Information processing device, program, and information processing method

Abstract

In cases where the maximum amount of subsidies is set for each type of employee benefit, the system should be designed so that employees can use the subsidies by selecting an appropriate use without having to choose one. [Solution] The information processing device includes: a welfare information storage unit that stores welfare information associating identification information of stores where welfare services are available with one or more welfare use cases available for the services provided by the stores; a payment-related information acquisition unit that acquires payment-related information including the identification information of the stores when an employee of the company uses a welfare service at a store; and a use determination unit that determines which of the multiple use cases the points to be used for when an employee makes a payment to the store using an electronic wallet storage medium that stores points provided by the company as welfare for each of the multiple use cases as an electronic wallet, based on the welfare information and payment-related information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a program, and an information processing method, and is particularly suitable for use in a system that performs processing related to a company bearing a part of the cost when an employee uses various services eligible for welfare benefits.

Background Art

[0002] In order to expect effects such as securing and retaining the labor force and improving work motivation, it is common for companies to provide various measures as welfare benefits in addition to regular salaries to employees. Conventionally, a system for supporting operations related to this welfare has been known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a mechanism that allows employees to use welfare subsidies for multiple types of purposes.

[0003] Among these, Patent Document 1 discloses that when an employee makes a payment to a store using a prepaid card that stores the employee's charged personal electronic money and points provided by the company for welfare purposes, for the settlement amount, the maximum company burden amount available as welfare expenses is consumed in points, and the remaining amount is consumed in electronic money to determine the consumption ratio. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses that an upper limit amount of the subsidy is set for each purpose of welfare, and an employee selects a usage store and a purpose and uses the subsidy within the range of the upper limit amount.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the technology described in Patent Document 1 above, one corporate contribution amount was set for each prepaid card, and subsidies were used for service usage fees for various purposes within the scope of that single corporate contribution amount. In other words, there was no system in place where a corporate contribution amount was set for each purpose.

[0006] In contrast, the technology described in Patent Document 2 sets a maximum subsidy amount for each purpose, and the subsidy is used within the limits of that maximum amount for each purpose. However, when an employee wants to use the subsidy for a payment at a particular store, they have to enter the store and purpose into the terminal, which is cumbersome.

[0007] This invention was made to solve such problems, and aims to enable employees to appropriately select one of the uses for which they can use the subsidy, even when the maximum amount of the subsidy is set for each use of welfare benefits, without having to make a choice themselves. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention stores points provided by a company for employee benefits as an electronic wallet on an electronic wallet storage medium, for each of several uses related to the company's employee benefits. When an employee uses a service covered by employee benefits at any store, the system determines, based on predetermined rules, which of the multiple uses' points to use for payment at that store, and processes the payment using the points for the determined use. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention configured as described above, when the maximum amount of subsidies given by a company as points is set for each use of employee benefits, the use of points for which the points will be used is automatically determined based on predetermined rules, so that employees can use the subsidies appropriately by selecting one of the uses without having to make a choice themselves. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the overall configuration of the welfare benefits processing system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of a store terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing an example of the server's functional configuration according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of an employee terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of electronic wallet information stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of employee benefits information stored in the employee benefits information storage unit. [Figure 7] This flowchart shows an example of server operation according to this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the employee benefits processing system according to this embodiment. The employee benefits processing system of this embodiment is a system that processes the costs incurred by a company when an employee uses any of the various services that are subject to employee benefits.

[0012] As shown in Figure 1, the employee benefits processing system of this embodiment comprises a prepaid card 100 and an employee terminal 500 used by employees when making payments, a store terminal 200 used by stores that provide any of the various services, a server 300 that processes information related to employee benefits, and a corporate terminal 400 used by companies that provide employee benefits. The store terminal 200 and the server 300, the corporate terminal 400 and the server 300, and the employee terminal 500 and the server 300 are connected via a communication network 600 such as the Internet or a telephone network.

[0013] Server 300 corresponds to the information processing device described in the patent claims and performs welfare-related processing as described later. Although only one server 300 is shown in Figure 1, this is for convenience to simplify the explanation, and it may be a server group consisting of multiple servers. Employee terminals 500 consist of mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets.

[0014] The prepaid card 100 corresponds to the electronic wallet storage medium in the claims and stores personal electronic money charged by employees and points provided by the server 300 for corporate employee benefits as an electronic wallet. In this embodiment, the prepaid card 100 stores points provided by the company for employee benefits as electronic wallets for each of several uses related to corporate employee benefits. These multiple uses related to employee benefits include, for example, lunch, internal socializing, qualification acquisition / education support, health management, and recreation, and can also be described as types of allowances. The multiple uses available for employee benefits can be arbitrarily set by the company.

[0015] Prepaid Card 100 is a rechargeable card that can be used repeatedly by adding funds (charging) to it even after the balance runs out. Electronic money can be charged to Prepaid Card 100 by paying cash using a charging terminal (not shown in the diagram, e.g., a convenience store register, a bank ATM, etc.). Alternatively, it can be charged via bank transfer or credit card. The following describes an example where an employee charges their desired amount to Prepaid Card 100 using a credit card. Payments using the charged electronic money are only possible at stores that have a contract with a credit card company (credit card merchants).

[0016] In addition, the recording of points for the prepaid card 100 is performed, for example, using the enterprise terminal 400 connected to a reader / writer. As an example, the points given to employees are notified from the server 300 to the enterprise terminal 400 and recorded on the prepaid card 100 by the reader / writer. The enterprise regularly gives employees a specified amount (for example, any amount between 3,500 and 10,000 points) of points as welfare expenses every month for, for example, multiple welfare-related purposes. That is, a specified amount of points is regularly notified from the server 300 to the enterprise terminal 400 every month, and the employees record those points on the prepaid card 100 by the reader / writer.

[0017] Note that the method of recording points on the prepaid card 100 shown here is just an example and is not limited thereto. Also, regularly giving a specified amount of points every month is just an example. That is, points may be given irregularly. Also, the number of points paid being between 3,500 and 10,000 is just an example.

[0018] Here, an upper limit value that can be stored may be set for each or the total amount of the electronic money and points stored in the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100. For example, when the total balance of the electronic money and points reaches the first upper limit value, or when the balance of only points reaches the second upper limit value, it is possible to notify the enterprise terminal 400 from the server 300 that the points to be given the next month are 0 for that employee.

[0019] When the employee pays the store for the cost of using any of various services, the store terminal 200 reads information that can identify the employee (for example, card identification information associated with the prepaid card 100) from the prepaid card 100 and transmits settlement-related information including the card identification information, the settlement amount, and store information that can identify the store to the server 300.

[0020] Upon receiving payment-related information, the server 300 determines, based on predetermined rules (details of which will be described later), which of several welfare-related uses the points for will be used, and calculates the employee's share and the company's share of the notified payment amount. The server 300 then determines the consumption ratio of points and electronic money for the determined use and notifies the store terminal 200 of these decisions. The store terminal 200 processes the payment using the prepaid card 100 according to the use and consumption ratio notified by the server 300.

[0021] In this embodiment, payments are made using a combination of personal electronic money that employees themselves charge onto a prepaid card 100 and points provided by the server 300 as a company benefit. The amount equivalent to the points that the company grants to employees as a benefit is paid in advance by the company to the operator of the server 300, for example. The operator of the server 300 then pays the amount equivalent to the points to each store where an employee has used points on the prepaid card 100 to pay for services. By constructing such a system, the company does not need to pay the equivalent amount of points to each store, and only needs to pay the equivalent amount of points to the operator of the server 300 in advance.

[0022] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the store terminal 200. Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the server 300. Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the employee terminal 500.

[0023] As shown in Figure 2, the store terminal 200 of this embodiment has the following functional configuration: a payment amount acquisition unit 21, a card information acquisition unit 22, a payment-related information transmission unit 23, a decision result acquisition unit 24, a payment processing unit 25, and a message display unit 26. The store terminal 200 also has a store information storage unit 20 as a storage medium.

[0024] The functional blocks 21-26 of the store terminal 200 can be configured using hardware, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or software. For example, the functional blocks 21-26 are realized by the operation of programs stored in storage media such as RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory, controlled by a microcomputer configured with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc.

[0025] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, the server 300 of this embodiment has the following functional configuration: a charge information acquisition unit 31, a point granting unit 32, an electronic wallet information management unit 33, a payment-related information acquisition unit 34, a usage determination unit 35, a consumption ratio determination unit 36, a determination result notification unit 37, a usage notification unit 38, and a usage change instruction acquisition unit 39. The server 300 also has an electronic wallet information storage unit 30A and a welfare information storage unit 30B as storage media.

[0026] The functional blocks 31-39 of server 300 can also be configured using hardware, a DSP, or software. For example, the functional blocks 31-39 are realized by the operation of programs stored in storage media such as RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory, controlled by a microcomputer configured with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. In particular, the functional blocks 31-39 of server 300 are realized by the operation of a welfare processing program.

[0027] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 4, the employee terminal 500 of this embodiment includes, as a functional configuration, a usage information acquisition unit 51, a usage display unit 52, and a usage change instruction unit 53. These functional blocks 51 to 53 can also be configured using hardware, a DSP, or software. For example, the above functional blocks 51 to 53 are realized by the operation of programs stored in a storage medium such as RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory, controlled by a microcomputer configured with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc.

[0028] In the configuration of the store terminal 200 shown in Figure 2, the store information storage unit 20 stores store information about the store that provides the service. The store information includes information such as the store name, store ID, and industry code. The industry code is a code assigned to various industries such as restaurants, accommodations, medical facilities, and sports gyms. As will be described later, the store name and store ID are used to determine whether the service used by the employee falls under the category of a service recognized by the company as an employee benefit, and to determine which of the multiple uses of employee benefits the points to be used for. The industry code is used when calculating the amount that the company will bear as an employee benefit expense for the settlement amount that the employee should pay to the store when using the store's services.

[0029] The settlement amount acquisition unit 21 acquires information on the settlement amount that an employee should pay to the store when using the store's services. For example, the settlement amount acquisition unit 21 acquires settlement amount information from a POS (Point of Sale) terminal (not shown) connected to the store terminal 200. If the store terminal 200 has a POS function, the settlement amount acquisition unit 21 acquires information on the settlement amount calculated using that POS function.

[0030] The card information acquisition unit 22 acquires the card identification information recorded on the prepaid card 100. The card identification information is identification information assigned to the prepaid card 100 held by the employee, and is information that can uniquely identify the employee. As card identification information, for example, a contract number issued by a credit card company can be used. For example, the card information acquisition unit 22 acquires the card identification information read from the prepaid card 100 by a reader / writer (not shown) connected to the store terminal 200. If the store terminal 200 has a card reading function, the card information acquisition unit 22 acquires the card identification information read using that card reading function.

[0031] The payment-related information transmission unit 23 transmits payment-related information to the server 300, including the payment amount obtained by the payment amount acquisition unit 21, the card identification information obtained by the card information acquisition unit 22, and the store information stored in the store information storage unit 20. As will be described in detail later with reference to Figure 3, the server 300 determines the purpose for which the points will be used based on the payment-related information, calculates the employee's share and the company's share of the payment amount, determines the consumption ratio of electronic money and points to be consumed from the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100, and notifies the store terminal 200 of these determination results (purpose and consumption ratio).

[0032] The decision result acquisition unit 24 acquires information from the server 300 regarding the purpose for which the points will be used and the ratio of electronic money to points used. If payment cannot be made with the remaining balance of electronic money and points stored in the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100, a predetermined message regarding the inability to pay is notified from the server 300 as information of the decision result, and this is acquired by the decision result acquisition unit 24. The predetermined message is, for example, an error message informing that payment cannot be made. Alternatively, it may be a message prompting the employee to add funds.

[0033] The payment processing unit 25, based on the decision result information obtained by the decision result acquisition unit 24, uses the points for the purpose indicated by the decision result information and the electronic money stored in the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100, according to the consumption ratio indicated by the decision result information. In other words, the payment processing unit 25 uses the points for the purpose indicated by the decision result information obtained by the decision result acquisition unit 24 to consume electronic money and points from the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100 attached to the reader / writer, according to the consumption ratio indicated by the decision result information.

[0034] The message display unit 26 displays a predetermined message regarding the inability to make a payment on the display of the store terminal 200 when the decision result acquisition unit 24 acquires this message. In this example, a predetermined message is displayed when payment cannot be made, but even when payment is possible, a message indicating the intended use of the points and the ratio of electronic money to points used may also be displayed on the display.

[0035] In the server 300 configuration shown in Figure 3, the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A stores information related to each employee's electronic wallet, including the balance of electronic money and points for each purpose stored in the electronic wallet of each employee's prepaid card 100.

[0036] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of electronic wallet information stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A. As shown in Figure 5, the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A stores information for each employee, including the electronic wallet ID, the employee's user ID, the company ID of the company to which the employee belongs, card identification information, point balances for each use, charge balances, tax-free balances for meal use, total monthly point usage, total monthly charge usage, and total monthly tax amount.

[0037] The employee benefits information storage unit 30B stores employee benefits information that is used as reference information when deciding which of several uses of points to use when making a payment to a store, and when deciding the ratio of electronic money to points used for the payment amount.

[0038] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of employee benefits information stored in the employee benefits information storage unit 30B. As shown in Figure 6(a), the employee benefits information storage unit 30B stores information such as the employee benefit ID, company ID, store name, store ID, and industry code of one or more stores (credit card merchants) that the company recognizes as service providers for employee benefits. In addition, the employee benefits information storage unit 30B stores one or more employee benefit uses that are available for services provided by each store, associated with each of the one or more store IDs (which may also be store names).

[0039] While this example shows one or more uses associated with a single store ID, the system is not limited to this format. For example, as shown in Figure 6(b), a company could associate one use with one or more stores that it is authorized to provide services for that use. In short, the association between stores and uses should be structured in a way that identifies one or more stores where employees can use services for each of the multiple uses.

[0040] The charge information acquisition unit 31 acquires charge information indicating the amount of electronic money charged to the prepaid card 100. For example, when the prepaid card 100 is charged by credit card payment, the charge information acquisition unit 31 acquires charge information from a server (not shown) operated by the credit card company. The charge information acquisition unit 31 notifies the electronic wallet information management unit 33 of the acquired charge information.

[0041] The point awarding unit 32 executes the process of awarding points to employees. For example, the point awarding unit 32 has pre-stored points for each purpose that the company has designated to be awarded to employees as monthly welfare expenses, and periodically notifies the electronic wallet information management unit 33 and the company terminal 400 of the points for each purpose each month. If an upper limit is set for the electronic money and points for each purpose stored in the electronic wallet, the point awarding unit 32 checks the point balance and charge balance stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A, and executes the point awarding process if it does not exceed the upper limit. The point awarding unit 32 may also use employee attribute information to award different points according to the employee's attributes. It is also possible to award points only to employees with specific attributes.

[0042] The electronic wallet information management unit 33 manages the electronic wallet information (electronic wallet information shown in Figure 5) of the prepaid card 100 stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A. Specifically, the electronic wallet information management unit 33 adds the charge balance or point balance of the electronic wallet information based on the charge information notified by the charge information acquisition unit 31 and the point information notified by the point granting unit 32.

[0043] Furthermore, the electronic wallet information management unit 33 subtracts the applicable points balance, charge balance, and tax-exempt balance for meal use from the electronic wallet information for each use, based on the use determined by the use determination unit 35 and the consumption ratio of electronic money and points determined by the consumption ratio determination unit 36, and adds the applicable total monthly points usage, total monthly charge usage, and total monthly tax amount information. In addition, the electronic wallet information management unit 33 performs a process to reset the tax-exempt balance for meal use, total monthly points usage, total monthly charge usage, and total monthly tax amount to their initial values ​​at a predetermined time each month.

[0044] The payment-related information acquisition unit 34 acquires payment-related information (including payment amount, card identification information, and store information) transmitted by the payment-related information transmission unit 23 of the store terminal 200. As described above, the store name and store ID included in the store information are determination information used to determine whether the service used by the employee falls under the category of services recognized by the company as employee benefits (i.e., whether the employee's use of the service falls within the scope of employee benefits). Furthermore, the store name and store ID are determination information used to determine which uses are available for payment at any store when an employee uses a service that is eligible for employee benefits at that store, and the payment-related information acquisition unit 34 corresponds to the determination information acquisition unit in the claims. In addition, the industry code included in the store information is information indicating the content of the service used by the employee.

[0045] The Usage Determination Unit 35 determines which of several usage categories' points to use when an employee uses a service covered by employee benefits at any of the stores and makes a payment to that store. Here, the Usage Determination Unit 35 determines whether there are multiple usage categories available for payment at that store based on the determination information (store name and store ID included in the store information) obtained by the Payment-Related Information Acquisition Unit 34. If there is only one usage category available, it determines that category to be used. If there are multiple usage categories available, it determines one of them based on a predetermined rule. For example, if there are multiple usage categories available, the Usage Determination Unit 35 determines the usage category with the largest point balance stored in the electronic wallet.

[0046] The consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​calculates the maximum amount of corporate burden that is tax-deductible as welfare expenses for the payment amount (the amount of payment that an employee should pay to the store when using various services at the store) included in the payment-related information acquired by the payment-related information acquisition unit 34, and determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points for the payment amount, such that the maximum corporate burden is consumed in points and the difference between the payment amount and the maximum corporate burden (employee burden) is consumed in electronic money. The points consumed here are the points for the purpose determined by the use determination unit 35.

[0047] At this time, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​refers to the electronic wallet information stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A and outputs a predetermined message regarding inability to pay if the total amount of electronic money and points stored in the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100 (total amount of charge balance and point balance) is lower than the payment amount, and if the amount of electronic money stored in the electronic wallet (charge balance) is lower than the difference between the payment amount and the maximum amount borne by the company.

[0048] Furthermore, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​determines whether the employee's use of the service falls within the scope of employee benefits, based on the determination information (store name and store ID) included in the payment-related information acquired by the payment-related information acquisition unit 34. If it does not fall within the scope of employee benefits, the unit determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points for the payment amount, setting the point consumption amount to zero and consuming the payment amount with electronic money, without calculating the maximum amount borne by the company.

[0049] Specifically, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​obtains a company ID by referring to the electronic wallet information stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A based on the card identification information included in the payment-related information obtained by the payment-related information acquisition unit 34. Then, based on the obtained company ID, it obtains the store name and store ID of the store that the company recognizes as a use for employee benefits by referring to the employee benefits information stored in the employee benefits information storage unit 30B.

[0050] The consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​compares the store name and store ID obtained in this manner with the store name and store ID included in the payment-related information obtained by the payment-related information acquisition unit 34. If the two match, it determines that the employee's use of the service falls within the scope of employee benefits. If it determines that the use does not fall within the scope of employee benefits, it determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points relative to the payment amount, setting the point consumption amount to zero and the payment amount to be consumed using electronic money.

[0051] On the other hand, if the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​determines that the transaction falls within the scope of employee benefits, it determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points relative to the payment amount, such that the maximum amount of corporate contribution recognized under tax law as employee benefit expenses is consumed in points, and the difference between the payment amount and the maximum corporate contribution is consumed in electronic money. At this time, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​calculates the maximum corporate contribution amount according to the industry code included in the payment-related information acquired by the payment-related information acquisition unit 34.

[0052] For example, if the business code indicates that it is a meal subsidy, that is, if the business code is the code for "restaurant," the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​determines whether the timing at which the payment-related information acquisition unit 34 acquired the payment-related information (the timing at which an employee's request for payment related to the use of the service was made to the store terminal 200) falls within the company's working hours. If it does not fall within working hours, the unit determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points for the payment amount, setting the point consumption amount to zero and ensuring that the payment amount is consumed using electronic money, without calculating the maximum amount borne by the company.

[0053] Furthermore, if the industry code is "restaurant," the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points relative to the payment amount, taking into account the remaining tax-free allowance for meal use stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A. Specifically, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​calculates the maximum amount of corporate burden that does not exceed the remaining tax-free allowance for meal use and is no more than half of the payment amount, and determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points relative to the payment amount so that this maximum corporate burden amount is consumed with points and the difference between the payment amount and the maximum corporate burden amount is consumed with electronic money.

[0054] On the other hand, if the industry code is not the code for "restaurants," the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​calculates the maximum amount borne by the company (basically half of the payment amount) without considering the timing of payment or the remaining tax-free allowance for meal use, and determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points relative to the payment amount so that this maximum amount borne by the company is consumed in points, and the difference between the payment amount and the maximum amount borne by the company is consumed in electronic money.

[0055] The decision result notification unit 37 notifies the store terminal 200 of the information determined by the usage determination unit 35 and the consumption ratio determination unit 36. This information regarding the determined content includes information indicating the usage of the points to be consumed and information indicating the consumption ratio of electronic money and points to the payment amount, as well as a predetermined message (a message informing that payment is not possible) regarding the fact that payment cannot be made with the remaining balance of electronic money and points stored in the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100.

[0056] The Usage Notification Unit 38 notifies the employee terminal 500 of the purpose of the welfare benefit determined by the Usage Determination Unit 35. The Usage Information Acquisition Unit 51 of the employee terminal 500, shown in Figure 4, acquires the usage information transmitted by the Usage Notification Unit 38. The Usage Display Unit 52 displays the usage notified by the Usage Notification Unit 38 on the screen of the employee terminal 500 based on the usage information acquired by the Usage Information Acquisition Unit 51, prompting the employee to approve it. Note that if the Decision Result Notification Unit 37 notifies the store terminal 200 of a message indicating that payment is not possible, the notification of the usage by the Usage Notification Unit 38 may be omitted.

[0057] At this point, when the employee informs the store clerk that they approve the use of the payment displayed on the employee terminal 500, the clerk instructs the store terminal 200 to execute the payment processing. In response, the payment processing unit 25 performs the payment processing described above using the points for the use approved by the employee (i.e., the use determined by the use determination unit 35 of the server 300).

[0058] If an employee does not want to approve the purpose displayed on the employee terminal 500, they can instruct the server 300 to change the purpose. Specifically, the purpose change instruction unit 53 instructs the server 300 to change the purpose used for payment at the store to a different purpose from the purpose notified by the purpose notification unit 38, in response to an operation performed by the employee on the employee terminal 500.

[0059] As shown in Figure 3, the server 300's usage change instruction acquisition unit 39 acquires information on usage change instructions transmitted from the employee terminal 500. In response, the usage determination unit 35 decides to change the initially determined usage to a different usage. At this time, the usage determination unit 35 determines whether it is possible to spend points for the different usage and notifies the employee terminal 500 of the determination result through the usage notification unit 38.

[0060] In other words, the usage determination unit 35 determines whether there are any other uses available for payment at the store besides the initially determined use, and generates a predetermined message indicating that the use cannot be changed if there are no other available uses, and outputs it to the usage notification unit 38. The usage notification unit 38 notifies the employee terminal 500 of this message. This applies when there is only one use available for payment at the store.

[0061] Furthermore, if the usage determination unit 35 determines that there is another usage that can be used for payment at the store (if there are multiple usages that can be used for payment at the store), it queries the consumption rate determination unit 36 ​​to determine whether payment is possible using the point balance of that other usage. If payment is not possible, it generates a predetermined message indicating that the usage cannot be changed and outputs it to the usage notification unit 38. The usage notification unit 38 notifies the employee terminal 500 of this message.

[0062] The usage determination unit 35 determines that if there is another available usage and payment is possible with the point balance for that other usage, it decides to change to that other usage and notifies the employee terminal 500 of the determined other usage. The decision result notification unit 37 also notifies the store terminal 200 of the other usage determined by the usage determination unit 35 and the consumption rate recalculated by the consumption rate determination unit 36, assuming that the points for that other usage will be consumed.

[0063] When an employee confirms the alternative use displayed by the Use Display Unit 52 and informs the store clerk that they approve it, the Payment Processing Unit 25 processes the payment using the points for the approved use (i.e., the use for which the change of use instruction unit 53 instructed to be changed). In other words, the Payment Processing Unit 25 uses the points for the alternative use indicated by the decision result information obtained by the Decision Result Acquisition Unit 24 to execute a process to consume electronic money and points from the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100 according to the recalculated consumption ratio.

[0064] Furthermore, when the usage determination unit 35 notifies the employee terminal 500 of the usage initially determined (a usage determined based on predetermined rules from among multiple available usages), it may also pre-determine whether payment is possible using a different usage, and if there is another usage that is possible, notify the employee terminal 500 of that usage as well. In this case, the usage display unit 52 displays the usage determined by the usage determination unit 35, as well as any other usages that can be changed, on the screen of the employee terminal 500. The employee can, if they wish, instruct the display unit 52 to change to one of the other usages displayed.

[0065] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the server 300 according to this embodiment, configured as described above. In Figure 7, the operation of the charge information acquisition unit 31, the point granting unit 32, and the electronic wallet information management unit 33 is omitted.

[0066] First, when the payment-related information acquisition unit 34 acquires payment-related information transmitted from the store terminal 200 (step S1), the usage determination unit 35 refers to the welfare information stored in the welfare information storage unit 30B and decides which of the multiple usages to use for points to be consumed for payment made at the store (step S2). As described above, the usage determination unit 35 determines whether there are multiple usages available for payment at the store, and if there is only one usage, it decides on that usage, and if there are multiple usages, it decides on the usage with the largest point balance stored in the electronic wallet.

[0067] Next, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​refers to the electronic wallet information stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A and determines whether the sum of the charge balance of the electronic money stored in the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100 and the point balance (the balance of points for the purpose determined by the usage determination unit 35) is equal to or greater than the payment amount (step S3).

[0068] If it is determined that the sum of the charge balance and the point balance is less than the payment amount, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​generates a predetermined message regarding the inability to pay and outputs it to the determination result notification unit 37 (step S4). On the other hand, if it is determined that the sum of the charge balance and the point balance is equal to or greater than the payment amount, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​determines whether the employee's use of the service falls within the scope of employee benefits, based on the store name and store ID included in the payment-related information (step S5).

[0069] If it is determined that the employee's use of the service does not fall within the scope of employee benefits, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​refers to the electronic wallet information stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A to determine whether the charge balance of the electronic money stored in the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100 is equal to or greater than the payment amount (step S6). If it is determined that the charge balance is less than the payment amount, the process proceeds to step S4.

[0070] On the other hand, if it is determined that the charge balance is equal to or greater than the payment amount, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points relative to the payment amount, so that the amount of points consumed is zero and the payment amount is consumed using electronic money, and outputs the determined content to the determination result notification unit 37 (step S7).

[0071] In step S5 above, if it is determined that the employee's use of the service falls within the scope of employee benefits, the consumption rate determination unit 36 ​​refers to the electronic wallet information stored in the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A and determines whether payment of the settlement amount is possible using the balance of the electronic money stored in the electronic wallet of the prepaid card 100 and the point balance for the determined use (step S8).

[0072] If it is determined that payment is not possible, the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if it is determined that payment is possible, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​calculates the maximum amount of corporate contribution that is tax-deductible as welfare expenses for the settlement amount, according to the industry code. It then determines the consumption ratio of electronic money to points for the settlement amount, such that the maximum corporate contribution amount is consumed in points and the difference between the settlement amount and the maximum corporate contribution amount is consumed in electronic money, and outputs the determined information to the determination result notification unit 37 (step S9).

[0073] In step S4, step S7, or step S9, if a message indicating that payment is not possible is generated, or if the consumption ratio of electronic money to points relative to the payment amount is determined, the determination result notification unit 37 notifies the store terminal 200 of the information determined by the usage determination unit 35 and the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​(step S10). In addition, the usage notification unit 38 notifies the employee terminal 500 of the use of the welfare benefit determined by the usage determination unit 35 in step S2 (step S11).

[0074] Subsequently, the usage change instruction acquisition unit 39 determines whether or not it has received a usage change instruction from the employee terminal 500 (step S12). If the usage change instruction acquisition unit 39 has not received a usage change instruction, the process shown in the flowchart in Figure 7 ends. On the other hand, if the usage change instruction acquisition unit 39 has received a usage change instruction, the usage determination unit 35 queries the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​and determines whether or not payment can be made for a different purpose (step S13).

[0075] If the usage determination unit 35 determines that payment is not possible for another purpose, the usage notification unit 38 notifies the employee terminal 500 of a predetermined message indicating that the usage cannot be changed (step S14). This completes the process shown in the flowchart in Figure 7.

[0076] On the other hand, if the usage determination unit 35 determines that payment can be made for a different purpose, the usage determination unit 35 decides to change the purpose used for payment at the store to a different purpose and outputs the determined alternative purpose to the determination result notification unit 37 (step S15). The consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​then uses the points for the changed purpose to determine the consumption ratio of electronic money to points relative to the payment amount, so that the maximum amount of corporate burden allowed under tax law as welfare expenses according to the industry code is consumed in points, and the difference between the payment amount and the maximum corporate burden amount is consumed in electronic money, and outputs the determined details to the determination result notification unit 37 (step S16).

[0077] In response, the decision result notification unit 37 notifies the store terminal 200 of the information determined by the usage determination unit 35 and the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​(step S17). The usage notification unit 38 also notifies the employee terminal 500 of another use for the welfare benefit that was re-determined by the usage determination unit 35 in step S15 (step S18). This completes the processing shown in the flowchart in Figure 7.

[0078] As explained in detail above, in the employee benefits processing system of this embodiment, points provided by the company for employee benefits are stored as an electronic wallet on an electronic wallet storage medium for each of the multiple purposes related to the company's employee benefits. When an employee uses a service that is eligible for employee benefits at any store, the server 300 determines, based on predetermined rules, which of the multiple purposes' points to use for payment to that store, and processes the payment using the points for the determined purpose.

[0079] According to the welfare processing system of this embodiment, when the maximum amount of subsidies given by the company as points is set for each welfare benefit use, the system automatically determines which use the points to be used for. Therefore, employees can use the subsidies by appropriately selecting one of the uses without having to make a choice themselves.

[0080] In the above embodiment, an example of a predetermined rule was described as determining the use that has the largest point balance stored in the electronic wallet, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, the welfare information storage unit 30B may further store historical information on the stores and uses where points were used for each of multiple employees, and the use determination unit 35 may determine the use based on the historical information when there are multiple available uses.

[0081] For example, when deciding how to use points to be used for a particular employee's payment, the system may refer to the employee's transaction history to determine the most frequently used purpose in the past. Alternatively, if the employee's transaction history is unavailable, the system may refer to the transaction history of other employees to determine the most frequently used purpose in the past.

[0082] Furthermore, although the above embodiment describes an example in which a prepaid card 100 is used as an example of an electronic wallet storage medium, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a storage medium built into an employee terminal 500 may be used as an electronic wallet storage medium.

[0083] When the employee terminal 500 is used as an electronic wallet storage medium, the employee terminal 500 may be equipped with the functions of the server 300 shown in Figure 3 (excluding the point awarding unit 32, the usage notification unit 38, and the usage change instruction acquisition unit 39). In this case, the usage information acquisition unit 51 can be omitted. The usage change instruction unit 53 issues a usage change instruction to the usage determination unit 35 equipped in the employee terminal 500.

[0084] Furthermore, although the above embodiment describes an example in which electronic money and points are recorded on the prepaid card 100, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, electronic money and points may not be recorded on the prepaid card 100, and may be managed solely by the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A of the server 300. In this case, the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A corresponds to the electronic wallet storage medium in the claims. Alternatively, the charged electronic money may be recorded on the prepaid card 100, and the points awarded by the server 300 may be managed solely by the electronic wallet information storage unit 30A of the server 300.

[0085] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the consumption ratio determination unit 36 ​​calculated the maximum amount of corporate burden that does not exceed the remaining tax-exempt amount for meal use, thereby ensuring that points are consumed within the range of the remaining tax-exempt amount. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, even if the amount exceeds the remaining tax-exempt amount for meal use, if the employee burden amount is 1 / 2 or more of the settlement amount, the system may decide to consume points in excess of the remaining tax-exempt amount. However, in this case, taxation will occur, so information indicating the details of the taxation is provided from the server 300 to the corporate terminal 400.

[0086] Furthermore, the above embodiments are merely examples of how the present invention may be implemented, and the technical scope of the invention should not be interpreted as being limited by them. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various ways without departing from its gist or its main features. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0087] 25 Payment Processing 34. Payment-related information acquisition unit (determination information acquisition unit) 35 Application determination section 36. Consumption ratio determination unit 37 Decision result notification department 38 Usage notification section 39 Unit for obtaining instructions for change of use 100 Prepaid Cards (Electronic Wallet Storage Devices) 200 store terminals 300 Servers (Information Processing Devices) 400 enterprise terminals 500 employee terminals

Claims

1. A welfare information storage unit stores welfare information that associates identification information of stores where services covered by welfare benefits can be used with one or more welfare benefit uses available for the services provided by those stores. A payment-related information acquisition unit acquires payment-related information, including the identification information of the store, information indicating the content of the service used by the employee, and the amount of payment made to the store, when an employee of a company uses a service covered by the above-mentioned employee benefits at a store. In the above-mentioned employee benefits information, a usage determination unit determines which of the above-mentioned usage points to use when an employee makes a payment to the above-mentioned store using an electronic wallet storage medium that stores points provided by the company for employee benefits for each of the above-mentioned usages as an electronic wallet, by referring to the usage of the employee benefits associated with the above-mentioned identification information included in the above-mentioned payment-related information. A consumption ratio determination unit calculates the amount borne by the company from the payment amount included in the above payment-related information, in accordance with the information indicating the content of the above service, An electronic wallet information management unit that manages the balance of points stored in the electronic wallet storage medium, and which subtracts the balance of points corresponding to the use determined by the use determination unit based on the amount borne by the company. An information processing device equipped with the following features.

2. The above-mentioned usage determination unit, in the above-mentioned welfare information, refers to the welfare benefit usage associated with the above-mentioned identification information included in the above-mentioned payment-related information to determine whether there are multiple usages that can be used for payment at the above-mentioned store. If there is only one usage that can be used, it is determined to be that usage. If there are multiple usages that can be used, it is determined to be the usage that has the largest point balance stored in the above-mentioned electronic wallet storage medium. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The above-mentioned employee benefits information storage unit further stores historical information on the stores and uses of the above-mentioned points for each of multiple employees. The above-mentioned usage determination unit refers to the usage of welfare benefits associated with the identification information included in the above-mentioned payment-related information in the above-mentioned welfare benefits information, and determines whether there are multiple usages that can be used for payment at the above-mentioned store. If there is only one usage that can be used, it determines that usage; if there are multiple usages that can be used, it determines the usage based on the above-mentioned history information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The system further includes a usage notification unit that notifies the employee of the usage determined by the usage determination unit. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The system further includes a unit for acquiring usage change instructions to obtain usage change instructions from the above-mentioned employee to change the intended use of the store for payment purposes to a different use from the usage notification unit, among the uses available for payment purposes at the above-mentioned store. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4.

6. The system further includes a point awarding unit that performs the process of awarding points to the above-mentioned employees, The above-mentioned point awarding unit awards different points depending on the attributes of the employee. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

7. The welfare information storage unit stores welfare information that associates the identification information of stores where services covered by welfare benefits can be used with the use of one or more welfare benefits available through the services provided by those stores. When an employee of a company uses a service covered by the above-mentioned employee benefits at a store, the company acquires payment-related information including the identification information of the store, information indicating the content of the service used by the employee, and the amount paid to the store. In the above-mentioned employee benefits information, by referring to the use of the employee benefits associated with the above-mentioned identification information included in the above-mentioned payment-related information, when an employee makes a payment to the above-mentioned store using an electronic wallet storage medium that stores points provided by the company for employee benefits for each of the multiple uses, it is determined which of the multiple uses' points to use will be consumed. Based on the information indicating the details of the above services, calculate the amount borne by the company from the payment amount included in the above payment-related information. The system manages the balance of points stored in the electronic wallet storage medium mentioned above, and deducts the balance of points corresponding to the determined use based on the amount borne by the company mentioned above. A program that instructs a computer to perform a process.

8. The welfare information storage unit stores welfare information that associates the identification information of stores where services covered by welfare benefits can be used with the use of one or more welfare benefits available through the services provided by those stores. When an employee of a company uses a service covered by the above-mentioned employee benefits at a store, the company acquires payment-related information including the identification information of the store, information indicating the content of the service used by the employee, and the amount paid to the store. In the above-mentioned employee benefits information, by referring to the use of the employee benefits associated with the above-mentioned identification information included in the above-mentioned payment-related information, when an employee makes a payment to the above-mentioned store using an electronic wallet storage medium that stores points provided by the company for employee benefits for each of the multiple uses, it is determined which of the multiple uses' points to use will be consumed. Based on the information indicating the details of the above services, calculate the amount borne by the company from the payment amount included in the above payment-related information. The system manages the balance of points stored in the electronic wallet storage medium mentioned above, and deducts the balance of points corresponding to the determined use based on the amount borne by the company mentioned above. An information processing method in which a computer performs the processing.

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