," or any variation thereof refers to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access." As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and optical (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

[0070] (11) In the above embodiments, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless otherwise specified. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

[0071] (12) As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiring (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like. Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. as having been "judgment" or "decision." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding some action as having been "judgment" or "decision." Furthermore, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

[0072] (13) In the above embodiments, when "include," "including," and variations thereof are used, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Furthermore, the term "or" as used in this disclosure is not intended to be an exclusive or.

[0073] (14) In this disclosure, where articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, the disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are plural.

[0074] (15) In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combined" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

[0075] (16) Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched depending on the implementation. Notification of predetermined information (e.g., notification that "X is true") is not limited to explicit notification, but may be implicit (e.g., not notifying the predetermined information).

[0076] (D: Aspects understood from the above-described embodiments or modifications) Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure. The following aspects can be understood from at least one of the above-described embodiments or modifications.

[0077] A point management device according to a first aspect of the present disclosure includes: a reception unit that receives, from a first user who subscribes to a point service that allows points awarded in accordance with a first payment to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of a second payment subsequent to the first payment, an application for borrowing points to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment; and a determination unit that, when the first user is a subscriber to a service that includes a service fee for another service different from the point service, determines whether to allow the first user to make an advance payment in which the points applied for advance borrowing in the application are applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment. According to this aspect, by determining whether to allow an advance payment for a user of another service who has a certain level of credibility, it is possible to improve the convenience of the point service while avoiding the borrowed points becoming unrecoverable.

[0078] A management device according to a second aspect (an example of the first aspect) of the present disclosure further includes a management unit that manages, for the first user, performance information indicating at least one of the points awarded in the point service, the points used in the awarded point service, and the payment history, and a determination unit that determines an upper limit of points that the first user is allowed to borrow based on the performance information, wherein the application includes the number of points desired to be borrowed, and the determination unit allows the borrow payment if the number of points included in the application is equal to or less than the upper limit determined by the determination unit for the first user. According to this aspect, the borrowing of points can be permitted within a range corresponding to at least one of the points awarded, the points used, and the payment history, further reducing the possibility of borrowed points becoming unrecoverable.

[0079] The management device according to a third aspect (an example of the second aspect) of the present disclosure further includes a settlement unit that settles the borrowed points using points generated by payments that occur after the advance payment. According to this aspect, the borrowed points are settled using points generated by payments that occur after the advance payment, which makes it easier to collect the borrowed points.

[0080] In the management device according to a fourth aspect (an example of the third aspect) of the present disclosure, the management unit manages the number of advance points for the first user, and the determination unit permits the advance payment if the sum of the number of points included in the application and the number of advance points is equal to or less than the upper limit, and further includes an update unit that updates the number of advance points in response to permission of a new advance payment. According to this aspect, multiple advances are possible within the upper limit.

[0081] A fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a program that causes a computer to communicate with a management device of a point service that grants points applicable to at least a portion of a payment amount of a second payment subsequent to a first payment to a first user who made the first payment, thereby displaying a first screen on a display device that includes the balance of points held by the first user, transmitting an application for borrowing points to the management device in response to an operation instructing the user to borrow points applicable to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment, and, upon receiving a response permitting the borrowing of points from the management device that determines whether to permit the borrowing of points for a subscriber whose payment amount is collected as part of a usage fee for another service different from the point service, displaying a second screen on the display device for applying the permitted borrowed points to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment. As with the first aspect, this aspect improves the convenience of the point service while preventing borrowed points from becoming unrecoverable by determining whether to permit the borrowing of points for a user who has a certain level of credibility, such as a user of another service.

[0082] A point management method according to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure includes: accepting an application for borrowing points to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of a second payment subsequent to a first payment from a first user who subscribes to a point service that allows points awarded in accordance with the first payment to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the second payment subsequent to the first payment; and, if the first user is a subscriber to a service that includes a service fee for the first payment, determining whether to allow the first user to apply the points applied for in advance to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment. As in the first aspect, this aspect also improves the convenience of the point service by determining whether to allow the first user to make an advance payment for a user of another service who has a certain level of credibility, such as a user of the other service, thereby preventing borrowed points from becoming unrecoverable. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 1...payment system, 10...terminal, 20...point server, 30...payment server, NW...communication network, 110, 210...communication device, 120, 220...storage device, 130, 230...processing device, 140...display device, 150...input device, 160, 260...bus, 130a...first display control unit, 130b...transmission unit, 130c...second display control unit, 230a...management unit, 230b...determination unit, 230c...reception unit, 230d...judgment unit, 230e...update unit, 230f...settlement unit, PR1...payment program, PR2...program.

Claims

1. a receiving unit that receives an application for advance borrowing of points to be appropriated to at least a portion of the payment amount of a second payment subsequent to a first payment from a first user who is subscribed to a point service that allows points granted in accordance with the first payment to be appropriated to at least a portion of the payment amount of the second payment; a determination unit that determines whether to allow the first user to make an advance payment in which the points requested for advance borrowing by the application are used as at least a portion of the payment amount for the first payment, when the first user is a subscriber to a service for which the payment amount for the first payment is collected as part of a fee for using a service other than the point service; A point management device comprising:

2. a management unit that manages performance information representing at least one of a performance of points awarded in the point service, a performance of points used in the point service, and a performance of payments made for the first user; a determination unit that determines an upper limit of points that the first user is allowed to borrow based on the performance information, The application includes the number of points desired to be advanced; The point management device according to claim 1 , wherein the determination unit permits the advance payment if the number of points included in the application is equal to or less than an upper limit determined by the determination unit for the first user.

3. The point management device according to claim 2 , further comprising a settlement unit that settles the borrowed points using points generated by payments made after the advance payment.

4. The management unit manages the number of advance points for the first user, The determination unit permits the advance payment when the sum of the number of points included in the application and the number of advance points is equal to or less than the upper limit value, An update unit is further provided which updates the number of advance points in response to permission of a new advance payment. The point management device according to claim 3.

5. On the computer, displaying a first screen including a balance of points held by the first user on a display device by communicating with a management device of a point service that grants points applicable to at least a portion of a payment amount in a second payment subsequent to the first payment to the first user who made the first payment; transmitting an application for borrowing points to the management device in response to an operation for instructing borrowing points to be applied to at least a portion of the payment amount of the first payment; When a response permitting the advance borrowing of points is received from the management device, which determines whether or not to permit the advance borrowing of points from a user contractor whose settlement amount is collected by including it in the usage fee of a service different from the point service, a second screen is displayed on the display device for applying the permitted advance borrowing of points to at least a part of the settlement amount of the first settlement; A program that executes the following.

6. accepting an application for advance borrowing of points to be appropriated to at least a portion of the payment amount of a second payment subsequent to a first payment from a first user who is subscribed to a point service that allows points granted in accordance with the first payment to be appropriated to at least a portion of the payment amount of the second payment; If the first user is a user contract holder for whom the settlement amount of the first payment is collected as part of a usage fee for a service other than the point service, determine whether or not to permit the first user to make an advance payment in which the points requested to be advanced by the application are used as at least a portion of the settlement amount of the first payment; How to manage points, including:

Images