Credit Information Provision Device

Abstract

This will ensure the quantity and quality of information entered into the traceability system, and support loans to raw material producers. [Solution] The credit information providing device of this disclosure is included in, or linked to, a traceability system which is a management system for goods transactions connecting multiple businesses, and provides credit information used for loan screening of raw material producers. The credit information providing device includes a receiving unit, a history acquisition unit, a calculation unit, and a transmission unit. The receiving unit receives a request to acquire credit information from a credit information recipient device. The history acquisition unit acquires a first input history of first transaction information entered into the traceability system by the raw material producer. The calculation unit calculates a credit score from the first input history. The transmission unit transmits credit information based on the credit score in response to the acquisition request.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a credit information providing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Natural product raw materials may be mediated by a variety of complex intermediaries in multiple stages before the product is transferred to the end consumer. Therefore, in recent years, in order to improve the traceability of natural product raw materials such as natural rubber, a system for managing traceability information has been studied (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0003]

Non-Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, since natural product raw material producers such as farmers or farms located at the very upstream of the distribution are often small-scale or microenterprises, in the conventional traceability system, accurate and sufficient information has not always been input by natural product raw material producers. On the other hand, there are cases where it is not possible to clearly determine the availability of the repayment ability of a natural product raw material producer, such as when the production volume is small. In such a case, the natural product raw material producer may not be able to sufficiently procure the necessary funds through loans from financial institutions, and the business may face difficulties in continuing.

[0005] Therefore, the objective of the present invention, which has been made with these points in mind, is to ensure the quantity and quality of information entered into the traceability system, and to support raw material producers in obtaining loans. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] (1) A credit information providing device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a credit information providing device that is included in or linked with a traceability system, which is a management system for goods transactions connecting multiple businesses, and provides credit information used for loan screening of raw material producers, and comprises: a receiving unit that receives a request to acquire credit information from a credit information receiving device; a history acquisition unit that acquires a first input history of first transaction information entered into the traceability system by the raw material producer; a calculation unit that calculates a credit score from the first input history; and a transmitting unit that transmits credit information based on the credit score in response to the acquisition request. According to the credit information providing device according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a credit score is calculated based on first transaction information entered into the traceability system, thereby ensuring the quantity and quality of information entered into the traceability system and supporting loans to raw material producers.

[0007] (2) A credit information providing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is the credit information providing device described in (1) above, wherein the calculation unit can obtain second transaction information corresponding to each transaction included in the first input history from a second input history of second transaction information entered into the traceability system by one or more trading companies that conduct transactions with the raw material producer, and can calculate the credit score based on a comparison of the first transaction information and the second transaction information. With a credit information providing device having such a configuration, the credit score can be calculated objectively because the first transaction information entered by the raw material producer is compared with the second transaction information entered by the trading company.

[0008] (3) A credit information providing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is the credit information providing device described in (2) above, wherein the calculation unit can transmit information to the terminal device used by the raw material producer prompting the input of the first transaction information when the first transaction information corresponding to the second transaction information included in the second input history is not included in the first input history. A credit information providing device having such a configuration can further quantitatively expand the traceability information by prompting the raw material producer to input transaction information into the traceability system.

[0009] (4) A credit information providing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a credit information providing device described in (2) or (3) above, wherein the first input history may include information on transaction quantity, transaction date and time, transaction unit price, trading partner, and transaction location. A credit information providing device having such a configuration calculates a credit score based on the transaction quantity, transaction date and time, transaction unit price, trading partner, and transaction location, thereby providing an incentive for raw material producers to accurately input this information.

[0010] (5) A credit information providing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a credit information providing device described in any of (1) to (4) above, wherein the raw material producer may be a rubber farmer or a producer operating a rubber plantation. A credit information providing device having such a configuration can reinforce credit information and stabilize the management of rubber farmers and rubber plantations, which are particularly numerous small businesses with weak management bases. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to this disclosure, a credit score is calculated based on the first transaction information entered into the traceability system, thereby ensuring the quantity and quality of information entered into the traceability system and supporting loans to raw material producers. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1]This figure shows a schematic configuration of a traceability system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of a credit information provision device. [Figure 3] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the terminal device. [Figure 4] This is a diagram showing an example of a transaction history. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of actual credit information. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of farm credit information. [Figure 7] This flowchart shows the procedure for processing performed by the control unit of the credit information provision device when raw material producers input transaction information. [Figure 8] This flowchart shows the procedure for processing performed by the control unit of the credit information providing device when it receives a request to transmit credit information from an external device. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of traceability credit information. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] (Traceability system) Embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment relates to a credit information providing device 10 that is included in or linked to a traceability system. The traceability system 1 is a system that manages goods transactions connecting multiple businesses from the production of raw materials for a product to sales to consumers. The traceability system 1 makes it possible to trace the distribution and supply of semi-finished products, parts, and raw materials, etc., up to the manufacturing and sale of goods.

[0014] The credit information providing device 10 may be configured as part of a traceability management device that manages the traceability of the traceability system 1, and may be configured to acquire necessary transaction information from the traceability management device. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the credit information providing device 10 is configured as part of the traceability management device on the same hardware as the traceability management device.

[0015] This embodiment will be described by taking the traceability system 1 for rubber products as an example. In the field of rubber products, those located at the very upstream of the distribution are farmers and farms that cultivate natural rubber as natural raw material producers. Hereinafter, these farmers and farms will be referred to as raw material producers. Many of the raw material producers include small-scale operators with a weak business foundation located in the Southeast Asian region. Many of the raw material producers may not actively input into the traceability system. Furthermore, producers of farmers or farms may bring rubber as a raw material to the trading place or sell it in each relative transaction with intermediaries. Therefore, it may be particularly difficult to trace the procurement route of the raw materials of rubber products. In addition, among the raw material producers, there are operators who are difficult to receive loans from financial institutions due to their lack of creditworthiness. However, in order for all operators involved in rubber products to conduct their businesses stably, it is essential that raw material producers can conduct their businesses stably and continuously.

[0016] In response to such a situation, the credit information providing device 10 aims to encourage raw material producers to input into the traceability system 1 and provide information to reinforce the credit of raw material producers.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the traceability system 1 includes, in addition to the credit information providing device 10, a producer terminal 20A of a raw material producer participating in the traceability system 1, and an intermediary terminal 20B of an intermediary business operator (trading business operator) that mediates raw materials to downstream business operators. Further, the traceability system 1 includes a carrier terminal 20C that transports natural product raw materials, and a consumer terminal 20D of a consumer of raw materials. The traceability system 1 may further include terminal devices 20 of each participant up to the consumer of the final product. However, in the present embodiment, in order to explain the information related to the transaction between the raw material producer and the intermediary business operator, mainly only the processing related to the producer terminal 20A and the intermediary terminal 20B will be described. Also, the producer terminal 20A and the intermediary terminal 20B may be collectively described as the terminal device 20. The credit information providing device 10 and each terminal device 20 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a communication network 40 corresponding to wired communication and / or wireless communication.

[0018] Furthermore, the traceability system 1 includes an external device 30 that requests the transmission of the credit information of the raw material producer to the credit information providing device 10. The external device 30 is a device to which the credit information is provided. The external device 30 is, for example, an information processing device possessed by a financial institution that lends business funds. It is preferable that the credit information providing device 10 accepts a request for credit information only from a predetermined external device 30.

[0019] (Configuration of Credit Information Providing Device) The credit information providing device 10 is, for example, an arbitrary general-purpose electronic device such as a PC (personal computer), or a dedicated electronic device. The credit information providing device 10 may be a server belonging to a cloud computing system or other computing system. As shown in FIG. 2, the credit information providing device 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication unit 13.

[0020] The control unit 11 includes at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (central processing unit) or GPU (graphics processing unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). The control unit 11 controls each part of the credit information providing device 10 and executes processes related to the operation of the credit information providing device 10.

[0021] The control unit 11 includes a history acquisition unit 11a and a calculation unit 11b. The history acquisition unit 11a and the calculation unit 11b may be hardware modules or software modules. The history acquisition unit 11a acquires the input history of transactions stored in the storage unit 12, which will be described later. If the credit information provision device 10 is provided as separate hardware from the traceability management device, the history acquisition unit 11a acquires the input history from the storage unit of the traceability management device. The calculation unit 11b calculates the credit score of the raw material producer based on the input history acquired by the history acquisition unit 11a.

[0022] The storage unit 12 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or at least two combinations thereof. The semiconductor memory is, for example, RAM (random access memory) or ROM (read-only memory). The RAM is, for example, SRAM (static random access memory) or DRAM (dynamic random access memory). The ROM is, for example, EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory). The storage unit 12 functions, for example, as a main memory, auxiliary memory, or cache memory. The storage unit 12 stores programs and data used for the operation of the credit information providing device 10, and data obtained by the operation of the credit information providing device 10.

[0023] The storage unit 12 may include a first storage unit 12a for storing a first input history and a second storage unit 12b for storing a second input history. The first input history is the input history of first transaction information, which is transaction information entered into the traceability system by the raw material producer. The second input history is the input history of second transaction information, which is information entered into the traceability system by one or more intermediaries who conduct transactions with the raw material producer. The storage unit 12 stores not only the first and second transaction information, but also a lot of information about the raw material producer and intermediaries. For example, the storage unit 12 stores the date of registration for service use and contact information of the raw material producer and intermediaries to use the traceability system.

[0024] The communication unit 13 includes at least one external communication interface connected to the network 40. The communication interface may be either a wired or wireless communication interface. In the case of wired communication, the communication interface may be, for example, a LAN (local area network) interface or a USB (universal serial bus) interface. In the case of wireless communication, the communication interface may be, for example, an interface compatible with mobile communication standards such as LTE (long term evolution), 4G (4th generation), or 5G (5th generation), or an interface compatible with short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0025] The communication unit 13 includes a receiving unit 13a that receives data used in the operation of the credit information providing device 10. The receiving unit 13a receives a request to acquire credit information from an external device 30, which is the recipient of the credit information. The communication unit 13 also includes a transmitting unit 13b that transmits data obtained by the operation of the credit information providing device 10 to an external device. The transmitting unit 13b transmits credit information based on the credit score to the external device 30 in response to the acquisition request.

[0026] Although the credit information providing device 10 in Figure 2 of this embodiment does not show an input unit and an output unit, it may further include an input unit and an output unit. That is, in addition to receiving (inputting) and transmitting (outputting) information via the communication unit 13, the credit information providing device 10 may also perform information input and output using its own input unit and output unit.

[0027] (Terminal device configuration) The terminal device 20 includes, for example, general-purpose electronic devices such as PCs, smartphones, and tablet terminals, or dedicated electronic devices. As shown in Figure 3, the terminal device 20 comprises a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, a communication unit 23, an input unit 24, and a display unit 25.

[0028] The control unit 21 includes at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU or GPU, or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA or ASIC. The control unit 21 controls each part of the terminal device 20 and executes processes related to the operation of the terminal device 20.

[0029] The storage unit 22 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or at least two combinations thereof. The semiconductor memory is, for example, RAM or ROM. The RAM is, for example, SRAM or DRAM. The ROM is, for example, EEPROM. The storage unit 22 functions, for example, as a main memory, auxiliary memory, or cache memory. The storage unit 22 stores programs and data used for the operation of the terminal device 20, and data obtained by the operation of the terminal device 20. The information stored in the storage unit 22 may be updateable with information obtained from the network 40, for example, via the communication unit 23.

[0030] The communication unit 23 includes at least one external communication interface connected to the network 40. The communication interface may be either a wired or wireless communication interface. In the case of wired communication, the communication interface may be, for example, a LAN interface or USB. In the case of wireless communication, the communication interface may be, for example, an interface compatible with a mobile communication standard such as LTE, 4G, or 5G, or an interface compatible with short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth®. The communication unit 23 receives data used for the operation of the terminal device 20 and transmits the data obtained by the operation of the terminal device 20 to an external source (for example, a credit information providing device 10).

[0031] The input unit 24 includes at least one input interface. The input interface may be, for example, a physical key such as a keyboard, a capacitive key, a pointing device, or a touchscreen integrated with a display. Alternatively, the input interface may be, for example, a microphone that accepts voice input or a camera that accepts gesture input. The input unit 24 accepts operations to input data used for the operation of the terminal device 20. Instead of being provided in the terminal device 20, the input unit 24 may be connected to the terminal device 20 as an external input device.

[0032] The display unit 45 is a display that outputs information as images, including, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display) or an organic EL (electro-luminescence) display. The display unit 45 displays and outputs data received from the credit information provision device 10, or data obtained from the operation of the terminal device 20.

[0033] The terminal device 20 may load an application for the traceability system 1 into its storage unit 22. The control unit 21 may execute the application. The control unit 21, which executes the application, operates in cooperation with the credit information providing device 10. The control unit 21 may display a template on the display unit 25 for the user of the terminal device 20 to input transaction information. The control unit 21 may also display a message on the display unit 25 prompting the user to input information if necessary.

[0034] (Information stored in the memory unit) The storage unit 12 of the credit information providing device 10 stores various information related to the traceability system. Figure 4 shows an example of the first and second input histories stored in the first storage unit 12a and the second storage unit 12b. This information may be managed by a database management system such as an RDBMS (relational database management system). Figure 4 shows only the row and column names of the table, and does not show the input data. The transaction number is an identification number assigned to each transaction. This input history may be managed for each raw material producer and for each intermediary. Therefore, the storage unit 12 may store as much information as there are raw material producers and as many as there are intermediaries, as shown in the table in Figure 4. Alternatively, the input history may manage the transaction information of all raw material producers and / or all intermediaries in a single table.

[0035] The information in each row of the input history in Figure 4 represents transaction information for each transaction. Transaction quantity, transaction date and time, transaction unit price, trading partner, and transaction location are information items for each transaction. Transaction quantity indicates the number or weight of raw materials traded. Transaction date and time indicates the date and time the transaction took place. Transaction unit price indicates the unit price of raw materials per unit quantity. Trading partner is information that identifies the party with whom the transaction took place. In the first input history, the intermediary is the trading partner. In the second input information, the raw material producer is the trading partner. Transaction location is information that indicates the place where the transaction took place. The transaction location may be identified by place name, address, latitude and longitude, or a code assigned to the transaction location.

[0036] The memory unit 12 may store actual credit information as illustrated in Figure 5. Actual credit information is information that financial institutions generally use to determine whether or not to grant a loan to an applicant. Actual credit information includes at least one of the following: name / company name, number of members, address / residence, income, sales, operating profit margin, transaction history, past borrowing amount, past repayment history, and the number of past loans. The credit information providing device 10 may store actual credit information in order to provide information to a financial institution that has sent a request to acquire credit information. It is not essential in this disclosure that the credit information providing device 10 handles actual credit information.

[0037] The memory unit 12 may store plantation credit information as illustrated in Figure 6. Plantation credit information is information related to the creditworthiness of a rubber farmer or rubber plantation. Plantation credit information includes, for example, at least one of the following: product quantity information, log location information, and product grade information. Product quantity information is time-series information on the quantity of raw materials produced. The longer the period during which stable production quantity values ​​continue, the higher the creditworthiness of the raw material producer can be judged. Log location information indicates the geographical location of rubber logs. The higher the geological stability of the production area, the higher the creditworthiness of the raw material producer can be judged. Product grade information indicates the grade of the product. The higher the grade of product produced, the higher the creditworthiness of the raw material producer can be judged. The credit information providing device 10 may store plantation credit information in order to provide information to financial institutions that have sent a request for credit information acquisition. It is not essential in this disclosure that the credit information providing device 10 handles plantation credit information.

[0038] (Processing of input received from producer terminals) Next, referring to Figure 7, the process executed by the control unit 11 of the credit information provision device 10 when a raw material producer inputs transaction information from the producer terminal 20A will be described. In the following, a specific raw material producer operating the producer terminal 20A will be referred to as a "specific raw material producer" to distinguish it from other raw material producers.

[0039] First, when a specific raw material producer activates the application for the traceability system 1 on the producer terminal 20A, the producer terminal 20A sends a notification to the credit information providing device 10. As a result, the control unit 11 detects access from the producer terminal 20A via the communication unit 13 (step S101).

[0040] The control unit 11 searches the first and second input histories stored in the memory unit 12 (step S102). Since both the raw material producer and the intermediary individually input information for the same transaction, a transaction performed by a specific raw material producer is associated with a transaction performed by any of the multiple intermediaries. The control unit 11 associates the first transaction information included in the first input history of a specific raw material producer with the second transaction information included in the second input histories of multiple intermediaries. Note that this association is not performed every time; if an association has been performed once in the past, that information can be used.

[0041] The control unit 11 searches whether there are any transactions in the second transaction information included in any of the second transaction histories where the trading partner is a specific raw material producer, but the corresponding first transaction information is not included in the first transaction history of the target raw material producer (step S103). In other words, the control unit 11 searches whether there are any transaction information corresponding to the transaction information entered by the intermediary, where the specific raw material producer has not entered the transaction information.

[0042] If there are no such transactions (step S103: No), the control unit 11 notifies the producer terminal 20A via the communication unit 13 that there is no unentered transaction information (step S104) and accepts input of new transaction information (step S105). The control unit 21 receives the notification from the producer terminal 20A via the communication unit 23 that there is no unentered transaction information. The control unit 21 displays on the display unit 25 that new transaction information can be entered and a template for entering transaction information. If a specific raw material producer who is a user of the producer terminal 20A has a new transaction, they enter the new transaction information using the input unit 24.

[0043] On the other hand, if there is any missing transaction information (step S103: Yes), the control unit 11 sends a notification to the producer terminal 20A via the communication unit 13 indicating that there is missing transaction information (step S106). The notification may include the name of the trading partner and the date and time of the transaction. The control unit 21 receives the notification that there is missing transaction information via the communication unit 23 at the producer terminal 20A. The control unit 21 may display a message prompting the input of transaction information, such as "Please enter the missing transaction information," on the display unit 25, along with the name of the trading partner and the date and time of the transaction. If there are multiple missing transaction entries, the control unit 21 may display the missing transaction information in list format on the display unit 25.

[0044] After step S106, the control unit 11 accepts input of unentered transaction information and / or new transaction information (step S107). In this case, the control unit 21 may display a selection screen on the display unit 25 of the producer terminal 20A, allowing the user to choose between entering unentered transaction information or entering new transaction information. A specific raw material producer may select the transaction information to enter from the selection screen and enter the corresponding transaction information.

[0045] When the user finishes inputting information in step S105 or step S107 and closes the application on the producer terminal 20A, the control unit 11 terminates the processing shown in the flowchart of Figure 7.

[0046] The process described above is for when a raw material producer inputs information using the producer terminal 20A, but the control unit 11 may perform the same process when an intermediary inputs information using the intermediary terminal 20B. As explained in step S106, the control unit 11 can further quantitatively expand the traceability information by prompting the raw material producer to input transaction information that has not yet been entered into the traceability system.

[0047] (Credit information provision processing) Next, referring to Figure 8, we will explain the process by which the control unit 11 of the credit information provision device 10 receives a request to acquire credit information from an external device 30 and provides credit information that can be used for loan screening of raw material producers.

[0048] First, the external device 30 transmits a request to the credit information provider 10 to acquire credit information of raw material producers. Hereafter, the raw material producers whose credit information is to be acquired will be referred to as "target raw material producers" to distinguish them from other raw material producers. The control unit 11 receives the acquisition request via the communication unit 23 (step S201).

[0049] The control unit 11 first obtains the service registration date for the target raw material producer to the traceability system 1 from the storage unit 12 (step S202). The service registration date to the traceability system 1 is used to generate a credit score, as will be described later.

[0050] Next, the control unit 11 repeatedly executes the following steps S204 to S206 (steps S203, S207) for all transaction information of the target raw material producer stored in the first storage unit 12a of the storage unit 12. Note that the target of the repeated processing is not all transaction information stored in the first storage unit 12a, but may be transaction information of transactions executed in the immediately preceding predetermined period. The predetermined period can be set to, for example, six months, one year, or three years.

[0051] The control unit 11 obtains the corresponding transaction information of the intermediary from the second input history of the second storage unit 12b for the target transaction (step S204). The corresponding transaction may be determined in advance by step S102 or the like. The corresponding transaction is one in which all of the information items included in the transaction information match, or match to a certain extent. A transaction that matches to a certain extent may require that a predetermined number or more of the information items match. Furthermore, a transaction that matches to a certain extent may require that at least some of the information items, such as the transaction date and time, match. If there is no transaction information corresponding to the second input history of the second storage unit 12b, the control unit 11 stores that information in the storage unit 12.

[0052] The control unit 11 compares the first transaction information of the target raw material producer with the second transaction information of the intermediary obtained in step S204 corresponding to this transaction information (step S205). The control unit 11 stores the information of whether each information item matches or does not match in the storage unit 12 (step S206). For information items that do not match, the control unit 11 may store the value of the first transaction information and the value of the second transaction information.

[0053] When the control unit 11 has finished processing all transaction information of the target raw material producers in steps S204 to S206 (step S207), it proceeds to the next step S208.

[0054] In step S208, the control unit 11 generates a credit score for the target raw material producer (step S208). The credit score can be, for example, a score calculated in the range of 0 to 1. In this embodiment, the information used to generate the credit score is called traceability credit information. Traceability credit information includes, for example, the service usage registration date, transaction quantity information, transaction date and time information, transaction unit price information, trading partner information, and transaction location information, as shown in Figure 9. By using these information items to calculate the traceability credit score, the credit information providing device 10 can incentivize raw material producers to accurately input this information.

[0055] This section explains the evaluation of each information item in traceability credit information.

[0056] The longer the registration period for using the service, the longer the raw material producer has been in business, which suggests that the producer is more trustworthy.

[0057] Regarding transaction quantity information and transaction unit price information, the smaller the difference between the figures entered by the raw material producer as the first transaction information and the figures entered by the intermediary as the second transaction information for the corresponding transaction, the higher the credibility of the raw material producer can be judged. This is because the raw material producer is entering the information accurately and honestly.

[0058] Regarding transaction date and time information, the shorter the delay between the actual transaction date and the date the raw material producer entered the information, the more reliable the raw material producer is considered to be. This is because raw material producers who perform their assigned tasks with minimal delays tend to adhere to the rules more readily.

[0059] Regarding trading partner information and trading location information, the lower the percentage of discrepancies between the information entered by the raw material producer as the first transaction information and the information entered by the intermediary as the second transaction information for the corresponding transaction, the higher the credibility of the raw material producer can be judged. This is because the raw material producer is considered to have a system in place to process the information with high accuracy.

[0060] The control unit 11 can determine the credit score for each information item of the traceability credit information by any method. The credit score may be calculated according to a predetermined calculation standard. Figure 9 shows an example of a credit score.

[0061] For example, regarding the service registration date, the control unit 11 may assign the highest credit score of 1 if more than three years have passed since the registration date, and the lowest credit score of 0 if it has been less than one week since the registration date. If the period elapsed from the registration date to the present is longer than one week but less than three years, the control unit 11 may set an intermediate value between 0 and 1 depending on the period elapsed from the registration date to the present.

[0062] Furthermore, with respect to transaction volume information, the control unit 11 may calculate a credit score using a function that takes the transaction volume as input and outputs a value in the range of 0 to 1. Alternatively, the control unit 11 may divide the transaction volume into multiple stages according to its magnitude and assign scores from the largest to the smallest, for example, 1, 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, 0.2, and 0.

[0063] With regard to trading partner information and trading location information, the control unit 11 can similarly calculate a credit score based on the discrepancy rate between the first trading information and the second trading information of the target raw material producer. For example, if the discrepancy rates are 0%, 3%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, the control unit 11 can set the credit scores to 1, 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, 0.2, and 0, respectively.

[0064] In this way, a credit score can be calculated objectively by comparing the first transaction information entered by the raw material producer with the second transaction information entered by the trading company.

[0065] After calculating the credit score, the control unit 11 transmits the credit information to the external device 30 via the communication unit 13 (S209). The credit information may be the credit score itself, or it may be an index calculated from the credit score. For example, the credit information may include an index obtained by summing or averaging multiple credit scores calculated in step S208, or an index obtained by multiplying them. Also, if the storage unit 12 stores actual credit information and farm credit information, the control unit 11 may transmit this actual credit information and / or farm credit information to the external device 30 as credit information along with the credit score.

[0066] Financial institutions that possess the external device 30 can use the credit information received from the credit information providing device 10 in loan assessments for raw material producers.

[0067] As described above, according to this embodiment, when a raw material producer, who is often small-scale and has a weak business base, seeks a loan from a financial institution, the credit information providing device 10 can provide the financial institution with information obtained from the traceability system 1. In this way, the credit information providing device 10 can reinforce the credit information of the raw material producer and increase the likelihood that the raw material producer will be able to obtain a loan.

[0068] Furthermore, the credit information provision device 10 of this embodiment can incentivize raw material producers to input information into the traceability system 1 by making it easier for them to obtain loans. In particular, raw material producers can be expected to input transaction information into the traceability system 1 quickly and accurately in order to obtain a high credit score. This makes it possible to ensure both the quantity and quality of information input into the traceability system 1.

[0069] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and numerous modifications or changes are possible. For example, the functions included in each means, step, etc., can be rearranged in a logically consistent manner, and multiple means or steps, etc., can be combined into one or separated.

[0070] While the embodiments described herein have primarily focused on the apparatus, these embodiments can also be implemented as methods that include steps performed by each component of the apparatus. Furthermore, these embodiments can also be implemented as methods, programs, or storage media containing programs, executed by the processor of the apparatus. These are also considered to be included within the scope of this disclosure.

[0071] [Contribution to the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)] The SDGs have been proposed to realize a sustainable society. One embodiment of this invention is considered to be a technology that can contribute to "No. 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation," among others. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0072] 1. Traceability System 10 Credit information providing device 11 Control Unit 11a History acquisition unit 11b Calculation section 12 Storage section 12a First memory unit 12b Second memory unit 13 Communications Department 13a Receiving section 13b Transmitter 20 Terminal devices 20A Producer Terminal 20B Intermediary Terminal 20C Carrier Terminal 20D Customer Terminal 21 Control Unit 22 Memory section 23 Communications Department 24 Input section 25 Display section 30 External device

Claims

1. A credit information providing device that is included in or linked with a traceability system, which is a management system for goods transactions connecting multiple businesses, and provides credit information used for loan screening of raw material producers, A receiving unit that receives a request to acquire credit information from a device that provides credit information, A history acquisition unit that acquires a first input history of the first transaction information entered into the traceability system by the raw material producer, A calculation unit that calculates a credit score from the first input history, A transmitting unit that transmits credit information based on the credit score in response to the acquisition request, Credit information providing device.

2. The credit information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit obtains second transaction information corresponding to each transaction included in the first input history from a second input history of second transaction information entered into the traceability system by one or more trading companies that conduct transactions with the raw material producer, and calculates the credit score based on a comparison of the first transaction information and the second transaction information.

3. The credit information providing device according to claim 2, wherein the calculation unit transmits information to the terminal device used by the raw material producer prompting the input of the first transaction information when the first transaction information corresponding to the second transaction information included in the second input history is not included in the first input history.

4. The credit information providing device according to claim 2, wherein the first input history includes information on transaction quantity, transaction date and time, transaction unit price, trading partner, and transaction location.

5. The credit information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the raw material producer is a rubber farmer or a producer operating a rubber plantation.

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