Method and system for providing digital currency used for viewing content

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for providing digital currency used for viewing content. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a method for providing digital currency for making a payment related to digital currency used for viewing content, and may include the steps of: monitoring, in relation to a user account, the occurrence of a payment event related to a preset payment condition for purchasing the digital currency; if the payment event occurs in the user account as a result of the monitoring, initiating an electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency for the user account; and, if the purchase of the digital currency is completed by the electronic payment process, providing the purchased digital currency to the user account.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and system for providing digital currency used for viewing content. [Background technology]

[0002] With the development of technology, the use of digital devices is increasing. In particular, electronic devices (e.g., smartphones, tablet PCs, etc.) are equipped with a variety of functions, such as surfing the Internet, listening to music, and watching video content, in addition to communication functions such as calling and emailing.

[0003] With the popularization of electronic devices, the content industry has grown remarkably. Content refers to various information and its contents provided via the Internet and computer communications, and the types are extremely diverse. For example, content includes webtoons, web novels, music, e-books, articles, videos, TV program footage, images, etc.

[0004] A representative example of content that is actively consumed is webtoons, which are comics that are serialized and distributed via the Internet and are a combination of the words web and cartoon.

[0005] As the consumption of webtoons steadily increases, various businesses (or webtoon-related service providers) are developing various services to arouse interest in and encourage more consumers to consume their webtoons. As one example, various businesses (or webtoon-related service providers) are providing consumers with the equivalent of a book divided into multiple episodes, encouraging continuous consumption of the episodes.

[0006] As another example, Patent Document 1 (Method and system for providing webtoons with animation effects applied to a user terminal) proposes a method for providing webtoons with animation effects applied to consumers to help them understand webtoons.

[0007] Thus, various researches are being conducted to stimulate consumer consumption and interest in content. Thus, there is still a need to increase consumers' purchase intentions to content, attract more consumers, and maintain continuous consumption of content. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2015-0085195 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] The present invention relates to a method and system for providing digital currency used for browsing content, which allows content consumption to be sustained.

[0010] More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and system for providing digital currency used for browsing content, which provides a new payment method of digital currency that enables the consumption of content to be sustained.

[0011] The present invention also relates to a method and system for providing digital currency used for viewing content that provides a new type of reward in digital currency, which allows digital currency payments to be made continuously.

[0012] Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method and system for providing digital currency for viewing content, which allows users to consume the content more economically. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] In order to solve the above problem, the method of providing digital currency used for viewing content according to the present invention is a digital currency providing method for making a payment related to the digital currency used for viewing content, and includes a step of monitoring the occurrence of a payment event related to a preset payment condition for purchasing the digital currency in relation to a user account, a step of initiating an electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency for the user account when the payment event occurs in the user account as a result of the monitoring, and a step of providing the purchased digital currency to the user account when the purchase of the digital currency is completed by the electronic payment process, and the amount of the digital currency provided to the user account may vary depending on the number of times the electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency is completed in the user account.

[0014] Meanwhile, the present invention relates to a system for providing digital currency used for viewing content, the system including: a storage unit for storing user information related to a user account; and a control unit for monitoring the occurrence of a payment event related to a preset payment condition for purchasing the digital currency in relation to the user account, wherein the control unit, when the payment event occurs in the user account as a result of the monitoring, initiates an electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency for the user account based on the user information; and when the purchase of the digital currency is completed through the electronic payment process, provides the purchased digital currency to the user account, and the amount of the digital currency provided to the user account may vary depending on the number of times the electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency is completed in the user account.

[0015] In addition, a program that can be stored on a computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention is a program that can be executed by one or more processes in an electronic device and can be stored on a computer-readable recording medium, the program including the steps of: monitoring the occurrence of a payment event associated with preset payment conditions for purchasing the digital currency in relation to a user account; if the payment event occurs in the user account as a result of the monitoring, initiating an electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency for the user account; and if the purchase of the digital currency is completed by the electronic payment process, paying the purchased digital currency to the user account, wherein the amount of the digital currency paid to the user account may vary depending on the number of times the electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency is completed in the user account. Effect of the Invention

[0016] As described above, the digital currency payment method and system according to the present invention may allow digital currency payment to be continuously performed by initiating payment for purchasing digital currency every time a payment event related to digital currency payment occurs. Thus, digital currency used for viewing content is continuously purchased, and content is continuously consumed.

[0017] In addition, according to the above payment method, users have the convenience of not having to make an electronic payment to purchase digital currency each time they view content, and can freely use content using the digital currency they have at any time.

[0018] That is, the digital currency payment method and system according to the present invention can provide convenience to users by automatically starting an electronic payment process based on the occurrence of a payment event related to a payment condition, thereby eliminating the need for users to make separate electronic payments. Also, from the perspective of a content provider, the digital currency payment method used for content browsing, which allows content browsing to be continued, can effectively induce content consumption by consumers, and ensure continuous content consumption by consumers, thereby preventing consumer churn.

[0019] Furthermore, in the present invention, by providing a user account with a different amount of digital currency depending on the number of times the electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency is completed, the user can receive rewards for purchasing digital currency, enabling economical content consumption. From the viewpoint of the content provider, this is useful for member management as it can prevent users from canceling automatic payment midway. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a digital currency payment method and system according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a user environment in which content is provided in the electronic digital currency providing method and system for content usage according to the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a digital currency payment method according to the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a first payment type among multiple payment types in the electronic digital currency providing method and system for content usage according to the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a second payment type among multiple payment types in the electronic digital currency providing method and system for content usage according to the present invention. [Figure 6]FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a digital currency payment method according to the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a digital currency payment method according to the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining matching information according to the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the reward digital currency in the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the reward digital currency in the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the reward digital currency in the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the payment history of a user account in the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the payment history of a user account in the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the validity period of digital currency in the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining history information in the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining history information in the present invention. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining history information in the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining history information in the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Hereinafter, the embodiments disclosed in this specification will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The same or similar components are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals regardless of the drawing numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted. The suffixes "module" and "part" of components used in the following description are given or mixed to facilitate the preparation of the specification, and do not have any significance or usefulness in themselves. In addition, when describing the embodiments disclosed in this specification, if it is determined that a specific description of related publicly known technology may obscure the gist of the embodiments disclosed in this specification, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Note that the attached drawings are merely for the purpose of making the embodiments disclosed in this specification easily understandable, and the technical ideas disclosed in this specification are not limited by the attached drawings, and it should be understood that any modifications, equivalents, or alternatives included in the idea and technical scope of the present invention are included in the present invention.

[0022] Terms including ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, but the components are not limited to the terms. The terms are used only to distinguish one component from another.

[0023] When a component is referred to as being "coupled" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that the component may be directly coupled or connected to the other component, and that there may be additional components in between. In contrast, when a component is referred to as being "directly coupled" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there are no additional components in between.

[0024] Singular expressions include plural expressions unless otherwise specified.

[0025] As used herein, terms such as "comprise" and "have" are intended to specify the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof set forth in the specification, but should not be understood to preclude the presence or additional possibility of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

[0026] The present invention relates to a method and system for providing digital currency used for browsing content, and provides an environment in which content can be consumed sustainably by providing digital currency.

[0027] The digital currency dispensing system described in the present invention is a system that includes or is connected to a content providing system, and digital currency purchased by the digital currency dispensing system is used to view content provided by the content providing system.

[0028] In the present invention, the term "digital currency payment system" is used to describe the method of purchasing digital currency, but the electronic payment function provided by the digital currency payment system may be one function provided by the "content provision system." In that case, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the "digital currency payment system" can also be called a "content provision system."

[0029] The digital currency dispensing system may also be referred to as an “electronic payment system.” The digital currency dispensing system dispenses digital currency to a user account based on electronic payment for the purchase of digital currency and completion of the electronic payment.

[0030] In addition, the term "content" as used herein refers to various information and its contents provided via the Internet or computer communication. The types of content applicable to the present invention are very diverse. For example, at least one of the following contents may be provided by the present invention: webtoons, web novels, music, e-books, articles, videos, TV program videos, images, etc.

[0031] For the sake of convenience, the following description will be given taking webtoons as an example. Here, webtoons is a compound word of web and cartoon, and refers to cartoons or comics provided via the Internet.

[0032] Such content corresponding to webtoons (hereinafter, referred to as "webtoon content") is provided on the electronic device 200 by the method and system for providing electronic digital currency for content usage according to the present invention. Thus, a user can use the webtoon content provided by the electronic method and system for content usage according to the present invention through the electronic device 200.

[0033] In the present invention, a webtoon content may be composed of a plurality of sub-contents. Such a plurality of sub-contents constitutes a webtoon content series. Here, a series refers to a continuous project or content.

[0034] In the present invention, in order to avoid confusion between the terms webtoon content and subcontent, the "subcontent" is referred to as an "episode."

[0035] In the present invention, both such sub-contents and episodes are terms for conceptual classification, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that they fall under the category of "contents".

[0036] Meanwhile, in the above case, the webtoon content is composed of a plurality of episodes, and the plurality of episodes may all have the same product type, or at least some of the episodes may have different product types.

[0037] Here, the product type of an episode is either a "free product type" or a "paid product type".

[0038] An "episode having a free product type" means an episode that is immediately available to a user without paying digital currency, coupons, viewing tickets (or usage rights), etc., in order to view (or use) the episode.

[0039] In contrast, an "episode having a paid product type" means an episode that can be used only if a user pays digital currency, a coupon, a viewing ticket (or a usage right), etc. in order to view (or use) the episode.

[0040] In other words, the content provided in the present invention is composed of at least one episode, and each of the at least one episode may have either a paid product type that can be viewed by paying the digital currency, or a free product type that can be viewed without paying the digital currency.

[0041] Here, the product type of a particular episode among the at least one episode having the paid product type may be switched to a free product type based on the passage of a preset time, in which case the particular episode switched to the free product type can be viewed without paying digital currency.

[0042] Here, the preset time can be set in various ways, and the count of whether the preset time has elapsed may be performed from the date or time when the paid product type content is uploaded. For example, a specific episode of the paid product type may be switched to a free product type content three days after the specific episode is uploaded on the content providing service.

[0043] On the other hand, in the digital currency payment system according to the present invention, a digital currency payment method used for viewing an episode having a paid product type is to receive a request from a user to view an episode having a paid product type, deduct the digital currency held in the user's account, and provide the episode having the paid product type to the user's electronic device.

[0044] Meanwhile, the electronic device 200 refers to the electronic device 200 used by a user, and there is no particular limitation on the type of electronic device 200 as long as it is capable of outputting webtoon content provided by the content providing system according to the present invention.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device 200 is not limited in type, and examples of the electronic device include a mobile phone, a smart phone, a notebook computer, a laptop computer, a slate PC, a tablet PC, an ultrabook, a desktop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), a navigation system, and a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch, a smart glass, and a head mounted display (HMD)).

[0046] In the present invention, "digital currency" refers to currency that is used in a digital form (either stored in a computer or used on a network) and is also called "cyber money." Such digital currency refers to currency whose monetary value is stored in an electronic form.

[0047] The digital currency is stored in electronic form on the digital currency payment system 100 according to the present invention or a server associated therewith.

[0048] Such digital currency is stored in association with a user account. That is, the amount of digital currency that exists in association with the user account corresponds to the amount purchased by the user.

[0049] Such digital currencies are utilized in economic consumption activities, and examples of digital currencies include social currencies, internet coupons, mobile coupons, and game money.

[0050] On the other hand, digital currency can be used in different places depending on the business that issued it.

[0051] For example, digital currency issued by Company A can only be used on the service platform provided by Company A (e.g., a webtoon service or shopping mall operated by Company A). In addition, if Company A operates multiple service platforms, the digital currency issued by Company A can be used commonly across multiple service platforms according to Company A's policy.

[0052] For example, the digital currency issued by Company A can be used across multiple different service platforms, such as a webtoon service platform, a video distribution platform, and an OTT service platform.

[0053] In addition, such digital currency can be used commonly across the service platforms of different operators through collaboration between the different operators.

[0054] Digital currency is called by various terms, and the terms are determined by the business operator. For example, digital currency is called by any name such as beans, acorns, corn, etc. In the description and drawings of the present invention, such digital currency is called "cookies." Therefore, in the present invention, the term "cookies" is used together with the term "digital currency," and the term "cookies" will be understood as digital currency.

[0055] Digital currencies, on the other hand, can be purchased through electronics settlement (payment).

[0056] "Electronics settlement (payment)" as described in this invention means that a user (or consumer) pays for the purchase of goods or services using an electronic device 200 to which a program or function capable of trading currency having monetary value is connected or linked.

[0057] Such electronic payment is understood to include all online payments, such as card payments, points payments, and account transfers.

[0058] In the present invention, the term "product" means "digital currency." In the present invention, the term "electronic payment" is used interchangeably with "payment."

[0059] In the present invention, "purchasing digital currency" through electronic payment can also be said to mean "charging digital currency." In other words, a user can "purchase" or "charge" digital currency through electronic payment. Digital currency purchased or charged in this way exists in conjunction with a user account.

[0060] In contrast, in the present invention, digital currency has multiple attributes or types.

[0061] The attributes or types of such digital currency are distinguished according to whether the digital currency is "purchased" by electronic payment or not.

[0062] More specifically, digital currency having a first attribute (or a first type) among a plurality of attributes is digital currency purchased by electronic payment, and in the present invention, digital currency acquired by such an act of purchasing digital currency is referred to as "purchased digital currency" or "purchased digital currency." "Purchased digital currency" refers to digital currency provided to a user account in response to payment of a price by electronic payment.

[0063] Furthermore, digital currency having a second attribute (or second type) among the multiple attributes is digital currency provided to a user account separately from the act of purchasing digital currency through electronic payment, and is referred to as "bonus digital currency."

[0064] The term "bonus digital currency" refers to digital currency provided to a user account as a benefit (or compensation or reward) to a user, in addition to paying the price for purchasing digital currency through electronic payment. Such bonus digital currency may be interchangeably referred to as "additional digital currency," "reward digital currency," "compensation digital currency," etc.

[0065] In the present invention, appropriate bonus digital currency is provided to encourage continued purchases of digital currency.

[0066] In addition, the "quantity" explained in the present invention is a value indicating the amount of digital currency, and means the number of digital currencies or the amount according to the unit of digital currency if there is a unit of digital currency. In the present invention, the "quantity" is used interchangeably with "number (number)".

[0067] In the present invention, the amount of digital currency provided to a user account in response to payment of a price by electronic payment is referred to as a “purchase amount.” In the present invention, the “purchase amount” can be interchangeably referred to as a “charge amount.”

[0068] In addition, in the present invention, the amount of digital currency provided to a user account in addition to the payment of the consideration is referred to as an "additional amount." In the present invention, the "additional amount" is interchangeable with the "bonus amount," "reward amount," and "can be interchangeable with."

[0069] Meanwhile, in the present invention, there are multiple electronic payment methods (or methods) for electronic payment for purchasing digital currency. The first payment method (or the first electronic payment method) is understood as a one-time payment method, which means a payment method for purchasing digital currency only when there is a user's request for purchasing digital currency.

[0070] In the case of the first payment method, since it has a one-time payment attribute, after the electronic payment process is initiated and completed by the user, no additional electronic payment will be made until there is an additional payment request from the user.

[0071] The second payment method is also understood as an automatic payment method, which means that an electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency is initiated without a request from another user. In the case of the second payment method, if a pre-registered electronic payment means (e.g., a credit card, a bank account) is valid, the digital currency is purchased based on the initiation of an electronic payment process without a request from a user.

[0072] In the case of the second payment method, payment conditions are registered in a user account, and in the digital currency distributing system 100, an electronic payment process is executed (or started) when a payment event occurs that satisfies the payment conditions registered in the user account. Such monitoring of payment events and execution of an electronic payment process according to the payment event are performed by the digital currency distributing system 100 according to the present invention, and are performed without user intervention. Such a second payment method is called "automatic payment." "Automatic payment" means that payment for purchasing digital currency is performed under the control of the digital currency distributing system 100 with the consent of the user. In the present invention, "automatic payment" and "automatic charge" are used interchangeably.

[0073] In the present invention, the second payment method is used to induce continuous purchases of digital currency, and the following description will focus on the second payment method.

[0074] On the other hand, a user account can make multiple electronic payments, and each time an electronic payment is made, its turn is counted. For example, if after eight electronic payments have been made, another electronic payment is made, it is the ninth electronic payment.

[0075] In this way, in the present invention, when electronic payments for purchasing digital currency are made repeatedly (or multiple times) in a user account, the order of the number of payments (or the number of payments) is referred to as the "number of times." The first payment refers to the first payment made in a user account or the first payment made after a preset reference point in time.

[0076] The number of payments is counted each time a payment is made: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, .... The term "number of times" explained in this invention can be substituted with "number of times" or "order".

[0077] Meanwhile, in the digital currency payment system 100 according to the present invention, counting is performed every time an electronic payment is made. Here, counting is performed when an electronic payment is made by the second electronic payment method (automatic payment method).

[0078] Counting means to tally up, or count, the number of times a payment has been made.

[0079] Meanwhile, in the present invention, the second payment method corresponding to automatic payment includes "multiple payment types" related to the purchase of digital currency. The digital currency payment system 100 receives selection information for selecting a specific payment type from the multiple payment types from the user account.

[0080] The "multiple payment types" described in this invention mean to define when and how a payment (particularly the second payment method (automatic payment)) is made, and to define the conditions that cause a payment event related to automatic payment to occur.

[0081] In the present invention, the multiple payment types will be described as a "first payment type" and a "second payment type" by way of example, but are not limited to these. More specific details will be described later.

[0082] In the present invention, the term "specific payment type" refers to at least one of the multiple payment types. More specifically, the specific payment type refers to a payment type specified by selection information received from a user account.

[0083] In the present invention, the factors that determine when and how an electronic payment is made are called "payment conditions." "Payment conditions" are specified by the user's selection or by the business operator.

[0084] In the present invention, the term "user" refers to a subject who purchases digital currency and consumes (or purchases or reads) webtoon content. The term "user" in the present invention can be interchangeable with "consumer," "user account," "user's electronic device," "user electronic device 200," "subscriber," "viewer," and "public."

[0085] A user can purchase digital currency based on an "account (i.e., user account)" pre-registered in the digital currency distribution system according to the present invention, and consume (or purchase, view) content using the purchased digital currency.

[0086] An "account" can be created on a page associated with the digital currency dispensing system 100. Alternatively, an "account" can be created in at least one other system associated with the digital currency dispensing system according to the present invention.

[0087] Therefore, in this specification, the system that issues the account will not be differentiated, and all accounts based on the digital currency payment system according to the present invention will be referred to as "accounts pre-registered in the digital currency payment system according to the present invention."

[0088] To facilitate understanding of the present invention, a brief description will be given of the flow of data transmission and reception in the present invention.

[0089] First, information i) transmitted from the user side to the digital currency disbursement system 100, or ii) transmitted from the digital currency disbursement system to the user side essentially means information i) transmitted from the "electronic device 200 logged in to a user account" to the digital currency disbursement system, or ii) transmitted from the digital currency disbursement system 100 to the "electronic device 200 logged in to a user account."

[0090] However, in this specification, for the sake of convenience of explanation, this will not be clearly distinguished, and information will be described in terms of the "user account" as i) "information is sent from a user account" and ii) "information is received by a user account" when information is i) sent from an "electronic device 200 logged into a user account" or ii) received by an "electronic device 200 logged into a user account."

[0091] In addition, in the present invention, the term "business operator" refers to an entity that operates the digital currency payment system 100. That is, in the present invention, the business operator is understood to have the same meaning as the digital currency payment system 100 or the content providing system according to the present invention.

[0092] Based on the above-mentioned terms, a digital currency payment method and system for purchasing digital currency used for browsing content will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the digital currency payment method and system according to the present invention.

[0093] As shown in FIG. 1, the digital currency payment system 100 includes at least one of a communication unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a control unit 130.

[0094] Here, the communication unit 110 serves to provide (or transmit) content (hereinafter, 'webtoon content' will be described as a representative example) to the electronic device 200 via wired or wireless communication.

[0095] The communication unit 110 also plays a role in transmitting and receiving various data to and from the electronic device 200 for electronic payment.

[0096] The storage unit 120 is configured to store various information related to the provision of webtoon contents and the charging of digital currency. The storage unit 120 may include at least one content server 100a (or a content DB (database)) that includes a plurality of webtoon contents.

[0097] Hereinafter, the content server and the content DB will not be distinguished from each other, but will be referred to as the content server. That is, it goes without saying that the content server described in the present invention can also be understood as the content DB.

[0098] In addition, the content server 100a storing a plurality of webtoon contents may exist as a separate component from the storage unit 120. In this case, the digital currency payment system 100 controls the content server 100a to provide the webtoon contents stored in the content server 100a to the user electronic device 200.

[0099] The storage unit 120 also stores information about users who have subscribed to a service (e.g., a webtoon providing service) provided by the digital currency payment system according to the present invention. Such information about users includes information about user accounts (e.g., ID (identification)). Users can use webtoon content by logging in to the service provided by the digital currency payment system according to the present invention using their user accounts.

[0100] Furthermore, various information associated with the user account is stored in the storage unit 120. For example, the storage unit 120 stores user history information associated with the user terminal 200.

[0101] Here, the user "history information" includes various information generated by the digital currency payment system according to the present invention, such as information on the payment method received from the user account, information on the payment type, information on the payment terms, information on payment events related to the payment, information on the digital currency purchase history, etc. In the present invention, "history information" is used interchangeably with "payment history."

[0102] Next, the control unit 130 performs a series of controls to carry out the electronic digital currency dispensing method according to the present invention.

[0103] More specifically, the control unit 130 monitors whether a payment event that satisfies a payment condition occurs in the user account. Based on the monitoring result, the control unit 130 executes an electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency for the user account. In addition, the control unit 130 counts the number of electronic payments made in the user account and controls the storage unit 120 so that the counting result is stored in the storage unit 120. Furthermore, the control unit 130 provides bonus digital currency to the user account based on the counting result. Specific contents of the present invention will be described below.

[0104] Hereinafter, based on the terminology used in the present invention and the configuration of the digital currency payment system, electronic payment for purchasing digital currency will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a user environment in which content is provided in the digital currency payment method and system according to the present invention.

[0105] As shown in Fig. 2, the digital currency payment system 100 according to the present invention provides a user environment for providing webtoon contents. Such a user environment is provided through an application installed in a user's electronic device 200 or a web page accessed by the electronic device 200. Such a user environment refers to a page including visual information provided through a display unit of the electronic device 200, and is also called a graphic user interface.

[0106] As shown in FIG. 2, such a user environment can be configured in various ways and is configured to provide content (e.g., webtoon content) to a user. For example, as shown in the figure, a page provided to an electronic device includes at least one of i) descriptions (or titles) 210 of multiple contents (e.g., multiple webtoon contents), ii) thumbnails (or indicators) 220 showing each of the webtoon contents, and iii) information 230 regarding digital currency required to view each of the contents. The screen configuration provided to the page can be modified in a wide variety of ways.

[0107] Meanwhile, the user can check the webtoon contents from a page provided on the electronic device 200, select the content he or she wants to view, and use it.

[0108] Here, if the content type of the content selected by the user is a paid product type, the control unit 130 subtracts the digital currency held in the user account and then provides the paid product type content to the user.

[0109] More specifically, when the product type of a specific content (e.g., a specific episode) selected by the user is a paid product type, the control unit 130 determines, based on the selection of an item corresponding to the specific content on the electronic device, whether or not the user account logged in to the electronic device has the usage authority (or viewing authority) necessary to view (or use) the specific content.

[0110] Here, it is understood that determining usage authority or viewing authority means determining whether a specific user account logged into an electronic device has the authority to use (or view) the specific content.

[0111] On the other hand, it is understood that "a user account has usage rights or viewing rights to paid product-type content" means that the user account has "digital currency, coupons, or viewing tickets (or usage rights) that can be used (or paid for) to use paid product-type content."

[0112] When a specific paid product type content is selected, the control unit 130 executes a payment process to i) process the payment of digital currency held in the user account, ii) process the use of a coupon, or iii) process the use (or deduction) of a viewing ticket.

[0113] Furthermore, the control unit 130 provides paid product type content to a user account that has completed payment of the fee for viewing (or using) paid product type content through such a settlement process.

[0114] In the present invention, "providing content on an electronic device" means transmitting information about the content to the electronic device so that the content is output on the electronic device.

[0115] On the other hand, when a free product type content is selected by the user, the control unit 130 provides the selected content to the electronic device 200 of the user without determining whether the user has the right to use the content.

[0116] Meanwhile, even in the case of free product type content, the control unit 130 may provide the content only to electronic devices logged in with a user account pre-registered in the digital currency payment system according to the present invention.

[0117] For example, when a request to view free product type content is received from an electronic device, the control unit 130 confirms (or checks) whether a user account is logged into the electronic device. If the control unit 130 confirms that a user account is logged into the electronic device, the control unit 130 provides the free product type content on the electronic device. On the other hand, if a user account is not logged into the electronic device, the control unit 130 executes a process to allow the user to log in.

[0118] As described in FIG. 2, in the digital currency disbursement system according to the present invention, when there is a request to view paid product type content, the paid product type content is provided to the user after payment (or deduction) of the digital currency already held in the user account.

[0119] Hereinafter, among the methods of purchasing such digital currency, a method of purchasing digital currency by an automatic payment method and providing compensation therefor will be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings, in order to induce continuous purchase of digital currency.

[0120] FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the digital currency payment method according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a first payment type among multiple payment types in the electronic digital currency payment method and system for content usage according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a second payment type among multiple payment types in the electronic digital currency payment method and system for content usage according to the present invention, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are conceptual diagrams for explaining the digital currency payment method according to the present invention, FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram for explaining matching information according to the present invention, FIG. 9 to FIG. 11 are conceptual diagrams for explaining digital currency of the reward amount in the present invention, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are conceptual diagrams for explaining the payment history of a user account in the present invention, FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the validity period of digital currency in the present invention, and FIG. 15 to FIG. 18 are conceptual diagrams for explaining history information in the present invention.

[0121] First, in the digital currency payment method according to the present invention, it is monitored whether or not a payment event that satisfies a preset payment condition occurs (S310).

[0122] For purchasing digital currency with a user account, such monitoring is performed when the second payment method (automatic payment method) described above is set. The control unit 130 monitors whether a payment event that satisfies the payment conditions for generating automatic payment has occurred for a user account in which automatic payment is registered.

[0123] Here, the preset payment conditions are payment conditions registered in (or linked to) the user account, and the control unit 130 determines whether a payment event occurs that satisfies the payment conditions linked to the user account.

[0124] In the present invention, the payment conditions are the basis for generating a payment event that starts the payment process, and as described above, different payment conditions are set (or registered) depending on the payment type.

[0125] In the present invention, the process of registering payment terms may be performed using selection information that is generated after a specific payment type is selected by a user from a plurality of payment types using an automatic payment method and input (or selection) of information regarding payment terms related to the specific payment type is completed.

[0126] In this manner, the payment terms may correspond to a number of different payment types, the different payment types being specified by selection information received from the user account.

[0127] The selection information is received through a page of a specific application (e.g., a webtoon content providing application) or a specific webpage (e.g., a webtoon content providing webpage) that works in conjunction with the digital currency payment system 100 according to the present invention.

[0128] To aid in understanding the present invention, we will first explain how payment terms are set or registered.

[0129] In order to purchase digital currency in an automatic payment manner, the control unit 130 provides a "charge guide page" that guides the user to purchase (or charge) digital currency on the user's electronic device 200. Such a charge guide page is provided only under preset conditions, and for example, the control unit 130 provides the "charge guide page" that guides the user to charge digital currency only when the user first executes a specific application or first connects to a specific web page.

[0130] On the other hand, a page for setting a payment type related to digital currency is called an "automatic payment registration page" or a "charge registration page," etc.

[0131] A user may select a particular payment type from a number of different payment types associated with the automatic payment method via a charge registration page.

[0132] When the control unit 130 receives a request to provide (or connect to or access) a “charge registration page” from the user's electronic device 200, the control unit 130 provides the “charge registration page” on the user's electronic device 200.

[0133] The control unit 130 transmits information about the charge registration page to the user's electronic device 200 so that the charge registration page is provided on the user's electronic device 200 .

[0134] A user request for provision of a charge registration page may be made through a wide variety of routes. As an example, the charge registration page may be provided based on a selection of an area of ​​the "charge guide page" output on the electronic device 200. The area may be an area in which a functional icon related to provision of the charge registration page is output.

[0135] The control unit 130 outputs information on a plurality of different payment types related to digital currency on the "charge registration page." In the present invention, such information is used to introduce a plurality of different payment types to the user, and the user is allowed to select a specific payment type that matches his / her content consumption pattern, etc.

[0136] In the present invention, different payment types are associated with different payment conditions, and the control unit 130 controls the electronic payment process to be initiated when a payment event occurs in the user account that satisfies a payment condition that matches each of the multiple payment types.

[0137] The multiple payment types will be described in more detail. The multiple payment types are related to different payment conditions. That is, the multiple payment types refer to the criteria for automatic payment on a user account.

[0138] The multiple payment types may be differentiated based on a wide variety of payment terms, including, by way of example, i) a first payment type matched to payment terms related to a quantity of digital currency, and ii) a second payment type matched to payment terms related to a reference date (e.g., a specific date, settlement date, etc.).

[0139] Among the multiple payment types, the first payment type is a payment process that is initiated in relation to the digital currency held in the user account. For example, in the case of the first payment type, the control unit 130 initiates the payment process when the amount of the digital currency held in the user account does not meet a preset reference amount.

[0140] In addition, the second payment type is one in which the payment process is started based on the base date selected in the user account. In this case, the control unit 130 starts the payment process for the user account on each base date.

[0141] Thus, in the present invention, the user is asked to select which payment type the automatic payment process will be executed with.

[0142] Such a user selection is received via a charge registration page 410, 510, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. The charge registration page 410, 510 includes a graphical object 420, 520 for receiving at least one selection from a plurality of payment types. The user can specify the desired payment type by selecting the graphical object.

[0143] When a specific payment type is selected, the control unit 130 receives information regarding the payment conditions of the specific payment type and information regarding the amount of digital currency to be purchased.

[0144] Here, the selection information includes at least one of information on payment terms and quantity information. The control unit 130 registers the payment terms corresponding to the specific payment type in the user account using the selection information received from the user account.

[0145] More specifically, the control unit 130 receives payment terms and quantity information corresponding to the payment type based on the user's selection of a specific payment type from among multiple payment types. The quantity information refers to information specifying the purchase quantity of digital currency.

[0146] As an example, based on the user's selection of the first payment type, the control unit 130 receives from the user account, as shown in FIG. 4, i) information 430 regarding the minimum amount of digital currency that is a condition (or payment condition) for initiating the payment process, and ii) information 440 regarding the amount of digital currency to be purchased through the payment process.

[0147] As shown in (a) of FIG. 4, when a graphic object 420 corresponding to a first payment type is selected and the control unit 130 receives selection information related thereto from a user account, it provides a page corresponding to a GUI (graphic user interface) on which a minimum amount (or reference amount, reference cookie) 430 of digital currency (e.g., cookies) that meets the conditions for initiating a payment process on the user's electronic device 200 and an amount 440 of digital currency (e.g., cookies) to be purchased (or charged) can be input.

[0148] A user can input selection information for topping up a specific amount of digital currency through the page when the amount of digital currency held by the user is less than a predetermined amount. The selection information selected by the user's electronic device 200 is transmitted to the digital currency supply system 100. For example, when the user holds less than 50 cookies (a name for digital currency), if the user wishes to top up 100 cookies, the user can select 50 as the minimum amount of digital currency and 100 as the amount of digital currency to be purchased. Such selection information is transmitted to the digital currency supply system 100 according to the present invention. Meanwhile, the digital currency supply system 100 according to the present invention provides a user environment that allows the user to freely change the amount of digital currency, and can provide a drop-down selection environment as shown in FIG. 4(b). In the drop-down selection environment, the user can freely select 20, 30, 50, 100, 300, etc. as the amount of digital currency. The drop-down list includes an item for selecting the amount of digital currency.

[0149] Meanwhile, the units of quantity of the digital currency that can be charged are preset. The control unit 130 provides the user with information on a plurality of units of quantity (e.g., 20 units, 30 units, 50 units, etc.) and receives a selection of one of the units of quantity from the user.

[0150] Meanwhile, the control unit 130 recommends information regarding the minimum amount (or reference amount, reference cookie) 430 of digital currency (e.g., cookies) that meets the conditions for starting the payment process. The information varies depending on the amount of digital currency held in the user account. The control unit 130 recommends information regarding the minimum amount of digital currency to the user in a drop-down environment, and the recommended amount recommended for each user varies depending on the amount of digital currency held in the user account.

[0151] In (a) of Fig. 4, the control unit 130 may set information on the minimum amount of digital currency at which the payment process is started to be greater than the amount of digital currency currently held in the user account. In this case, the control unit 130 may select, from among the multiple units of quantity, a unit of quantity greater than the amount of digital currency currently held in the user account as the recommended amount. Also, when there are multiple units of quantity greater than the amount of digital currency currently held in the user account, the control unit 130 may select, from among the multiple units of quantity, the smallest unit of quantity as the recommended amount.

[0152] For example, if a user holds 45 digital currencies and there are units of quantity of "20, 30, 50, and 100," the control unit 130 selects the minimum quantity (unit of quantity) of digital currencies to be recommended to the user account from 50 and 100. Then, it selects 50, which is the minimum unit of quantity, as the recommended quantity. In this case, information regarding the recommended quantity is output to area 430 in FIG. 4.

[0153] This allows for the electronic payment process to begin immediately once an automatic payment is registered in a user account by ensuring that the amount of digital currency held in the user account satisfies the payment conditions.

[0154] Meanwhile, the control unit 130 may prevent units of measure smaller than the amount of digital currency held in the user account from being included in the drop-down list.

[0155] On the other hand, the minimum quantity unit recommended for a user account can be changed in various ways other than the above.

[0156] As another example, based on the user's selection of the second payment type, the control unit 130 receives from the user account, as shown in FIG. 5, i) information 530 regarding a reference date (a specific date, the date on which payment is made, the settlement date, etc.) that is a condition (or a settlement condition) for initiating the payment process, and ii) information 540 regarding the quantity of digital currency to be purchased through the payment process.

[0157] As shown in FIG. 5, when a graphic object 520 corresponding to the second payment type is selected and the control unit 130 receives selection information related thereto from the user account, it provides a page corresponding to a GUI (graphic user interface) on which information 530 related to a base date corresponding to the condition for starting the payment process on the user's electronic device 200 and the quantity 540 of digital currency (e.g., cookies) to be purchased (or charged) on the base date can be input.

[0158] A user can input selection information for topping up a specific amount of digital currency for each reference date via the page. The selection information selected on the user's electronic device 200 is transmitted to the digital currency supply system 100. For example, if a user wishes to top up 100 cookies on the first day of each month, the user can select the 1st as the reference date (or specific date) and 100 as the amount of digital currency to be purchased. Such selection information is transmitted to the digital currency supply system 100 according to the present invention.

[0159] Meanwhile, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the control unit 130 provides the user with information 450, 550 regarding the encouragement of automatic payment registration in order to more actively encourage the user to register for automatic payment.

[0160] Such information 450, 550 includes at least one of information regarding benefits related to digital currency and benefits related to the use of content that are granted to the user based on the automatic payment (i.e., automatic top-up) of digital currency.

[0161] Meanwhile, as described above, when selection information regarding payment conditions is received from a user (or a user account, or a user's electronic device), the control unit 130 uses the selection information to register payment conditions corresponding to a specific payment type in the user account.

[0162] The control unit 130 registers different payment terms in the user account according to the selected information. Here, "registered" means that the selected information is matched and stored in the user account.

[0163] Meanwhile, the information registered in the user account includes at least one of i) information on the payment type, ii) detailed information on the payment conditions according to the payment type (e.g., the minimum amount of digital currency to be held at which the payment process is started, information on the reference date at which the payment process is started, etc.), and iii) information on the amount of digital currency to be purchased by the payment process (or amount information). Meanwhile, the information registered in the user account is expressed as information related to the payment conditions, such as "information on the payment conditions", "payment conditions information", etc.

[0164] The control unit 130 registers the payment conditions in the user account, so that an electronic payment process for the user account is started when a payment event that satisfies the payment conditions occurs in the user account. In the present invention, this is called "automatic payment registration (or automatic charge registration)."

[0165] An example in which the payment conditions of the first payment type are registered will be described as shown in (a) of Fig. 6. The control unit 130 registers, in the user account, i) information on the payment type (e.g., information related to the first payment type) 613, ii) payment conditions (information on the minimum amount of digital currency for which the payment process is started (e.g., 30 units)) 611, and iii) purchase quantity information (information on the purchase quantity of digital currency (e.g., 100 units) 612) received from the user account. Also, as shown in the figure, the information on the registration is provided to the user's electronic device for user confirmation.

[0166] 6B, an example will be described in which the payment conditions of the second payment type are registered. The control unit 130 registers, in the user account, information on the payment type (e.g., second payment type related information) 623, the payment conditions (information on the reference date when the payment process is started (e.g., 1st)) 621, and purchase quantity information (information on the purchase quantity of digital currency (e.g., 100 units) 622) received from the user account. As shown in the figure, the information on the registration is provided to the user's electronic device for user confirmation.

[0167] After the payment terms are registered in the user account in this manner, a payment event related to the payment terms occurs in the user account.

[0168] The control unit 130 monitors whether or not a payment event occurs in the user account that satisfies the payment conditions registered in the user account.

[0169] The control unit 130 continues to check the amount of digital currency held in the user account based on the payment conditions corresponding to the payment type registered in the user account, or determines whether the current date matches the reference date (specific date) registered in the user account.

[0170] More specifically, when the payment condition registered in the user account is a payment condition related to the first payment type, the control unit 130 determines that a payment event has occurred when the amount of digital currency held in the user account is less than (or equal to or less than) a reference amount (or minimum amount) corresponding to the payment condition. In contrast, the control unit 130 determines that a payment event has not occurred when the amount of digital currency held in the user account is equal to or more than (or exceeds) the reference amount (or minimum amount) corresponding to the payment condition.

[0171] In addition, if the payment terms registered in the user account are related to the second payment type, the control unit 130 determines that a payment event has occurred if the current date is the pre-registered base date, whereas the control unit 130 determines that a payment event has not occurred if the current date is not the pre-registered base date.

[0172] In this manner, the control unit 130 monitors whether or not a payment event has occurred according to the payment conditions registered in advance in the user account.

[0173] If a payment event occurs as a result of such monitoring, a process is performed to initiate an electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency for the user account (S320).

[0174] If, as a result of monitoring, a payment event related to a pre-set payment condition occurs in the user account, the control unit 130 initiates an electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency for the user account in response to the occurrence of the payment event.

[0175] Here, "initiation of an electronic payment process" refers to an act or procedure of initiating an electronic payment process. In other words, initiation of an electronic payment process is a concept distinct from "completion of an electronic payment process," and refers to the initiation of a process for an electronic payment process. When an electronic payment process is initiated, an electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency is performed using a payment method registered in a user account.

[0176] Completion of the electronic payment process, on the other hand, means that the purchase of digital currency has been completed.

[0177] When the electronic payment process is started, the control unit 130 performs electronic payment so that the digital currency is purchased in the purchase quantity included in the payment conditions preregistered in the user account.

[0178] In the present invention, the method of executing the electronic payment process is very diverse, and the amount corresponding to the purchase quantity of digital currency is paid by a payment means preregistered in the user account. For example, if the preregistered payment means is direct deposit or credit card, the control unit 130 controls the communication unit 110 to communicate with a financial institution (bank or credit card) server via the communication unit 110. The control unit 130 requests the financial institution via the communication unit 110 to settle the payment amount corresponding to the specific purchase quantity of digital currency with an account or credit card linked to the user account. However, the above-mentioned procedure is merely one example, and the procedure initially performed for the electronic payment process is not limited thereto.

[0179] Meanwhile, the payment amount settled by the electronic payment process may be an amount corresponding to the quantity information, where the quantity information is information included in the payment conditions preregistered in the user account and may be an amount corresponding to the purchase quantity of the digital currency.

[0180] That is, in the present invention, the payment amount may mean an amount corresponding to the purchase quantity of digital currency included in the payment conditions preregistered in the user account. The payment amount may mean an amount corresponding to the quantity of digital currency that the user wishes to top up. In the present invention, the payment amount is used interchangeably with the payment target amount.

[0181] When the purchase of digital currency is completed through such an electronic payment process, in the present invention, a process of paying the purchased digital currency to a user account is performed (S330).

[0182] "Completion of the electronic payment process" means that the payment amount has been paid to the digital currency payment system 100 according to the present invention by electronic payment. When the payment amount to the digital currency payment system 100 according to the present invention has been successfully paid, this is called "completion of the electronic payment process."

[0183] When the electronic payment process is completed, the control unit 130 provides the user account with a specific amount of digital currency for the purchase.

[0184] The control unit 130 grants the user account an amount corresponding to the purchased digital currency. For example, if the payment condition is set to purchase 100 digital currency, the control unit 130 initiates and completes an electronic payment process for the payment amount corresponding to 100 digital currency, and grants 100 digital currency to the user account.

[0185] Meanwhile, the control unit 130 continues to monitor the occurrence of a payment event after the electronic payment process for the user account is completed. That is, the control unit 130 monitors the user account in which the automatic payment method is registered, and starts the payment process every time an event that satisfies the payment conditions occurs in the user account.

[0186] The control unit 130 initiates an electronic payment process each time a payment event occurs in relation to the user account based on the monitoring result, so that the user can automatically receive the digital currency purchase service each time the payment conditions are met.

[0187] The control unit 130 issues the digital currency to the user account based on the completion of the electronic payment process, and then monitors whether the next payment event occurs. When a payment event occurs, the control unit 130 does not stop monitoring, but continues to monitor whether the payment event occurs.

[0188] Therefore, the control unit 130 can provide digital currency corresponding to the quantity information preregistered in the user account every time an electronic payment process is successfully completed in the user account. That is, the control unit 130 can provide digital currency to the user account every time a payment event occurs and an electronic payment process is completed accordingly. This is referred to as "automatic payment (or automatic charge)" in this specification.

[0189] As an example, when the control unit 130 receives selection information (e.g., first payment type) regarding the payment type, payment conditions (e.g., minimum quantity of 50 units), and quantity information (e.g., purchase of 100 units of digital currency) from the user account, the control unit 130 initiates an electronic payment process in which a payment is made for the payment amount corresponding to 100 units of digital currency each time the number of units of digital currency held by the user account falls below 50 units (e.g., 48 units). When the electronic payment process for the payment amount corresponding to 100 units of digital currency is completed, the control unit 130 grants 100 units of digital currency to the user account.

[0190] As another example, when the control unit 130 receives selection information (e.g., second payment type) regarding the received payment type, payment conditions (e.g., reference date 1), and quantity information (e.g., purchase of 100 digital currencies) from the user account, the control unit 130 initiates an electronic payment process in which a payment is made for the payment amount corresponding to 100 digital currencies every time the current date becomes a day (e.g., February 1, March 1, etc.). When the electronic payment process for the payment amount corresponding to 100 digital currencies is completed, the control unit 130 grants 100 digital currencies to the user account.

[0191] As an example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the control unit 130 receives selection information regarding a payment type (e.g., first payment type (711)), payment conditions (e.g., less than 30 units (712)), and quantity information (30 units (713)) from a user account 710 having an ID "AAA", the control unit 130 initiates an electronic payment process in which a payment amount corresponding to 30 units of digital currency is paid each time the number of digital currencies held by the user account 710 having an ID "AAA" falls below 30 units (e.g., 28 units).

[0192] When the electronic payment process for the payment amount corresponding to the 30 digital currencies is completed, the control unit 130 pays 30 digital currencies to the user account. If such an automatic payment is made for the first time by the user account with ID “AAA”, the number of times the electronic payment process has been completed by the user account with ID “AAA” is set to 1 (714).

[0193] As another example, when the control unit 130 receives selection information on the payment type (e.g., second payment type (721)), payment conditions (e.g., reference date 3 (722)), and quantity information (100 units (723)) from the user account 720 having ID "DDD", the control unit 130 starts an electronic payment process in which a payment of the payment target amount corresponding to 100 units of digital currency is made every time the current date becomes the third (e.g., February 3, March 3, etc.). When the electronic payment process for the payment target amount corresponding to 100 units of digital currency is completed, the control unit 130 grants 100 units of digital currency to the user account having ID "DDD". If such a payment is an electronic payment made after 39 electronic payment processes have been completed by the user account having ID "DDD", the number of times the electronic payment process has been completed will be 40 times (724).

[0194] The above describes how an electronic payment process can be automated depending on the specific payment type, and how digital currency can be provided to a user account.

[0195] Meanwhile, the digital currency payment method and digital currency payment system 100 according to the present invention can provide "reward digital currency" to a user account in addition to the digital currency (hereinafter referred to as purchase digital currency) provided to a user in response to the payment of the payment amount. The "reward digital currency" provided by the digital currency payment method and system according to the present invention will be described in more detail. The reward digital currency according to the present invention is used interchangeably with bonus digital currency.

[0196] First, the reward digital currency according to the present invention has multiple attributes (properties) or types.

[0197] The attributes (nature) or type of such reward digital currency are classified according to the time when the reward digital currency was paid to a user account or the reason (cause) for payment.

[0198] i) "First attribute reward digital currency" is digital currency paid to a user account when the electronic payment process is completed for the first time (first time), and is used interchangeably with "first payment bonus" and "time bonus" in the present invention. ii) "Second attribute reward digital currency" is digital currency paid to a user account every time an electronic payment process is completed, and is used interchangeably with "regular bonus" in the present invention. iii) "Third attribute reward digital currency" is digital currency paid to a user account when the electronic payment process is completed for the first time (first time), and is used interchangeably with "maintenance bonus" in the present invention.

[0199] Here, the preset reward condition may be that the completion number corresponds to a specific number or corresponds to a number that is repeated at a predetermined interval.

[0200] First, the reward digital currency having the first attribute will be described.

[0201] When the first (or initial) electronic payment process is completed, the control unit 130 provides the "first attribute reward digital currency" to the user account. The control unit 130 additionally provides the first attribute reward digital currency to the user account in an amount equal to the reward amount in addition to the purchased amount of the purchased digital currency. The larger the purchased amount is, the larger the reward amount of the first attribute reward digital currency is provided to the user account by the control unit 130.

[0202] When a payment process is completed for a user account, the control unit 130 searches for the number of payment processes that have been completed for the user account. The control unit 130 performs the search from the payment history (or history information) corresponding to the user account.

[0203] Meanwhile, the control unit 130 determines the reward amount of the reward digital currency of the first attribute to be provided to the user account based on the matching information stored in the storage unit 120 .

[0204] Here, the matching information is information stored in a pre-defined DB of the storage unit 120 as shown in Fig. 8, and includes information defining the amount of rewards to be provided to a user account. The matching information includes information regarding the amount of rewards matched for different purchase amounts of digital currency. The matching information also includes amount information regarding reward currencies with different attributes.

[0205] The matching information includes information regarding the amount of reward currency of each attribute that should be provided for different purchased digital currencies.

[0206] The control unit 130 provides a specific reward amount of the first attribute reward digital currency to the user account based on the matching information 800.

[0207] For example, according to the matching information 800 stored in the storage unit 120, the reward quantity of the first attribute reward digital currency matched with the purchased quantity of 30 digital currency (820) is 2 (821). When the first next payment process for the 30 digital currency in relation to the user account is completed, the control unit 130 additionally pays 2 reward digital currency of the first attribute to the user account together with the purchased 30 digital currency (820).

[0208] As another example, according to the matching information 800 stored in the storage unit 120, the reward quantity of the first attribute reward digital currency matched with the purchase quantity of 100 digital currency (830) is 5 (831). Therefore, as shown in Fig. 9, when the first next electronic payment process for the 100 digital currency in relation to the user account is completed, the control unit 130 provides the user account with 5 reward digital currency (832) of the first attribute together with the purchase digital currency (830).

[0209] Meanwhile, even if the first electronic payment process is completed in the user account, if the matching information indicates that there is no amount of reward digital currency of the first attribute that matches the amount of purchased digital currency, the control unit 130 does not provide the reward digital currency of the first attribute to the user account. For example, as shown in the figure, when 20 digital currency is purchased in the user account, there is no reward digital currency of the first attribute to be provided to the user account.

[0210] In addition, the control unit 130 provides the "second attribute reward digital currency" to the user account based on the completion of the electronic payment process.

[0211] As mentioned above, the second attribute of reward digital currency is digital currency that is paid out each time an electronic payment process is completed, and can be understood as a "constant bonus" concept.

[0212] The control unit 130 provides the user account with additional reward digital currency of the second attribute in an amount equal to the reward amount in addition to the purchased amount of the purchased digital currency. As shown in Fig. 8, the control unit 130 provides the user account with a larger amount of reward digital currency of the second attribute in proportion to the purchased amount.

[0213] Meanwhile, the control unit 130 provides the second attribute digital currency to the user account only when the amount of digital currency purchased through the automatic payment method is a preset number (for example, according to FIG. 8, the amount of digital currency purchased is 100 or more).

[0214] The control unit 130 determines the amount of reward digital currency of the second attribute to be provided to the user account based on the matching information stored in the storage unit 120 .

[0215] Even if the electronic payment process is completed, if the control unit 130 checks the matching information and finds that there is no quantity of second attribute digital currency that matches the quantity of purchased digital currency, the control unit 130 will not pay the second attribute digital currency to the user account.

[0216] For example, according to the matching information 800 stored in the storage unit 120, the reward quantity of the second attribute reward digital currency matched with the purchase quantity of 30 digital currency (820) is 0 (821). Therefore, the control unit 130 does not pay the reward digital currency of the second attribute when the electronic payment process for the 30 digital currency is completed in relation to the user account.

[0217] As another example, according to the matching information 800 stored in the storage unit 120, the reward quantity of the second attribute reward digital currency matched with the purchase quantity of 100 digital currency (830) is 2 (832). Therefore, the control unit 130 provides the user account with 2 units (832) of the second attribute reward digital currency each time an electronic payment process for 100 units of digital currency is completed in relation to the user account.

[0218] In addition, the control unit 130 provides a "third attribute reward digital currency" to the user account when the number of times the electronic payment process is completed satisfies a preset reward condition.

[0219] Here, the "third attribute reward digital currency" refers to digital currency paid to a user account when the number of times an electronic payment process is completed satisfies a preset reward condition, and is used interchangeably with the "maintenance bonus" in the present invention. Here, the preset reward condition may be that the number of times completed corresponds to a specific number of times, or corresponds to a number of times repeated at a predetermined interval. For example, the third attribute reward digital currency is reward digital currency paid every time the payment process is completed 10 times (e.g., 10th, 20th, 30th, ...).

[0220] The control unit 130 provides a larger reward amount of the third attribute reward digital currency to the user account as the purchase amount increases.

[0221] More specifically, the control unit 130 determines the reward amount of the reward digital currency of the third attribute to be provided to the user account based on the matching information stored in the storage unit 120 .

[0222] Here, the matching information refers to information stored in a pre-defined DB of the storage unit 120 as shown in FIG. 8, and includes the reward quantity of the third attribute reward digital currency matched with each different purchase quantity of the digital currency.

[0223] The control unit 130 provides a specific reward amount of the reward digital currency of the third attribute to the user account based on the matching information 800.

[0224] For example, according to the matching information 800 stored in the storage unit 120, the reward quantity of the third attribute reward digital currency matched with the purchased quantity of 30 digital currency (820) is 1 (823). Therefore, when the number of completions related to the user account meets a preset condition (e.g., every time the next electronic payment process is completed that corresponds to a multiple of 10), the control unit 130 pays 1 (823) reward digital currency of the third attribute together with the purchased 30 digital currency (820).

[0225] As another example, in the matching information 800 stored in the storage unit 120, the reward quantity of the third attribute reward digital currency matched with the purchased quantity of 100 digital currency (830) is 3 (833). Therefore, as shown in Fig. 9, when the number of completed electronic payment processes related to the user account meets a preset condition (e.g., each time the next electronic payment process corresponding to a multiple of 10 is completed (10th time, 20th time, ... (834))), the control unit 130 pays 3 reward digital currency of the third attribute (833) together with the purchased 100 digital currency (830).

[0226] On the other hand, even if the number of times the electronic payment process has been completed is the number of times that the reward digital currency of the third attribute should be paid, if the control unit 130 checks the matching information and finds that there is no quantity of digital currency of the third attribute that matches the quantity of digital currency purchased, it will not pay the digital currency of the third attribute to the user account.

[0227] For example, according to the matching information 800 stored in the storage unit 120, the reward quantity of the third attribute reward digital currency matched with the purchase quantity of 20 digital currency is 0. Therefore, the control unit 130 does not pay the third attribute reward digital currency when the electronic payment process for the 20 digital currency is completed in relation to the user account.

[0228] In this manner, when the electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency in the user account is completed, the control unit 130 refers to the match information to determine whether there is any reward digital currency to be additionally provided in the user account.

[0229] The control unit 130 determines whether the user account that has completed the electronic payment process meets the conditions for receiving the reward digital currency corresponding to the first, second, and third attributes, respectively.

[0230] The control unit 130 determines whether the first (first) purchase of digital currency has been made in the user account, and determines whether the purchased quantity of digital currency satisfies the payment condition for the reward digital currency of the first attribute.

[0231] Furthermore, when the electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency in the user account is completed, the control unit 130 determines whether the purchased quantity of digital currency meets the payment conditions for the reward digital currency of the second attribute (e.g., whether the purchased quantity of digital currency is 100 or more). If the determination result indicates that the purchased quantity of digital currency meets the payment conditions for the reward digital currency of the second attribute, the control unit 130 pays the reward digital currency of the second attribute to the user account. If the purchased quantity of digital currency in the user account is 100 or more, the reward digital currency of the second attribute is paid.

[0232] Furthermore, the control unit 130 counts the number of times that the electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency has been completed in the user account, and determines based on the counting result whether the number of times is a specific number (e.g., the 10th time, the 20th time, etc.) that meets the conditions for providing the reward digital currency of the third attribute.

[0233] If the completion number corresponds to the specific number, the control unit 130 determines whether the purchased quantity of digital currency is an amount that satisfies the payment condition for the reward digital currency of the third attribute (e.g., whether the purchased digital currency is 30 or more). If the determination result indicates that the purchased quantity of digital currency is an amount that satisfies the payment condition for the reward digital currency of the third attribute, the control unit 130 pays the reward digital currency of the third attribute to the user account. If the digital currency purchased in the user account is 30 or more, the reward digital currency of the third attribute is paid for each of the specific number of times.

[0234] In this way, in the present invention, when digital currency is purchased through a user account, reward digital currency is provided based on at least one of the quantity of digital currency purchased and the number of purchases (number of times the electronic payment process is completed), thereby providing a continuous benefit to a user who purchases digital currency through an automatic payment method.

[0235] As described above, in a user account in which an automatic payment method is registered, quantity information regarding the number of digital currencies to be purchased through the automatic payment method is matched and stored.

[0236] With quantity information registered in the user account in this manner, upon receiving a request from the user account to change the purchase quantity of digital currency, the control unit 130 changes the quantity information registered in the user account to the changed quantity information.

[0237] When a preset payment event occurs in relation to the user account, the control unit 130 initiates an electronic payment process for the payment amount corresponding to the changed purchase quantity.

[0238] In addition, if the changed purchase quantity corresponds to the above-mentioned second attribute reward digital currency payment target, the control unit 130 pays the second attribute reward digital currency to the user account in an amount that matches the changed purchase quantity.

[0239] Furthermore, the control unit 130 completes the electronic payment process for the payment amount corresponding to the changed purchase quantity, and accumulates the number of completions counted before changing the quantity information. That is, the control unit 130 does not initialize the number of completions stored in the storage unit 120, but continuously counts the number of completions stored in the storage unit 120.

[0240] Furthermore, if the number of completions satisfies the preset reward condition, the control unit 130 provides the user account with digital currency for the changed purchase quantity as well as digital currency (third attribute reward digital currency) for the reward quantity matched in the matching information corresponding to the changed purchase quantity.

[0241] For example, as shown in FIG. 10, if the existing digital currency purchase quantity associated with a user account is 100 (1010), the preset reward condition may be that a third attribute reward digital currency is provided to the user account every 10 times (i.e., every time an electronic payment process that is a multiple of 10 is completed (1050)).

[0242] In this case, the control unit 130 completes the first electronic payment process for the payment amount corresponding to the purchase quantity of 100, and provides the user account with 100 purchase digital currency (1010) and five first attribute reward digital currency (831, 1020) matched with the 100 purchase digital currency (1010). The control unit 130 also completes the second to ninth electronic payment processes for the payment amount corresponding to the purchase quantity of 100, and provides the user account with 100 purchase digital currency (1010) each time the electronic payment process is completed. Furthermore, according to the matching information in FIG. 8, the user account is provided with two second attribute reward digital currency each time the second to ninth electronic payment processes are completed.

[0243] Meanwhile, after the ninth electronic payment process is completed, the control unit 130 receives a request to change the purchase quantity of digital currency from the user account and changes the quantity information previously registered in the user account from 100 to 500. In this case, the control unit 130 executes the electronic payment process so that the changed purchase digital currency 500 units (1030) is purchased based on the occurrence of a payment event in relation to the user account. The control unit 130 updates the number of times the electronic payment process has been completed from the previous 9 times to 10 times, and determines whether the number of times of completion satisfies the preset reward condition (10th time (1050)). In this case, since the number of times of completion satisfies the preset reward condition (10th time (1050)), the control unit 130 provides the user account with the third attribute reward digital currency (e.g., 15 units (843, 1040)) in the reward quantity that matches the changed purchase digital currency 500 units (1030) together with the purchase digital currency 500 units (1030).

[0244] In this manner, in the present invention, when the payment conditions, purchase amount, etc. are changed in relation to the user account, the control unit 130 executes the electronic payment process based on the changed information and can appropriately change the reward digital currency. Here, if the electronic payment process performed in the user account is not the first one, the paid amount of the digital currency related to at least one of the second and third attributes can be changed.

[0245] Meanwhile, the control unit 130 sets different reward conditions for different payment types.

[0246] As mentioned above, of the multiple payment types, the first payment type is a payment type that allows automatic payment to be made based on the amount of digital currency held in a user account, and the second payment type is a payment type that allows automatic payment to be made based on a reference date (specific date).

[0247] The control unit 130 sets reward conditions that reflect the attributes of a plurality of different payment types and the user's consumption patterns so that the content viewing tickets held by the user account are not exhausted and the user is actively encouraged to make automatic payments.

[0248] The control unit 130 sets the predetermined recurrence interval of the reward condition corresponding to the first payment type to be different from the predetermined recurrence interval of the reward condition corresponding to the second payment type.

[0249] More specifically, i) the control unit 130 can set the predetermined recurrence interval for the reward condition corresponding to the first payment type to be relatively longer than the predetermined recurrence interval for the reward condition corresponding to the second payment type, and ii) in response, the control unit 130 can set the predetermined recurrence interval for the reward condition corresponding to the first payment type to be shorter than the predetermined recurrence interval for the reward condition corresponding to the second payment type.

[0250] 11(a), the control unit 130 sets the predetermined repetition interval of the reward condition corresponding to the first payment type to 10 times (i.e., every time the electronic payment process corresponding to a multiple of 10 is completed). The control unit 130 provides the third attribute reward digital currency (833, 1111) to the user account in a reward quantity (3 units) corresponding to the purchase quantity of 100 units (830, 1110) of the purchased digital currency every 10th completion (i.e., 10th, 20th, 30th, ... (1112)) in relation to the first payment type.

[0251] 11(b), the control unit 130 sets the predetermined repetition interval of the reward condition corresponding to the second payment type to 4 times (i.e., every time the electronic payment process corresponding to a multiple of 4 is completed). Thus, the control unit 130 provides the third attribute reward digital currency (833, 1121) to the user account in the reward quantity (3 units) corresponding to the purchase quantity of 100 units (830, 1120) of the purchased digital currency every 4 times the completion number becomes (i.e., 4th, 8th, 12th, ... (1122)) in relation to the second payment type.

[0252] In this manner, the control unit 130 may set different intervals for providing reward digital currency based on a payment event even when the same amount of digital currency is purchased.

[0253] Above, the purchase digital currency and reward digital currency provided to the user account based on the completion of the electronic payment process have been described. Hereinafter, the payment history stored in the storage unit 120 in association with the user account will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 12 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the payment history of the user account in the present invention.

[0254] The control unit 130 stores the user's payment history in association with the user account in the storage unit 120. The payment history refers to information regarding the purchase of digital currency. For example, the payment history includes at least one of the following: i) the payment method of the digital currency (e.g., whether it is the first payment method (one-time payment method) or the second payment method (automatic payment method)); ii) in the case of the second payment method, the payment type of the digital currency payment (whether it is the first payment type (a type in which payment is made based on the amount of digital currency held) or the second payment type (a type in which payment is made based on a reference date)); iii) the number of digital currency purchased in the user account (accumulated purchase amount); iv) the purchase amount of digital currency purchased for each payment event; v) the amount of digital currency currently held; vi) the number of reward digital currency provided (accumulated provided amount); vii) the attributes of the reward digital currency (whether the reward digital currency has any of the first to third attributes); viii) the validity period of the reward digital currency; ix) the amount of reward digital currency currently held; x) information regarding the cancellation of a digital currency purchase; xi) information regarding changes to the payment method, payment type, etc.; and xii) information regarding the interruption, cancellation, etc. of automatic payment.

[0255] Such information on the payment history is provided to the user. As shown in Fig. 12, the control unit 130 provides at least a part of the information included in the above-mentioned payment history on the user electronic device 200. As shown in Fig. 12, the control unit 130 provides a payment history 1220 related to digital currency on a payment history page 1210. The user is provided with i) the number of digital currency currently held 1221, ii) the date and time of purchase (or charge) of digital currency 1222, iii) the number of digital currency purchased (or charged) 1223, iv) the amount to be paid 1224, and v) whether or not the purchase of digital currency was canceled 1225, etc., via the payment history page 1210.

[0256] On the other hand, although not shown, the control unit 130 may expose a digital currency purchase cancellation (request refund) button on the "payment history page" together with the payment history.

[0257] Meanwhile, the control unit may expose the cancel (refund request) button only for digital currency whose purchase can be cancelled. In other words, the availability of cancellation is set depending on the time that has passed since the purchase of the digital currency or whether the digital currency has been used.

[0258] For example, the control unit 130 may not expose the purchase cancellation (request refund) button when i) a preset period (e.g., seven days) has passed since the date of purchase of the digital currency, or ii) the preset period (e.g., seven days) has not passed since the date of purchase of the digital currency but the digital currency has been used (i.e., spent to view content).

[0259] When a purchase cancellation (request for refund) button exposed on the electronic device 200 is selected by the user, a request to cancel the purchase of digital currency (request for refund) is transmitted to the digital currency distributing system 100 according to the present invention.

[0260] When the control unit 130 receives a refund request for the purchased digital currency, the control unit 130 performs a refund process for refunding the payment amount corresponding to the purchased digital currency.

[0261] When refunding digital currency that has been purchased, the control unit 130 determines whether or not reward currency that was provided to the user account in response to the purchase of the digital currency exists. When refunding the purchased digital currency, the control unit 130 collects the provided reward currency.

[0262] More specifically, the control unit 130 checks whether or not the user account has "digital currency corresponding to the amount of reward already provided." Here, the digital currency corresponding to the amount of reward already provided means the reward digital currency provided to the user account based on the digital currency purchased.

[0263] If the confirmation indicates that the user account contains digital currency corresponding to the amount of reward already paid, the control unit 130 recovers the digital currency corresponding to the amount of reward already paid from the user account based on the completion of the refund of the payment amount.

[0264] In addition, the control unit 130 checks whether the user account has "digital currency corresponding to the sum of the purchase amount for which a refund is requested and the reward amount already provided." Here, the reward amount already provided means the reward amount provided based on the digital currency that is the subject of the refund request.

[0265] If the check results in the presence of digital currency in the user account corresponding to the sum of the purchase quantity for which refund is requested and the reward quantity already paid, the control unit 130 recovers the digital currency corresponding to the sum of the purchase quantity for which refund is requested and the reward quantity already paid from the user account based on the completion of refund of the payment amount. In this case, the control unit 130 refunds the payment amount to the user via the payment means used to purchase the digital currency or another preset means so that the payment amount is refunded.

[0266] For example, let us consider a case where a user account has a history 1310 of 100 purchased digital currency (e.g., 100 cookies) and reward digital currency (e.g., 10 cookies) paid out, as shown in payment history page 1300 in FIG. 13(a).

[0267] The control unit 130 executes the refund process when the user account has i) digital currency corresponding to the already paid reward quantity (e.g., 10 cookies) or ii) digital currency corresponding to the sum of the purchase quantity for which refund is requested (e.g., 100 cookies) and the reward quantity already paid (e.g., 10 cookies) (e.g., 110 cookies). The control unit 130 recovers from the user account i) digital currency corresponding to the already paid reward quantity (e.g., 10 cookies) or ii) digital currency corresponding to the sum of the purchase quantity for which refund is requested (e.g., 100 cookies) and the reward quantity already paid (e.g., 10 cookies) (e.g., 110 cookies) based on the completion of the refund process. 13(b) shows a payment history page 1300 on which a history 1320 of the collected digital currency (e.g., 110 cookies) corresponding to the total sum of the purchased quantity (e.g., 100 cookies) for which a refund is requested and the reward quantity (e.g., 10 cookies) that has already been paid is output. When the refund process is completed, the control unit 130 provides the user with information about the process, as shown in FIG. 13(b).

[0268] In addition, if the user account does not have "digital currency corresponding to the sum of the purchase amount for which a refund is requested and the reward amount already paid," the control unit 130 specifies the amount of the payment amount minus the amount corresponding to the amount of the digital currency consumed as the refund amount. The control unit 130 executes a refund process for the specified refund amount and recovers all the digital currency held by the consumer account.

[0269] For example, it is assumed that a user purchases 100 units of purchase digital currency for 10,000 won and receives 10 units of reward digital currency as compensation. The value of one unit of digital currency is 100 won. In a situation where the user has consumed 10 units of digital currency and has only 100 units of digital currency, the user makes a request for refund of the 100 units of purchase digital currency. The control unit 130 confirms that the user account does not have digital currency corresponding to the total sum (110 units) of the purchased amount (100 units) for which a refund is requested and the reward amount (10 units) already provided. In this case, the control unit 130 determines that 10 units of digital currency have been consumed. The control unit 130 determines that 9,000 won, which is the amount of the payment amount of 10,000 won minus 1,000 won (10 x 100 won) corresponding to the consumed 10 units of digital currency, is the refund amount, and executes the refund process for the 9,000 won. The control unit 130 refunds 9,000 won to User C and collects all 100 units of digital currency held by User C.

[0270] On the other hand, if the specified refund amount is 0 or less (i.e., negative), the control unit 130 does not execute the refund process. That is, in this case, the refund amount does not exist, so the refund process is impossible. In this case, even if reward digital currency exists, it may not be counted as digital currency corresponding to the refund amount. For example, assume that 100 digital currency units have been purchased, 10 reward digital currency units have been paid as compensation, and 10 digital currency units are currently remaining. In this state, when a refund request is received from the user account, the control unit 130 determines that the use of the purchased 100 digital currency units has been completed. That is, in this case, the control unit 130 treats the 10 digital currency units held in the user account as reward digital currency units and determines that the digital currency refund process is impossible.

[0271] On the other hand, if the control unit 130 nevertheless receives a request for a refund process from the user account, it withdraws all of the digital currency held in the user account and does not pay the refund amount to the user account.

[0272] Meanwhile, the control unit 130 may set the validity period of the purchase digital currency and the validity period (usage limit) of the bonus digital currency to be different. In the case of the purchase digital currency, the validity period may not be set. In the case of the bonus digital currency, the validity period may be set so that it can be used only for a specific period.

[0273] In addition, in the case of purchased digital currency, a validity period may be set, and in that case, the control unit 130 may set the validity period of the bonus digital currency to be relatively shorter than the validity period of the purchased digital currency.

[0274] Furthermore, in the case of a digital currency with a validity period setting, the control unit 130 may set the start date of the validity period to the date on which the digital currency is issued to the user account.

[0275] For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the “CCC” user account 1410 holds a total of 14 bonus digital currencies 1420. The 14 bonus digital currencies held by the “CCC” user account are i) 14 bonus digital currencies 1421 paid on January 1, 2021, ii) 3 bonus digital currencies 1422 paid on March 5, 2021, and iii) 3 bonus digital currencies 1423 paid on April 7, 2021. They each have a validity period of 6 months. Therefore, the redemption dates for the bonus digital currencies held by the "CCC" user accounts will be set differently for each of the following: i) the 14 bonus digital currencies 1421 paid out on January 1, 2021 will be redeemable by July 1, 2021; ii) the 3 bonus digital currencies 1422 paid out on March 5, 2021 will be redeemable by September 5, 2021; and iii) the 3 bonus digital currencies 1423 paid out on April 7, 2021 will be redeemable by October 7, 2021.

[0276] Meanwhile, when the validity period of the digital currency set for the validity period has elapsed, the control unit 130 destroys the digital currency whose validity period has elapsed. In this case, the digital currency to be destroyed that was provided to the user account is collected (or deducted) from the user account.

[0277] At this time, the control unit 130 may notify the user account of the planned expiration of the digital currency a predetermined period before the validity period of each digital currency.

[0278] In addition, the control unit 130 can set different validity periods for each attribute of the reward digital currency.

[0279] Meanwhile, when there are multiple reward digital currencies with different validity periods in a user account, the control unit 130 controls the use of the reward digital currencies such that the reward digital currencies are used in the order of expiry of their validity periods.

[0280] The control unit 130 independently uses the reward digital currencies in the order of expiry of their validity periods without receiving a selection from the user account as to which reward digital currency to use.

[0281] Meanwhile, the control unit 130 stores user history information linked with the user terminal 200 in the storage unit 120 .

[0282] The history information includes various information related to digital currency purchases in a user account, including the aforementioned information related to the payment history.

[0283] The history information may include, in relation to the user account, i) the payment number of the electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency, ii) the payment date and time (the date and time when the electronic payment process was completed), iii) the amount of digital currency purchased and the amount of reward, iv) the remaining amount of digital currency held by the user account (the remaining amount of purchased digital currency and the remaining amount of reward digital currency), v) the status of the digital currency (a state in which digital currency has been provided to the user account but not yet used (issued), a state in which part of the digital currency provided to the user account has been used to view content, etc. The information indicative of the status of the digital currency provided to the user account (either the current status (in use) or the status when all of the digital currency provided to the user account has been used (all exhausted)), vi) the payment method by which the digital currency was purchased (e.g., the first or second payment method), vii) the payment amount, viii) the refund amount, ix) the details of the use of the digital currency, x) the registration or change history of the second payment method, xi) the payment history of the reward digital currency, xii) the attributes of the reward digital currency (whether the reward digital currency has any of the first to third attributes), and xiii) the validity period of the reward digital currency.

[0284] As shown in FIG. 15, the control unit 130 can store, as user history information, i) the purchase amount 1511 of the purchased digital currency, and ii) the reward amount 1512 of the reward digital currency in the storage unit 120 in association with the user account.

[0285] In addition, as shown in FIG. 15, the control unit 130 can store, as user history information, i) remaining amount of purchased digital currency 1521 and ii) remaining amount of reward digital currency 1522 in the storage unit 120 in association with the user account.

[0286] The control unit 130 determines the refund amount and the amount of digital currency to be withdrawn from the user account based on i) the purchased amount of digital currency 1511, ii) the reward amount of the reward digital currency 1512, iii) the remaining amount of digital currency 1521, and iv) the remaining amount of the reward digital currency 1522, and executes the above-mentioned refund process based on the amount information. The above description is used for the refund process.

[0287] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 16, the control unit 130 can store in the storage unit 120, as user history information, in association with the user account, i) date and time 1611 when content was viewed using digital currency with the user account, ii) amount of digital currency used to view the content 1612, iii) type of digital currency used to view the content (e.g., at least one of purchased digital currency or reward digital currency) 1613, iv) content category (e.g., genre of content work) 1614, and v) content name (e.g., work name) 1615, etc.

[0288] Furthermore, the history information can store all of the various pieces of information associated with the user account, which are processed in association with the information on the various situations described above.

[0289] For example, as described above, when selection information is received from a user account in relation to the registration or change history of the second payment method, the control unit 130 stores the user account registration status (e.g., new) 1610, payment conditions (e.g., minimum quantity of 30 units) 1611, and quantity information (e.g., 50 units) 1612 in the storage unit 120 in association with each other, as shown in FIG. 17.

[0290] Furthermore, when the control unit 130 receives a request to change the payment terms or the purchase quantity of digital currency from the user account, it stores in the storage unit 120 the registration status (e.g., change) 1620 of the user account, the payment terms (e.g., reference date 5 days) 1621, and the quantity information (e.g., 100 units) 1622 in association with each other based on the information requested for change.

[0291] Furthermore, when the control unit 130 receives a request to suspend automatic payment from the user account, the control unit 130 stores the automatic payment registration status (eg, OFF) 1630 of the user account and the quantity information before suspension (eg, 100 units) in association with each other.

[0292] In the present invention, an automatic payment interruption function and a cancellation function are provided, and all information related thereto is stored in the user history information. In the present invention, interruption means temporarily stopping the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function, and is different from cancellation (or termination), which deletes (or cancels) the automatic payment (or automatic charge) registered in the user account.

[0293] In the present invention, the automatic payment interruption function means temporarily stopping the automatic payment function, and switching the automatic payment function from an active state to an inactive state. The control unit 130 prevents automatic payment for purchasing digital currency from being performed in the user account while the automatic payment function is in an inactive state. In this case, automatic payment is not performed even if a payment event that satisfies the automatic payment condition occurs in the user account.

[0294] When the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function registered in the user account is in an activated state, the control unit 130 receives information from the user electronic device 200 to change the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function to a deactivated state (i.e., interrupting automatic payment).

[0295] In addition, when the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function registered in the user account is in an inactive state, the control unit 130 receives information from the user electronic device 200 to change the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function to an active state (i.e., canceling the suspension of automatic payment).

[0296] When the control unit 130 receives a request to suspend the automatic payment function (i.e., suspend automatic payment or cancel automatic charge) from the user account, it stores in the storage unit 120 information regarding the payment history, including the number of times the electronic payment process was completed in the user account, and the request to suspend the automatic payment function.

[0297] The control unit 130 may, in relation to the user account, not start a payment process for purchasing digital currency even if a payment event that satisfies a payment condition registered in the user account occurs. In particular, the control unit 130 does not start a payment process for purchasing digital currency even if a payment event occurs for a preset period from the time when the control unit 130 receives a request to suspend the purchase function from the user account.

[0298] Meanwhile, when a preset period has elapsed since the control unit 130 received a purchase function suspension request from the user account, the control unit 130 releases the suspension of the purchase function for the user account. That is, when the preset period has elapsed, the control unit 130 changes the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function of the user account to an active state. In this case, the control unit 130 re-monitors whether or not a payment event that satisfies the registered payment conditions occurs for the user account, and starts an electronic payment process when a payment event occurs.

[0299] Here, the preset period is selected by the user or set by the control unit 130. When the preset period is selected by the user, the control unit 130 may restrict the preset period from exceeding a predetermined period. That is, when the preset period selected by the user exceeds the predetermined period, the control unit 130 may suspend the purchase function only for the predetermined period.

[0300] Additionally, the control unit 130 will not initiate an electronic payment process for the user account for a preset period of time (eg, 90 days) from the time the control unit 130 receives the request to suspend the purchasing function.

[0301] When a preset period (e.g., 90 days) has elapsed since the control unit 130 received a request to suspend the purchasing function, the control unit 130 outputs a message on the user electronic device 200 to confirm whether or not to activate the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function.

[0302] The control unit 130 also activates an automatic payment (or automatic charge) function and monitors whether a payment event occurs for the user account.

[0303] On the other hand, when the electronic payment process by automatic payment is completed after the automatic payment function is switched from a deactivated state to an activated state, the control unit 130 counts the number of times payment has been completed consecutively to the number of times counted before the automatic payment function was deactivated.

[0304] For example, if the number of completed payments counted before the automatic payment function is deactivated is 9, and the automatic payment function is changed from a deactivated state to an activated state and the electronic payment process via automatic payment is completed, the control unit 130 counts the completion of the electronic payment process as the 10th electronic payment.

[0305] On the other hand, in the present invention, a function for canceling automatic payment (or automatic charge) is provided.

[0306] In the present invention, cancellation refers to the deletion of the automatic payment (or automatic charge) registered in the user account, and is different from suspension, which is the temporary halt of the automatic payment (or automatic charge).

[0307] The control unit 130 provides a page for providing a cancellation function of the automatic payment on the user electronic device 200. The control unit 130 exposes information associated with the user account on the cancellation page. The information associated with the user account includes information regarding benefits the user received through the automatic payment function. As shown in the figure, the information regarding benefits includes at least one of bonus digital currency already provided to the user account, bonus digital currency provided when the user account maintains the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function, and free use rights for content.

[0308] The control unit 130 provides a graphic object that allows the user to select activation and deactivation of the automatic payment (or automatic top-up) function on one area of ​​the "cancellation page." In this way, the payment system 100 according to the present invention can guide the user to select suspension of automatic payment (or automatic top-up) rather than cancellation of automatic payment (or automatic top-up).

[0309] When a user selects a graphic object for cancellation located in one area of ​​the "cancellation page," cancellation request information is transmitted to the electronic payment system 100 according to the present invention.

[0310] When the control unit 130 receives a cancellation request from the user electronic device 200, it provides information associated with the user account on the user electronic device 200. In this way, the payment system 100 according to the present invention can induce the user to maintain the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function by notifying the user of the privilege information again.

[0311] For example, the user can receive benefits associated with the user account via the cancellation page. For example, the user can receive benefit information such as the amount of digital currency already provided upon registration for automatic payment (or automatic top-up) (e.g., 10 cookies) or the amount of digital currency to be provided each time automatic payment (or automatic top-up) is made (e.g., 10 cookies) via the cancellation page.

[0312] Also, when the user selects the cancellation function icon on the cancellation page 1310, a benefit associated with the user account may be provided in a pop-up on the user electronic device 200. For example, information that stops the user from canceling the automatic payment (or automatic charge) is provided in a pop-up, such as "If you cancel, you will no longer receive the 25 bonus cookies that are given every 10 times, even if you re-register!"

[0313] On the other hand, if the user cancels the automatic payment (or automatic charge) function despite the benefits provided by maintaining the automatic payment (or automatic charge), a page prompting the user to confirm the cancellation is displayed on the electronic device 200.

[0314] On the other hand, if the user re-applies for automatic payment registration after automatic payment is canceled, the control unit 130 may count the number of completed payments consecutively to the number of completed payments counted before the automatic payment function was canceled.

[0315] For example, if the number of completed payments counted before the automatic payment function was canceled was 9, and the automatic payment function is reapplied for and the electronic payment process is completed, the control unit 130 will count the completion of the electronic payment process as the 10th electronic payment.

[0316] On the other hand, if the user re-applies for automatic payment registration after automatic payment has been cancelled, the control unit 130 may newly count the number of times the electronic process has been completed using the automatic payment function from the first time.

[0317] In this case, the user becomes a re-registrant, and the control unit 130 provides a re-registration celebration bonus digital currency or the like to the user account corresponding to the re-registrant.

[0318] In this case, the user information in the user history information is updated to "re-joining customer" or the like.

[0319] In addition, the control unit 130 stores the payment history of the reward digital currency in the storage unit. As an example, as shown in FIG. 18, the control unit 130 i) stores in the storage unit 120 the payment details (payment date and time (e.g., January 13, 2020), type of reward digital currency (e.g., first attribute reward digital currency and second attribute reward digital currency), and reward quantity (e.g., 10)) 1810 of the reward digital currency paid to the user account based on the completion of the next electronic payment process. ii) As another example, the control unit stores in the storage unit 120 the payment details (payment date and time (March 2, 2020), type of reward digital currency (e.g., third attribute reward digital currency), and reward quantity (e.g., 5)) 1820 of the digital currency paid to the user account based on the completion of the electronic payment process.

[0320] In this way, the control unit 130 can provide information regarding the payment history related to the reward digital currency, such as the attribute of the digital currency provided to the user account, the amount provided, and the validity period, as user history information.

[0321] In this way, in the present invention, by continuously updating user history information regarding digital currency purchases and reward digital currency payments, systematic management and monitoring for each user is possible.

[0322] As described above, the digital currency payment method and system according to the present invention may allow digital currency payment to be continuously performed by initiating payment for purchasing digital currency every time a payment event related to digital currency payment occurs. Thus, digital currency used for viewing content is continuously purchased, and content is continuously consumed.

[0323] In addition, according to the above payment method, users have the convenience of not having to make an electronic payment to purchase digital currency each time they view content, and can freely use content using the digital currency they have at any time.

[0324] That is, the digital currency payment method and system according to the present invention can provide convenience to users by automatically starting an electronic payment process based on the occurrence of a payment event related to a payment condition, thereby eliminating the need for users to make separate electronic payments. Also, from the perspective of a content provider, the digital currency payment method used for content browsing, which allows content browsing to be continued, can effectively induce content consumption by consumers, and ensure continuous content consumption by consumers, thereby preventing consumer churn.

[0325] Furthermore, in the present invention, by providing a user account with a different amount of digital currency depending on the number of times the electronic payment process for purchasing digital currency is completed, the user can receive rewards for purchasing digital currency, enabling economical content consumption. From the viewpoint of the content provider, this is useful for member management as it can prevent users from canceling automatic payment midway.

[0326] However, the present invention as described above can be implemented as a program capable of being executed by one or more processes on a computer and stored on a computer readable medium.

[0327] Furthermore, the present invention can be realized as computer readable codes or commands on a program recording medium, that is, the present invention can be provided in the form of a program.

[0328] The computer-readable medium includes any kind of recording device in which data read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable medium include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), a silicon disk drive (SDD), a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

[0329] The computer-readable medium also includes a storage location, including a server or cloud storage location that can be accessed by an electronic device via communication, in which case the computer can download the program according to the present invention from the server or cloud storage location via wired or wireless communication.

[0330] Furthermore, in the present invention, the above-mentioned computer is an electronic device equipped with a processor, that is, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and the type of the processor may be any.

[0331] It should be noted that the above detailed description should not be interpreted as limiting in any respect, but should be considered as illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by reasonable interpretation of the claims, and all modifications within the scope of the equivalents of the present invention are included in the present invention.

Claims

1. A digital currency payment method for making a payment related to a digital currency used for viewing a content, comprising: monitoring, by the digital currency disbursement system, for the occurrence of a payment event associated with a user account and associated with a pre-established payment condition for the purchase of said digital currency; When the digital currency dispensing system detects that the payment event has occurred in the user account as a result of the monitoring, the digital currency dispensing system initiates an electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency for the user account; When the purchase of the digital currency is completed through the electronic payment process, the digital currency payment system pays the purchased digital currency to the user account; and counting the number of times the electronic payment process is completed based on the completion of the electronic payment process by the digital currency payment system; In the step of providing, If the number of times the electronic payment process is completed satisfies a preset reward condition, Provide the user account with a purchase amount of digital currency corresponding to the payment amount of the electronic payment process and a reward amount of digital currency corresponding to the reward; The amount of the digital currency of the reward amount provided to the user account is A method of providing digital currency for viewing content, the method varying depending on the number of times the electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency is completed in the user account.

2. The number of times the electronic payment process is completed is The method for providing digital currency used for viewing content according to claim 1, characterized in that the digital currency is accumulated each time the electronic payment process is completed for the purchase of the digital currency in the user account.

3. The method for providing digital currency used for viewing content according to claim 1, characterized in that the digital currency for the purchase quantity and the digital currency for the reward quantity are set so that the deadlines for which they can be used for viewing the content are different.

4. The method for providing digital currency used for viewing content, as described in claim 3, characterized in that a deadline for which the reward amount of digital currency can be used to view the content is set after a predetermined period based on a reference date on which the reward amount of digital currency was generated.

5. In the step of providing, The digital currency payment method used for viewing content described in claim 1, characterized in that the electronic payment process is initiated each time a payment event that satisfies the pre-set payment conditions occurs in the user account as a result of the monitoring.

6. In the step of providing, The digital currency payment method used for viewing content described in claim 5, characterized in that each time the payment event occurs, an additional reward amount of digital currency is paid to the user account in addition to the digital currency of the purchase amount.

7. The reward quantity is: It depends on the purchase amount of digital currency purchased corresponding to the payment amount, The method for providing digital currency used for browsing content according to claim 1, characterized in that the preset DB stores matching information regarding the reward amounts matched for different purchase amounts of the digital currency.

8. When a request to change the purchase quantity of the digital currency is received from the user account, the digital currency payment system further includes a step of registering purchase request information regarding the changed purchase quantity corresponding to the change request in the user account; In the step of providing, If the number of times the electronic payment process is completed based on the payment event that occurred in the user account after the purchase request information is registered satisfies the preset reward condition, Pay digital currency corresponding to the changed purchase amount together with the digital currency corresponding to the matched reward amount corresponding to the changed purchase amount; The method of claim 7, wherein a reward amount matched with the changed purchase amount is determined based on the matching information.

9. When receiving a request for refund of the digital currency for which the purchase has been completed from the user account, the digital currency payment system further includes a step of performing a refund process for refunding the payment amount corresponding to the digital currency for which the purchase has been completed; In the refund process, Based on the digital currency purchased, it is determined whether the digital currency corresponding to the amount of rewards already provided exists in the user account; The digital currency payment method used for viewing content described in claim 1, characterized in that if the confirmation results in digital currency corresponding to the already paid reward amount being present, the digital currency corresponding to the already paid reward amount is recovered from the user account based on the completion of the refund of the payment amount.

10. The preset payment terms are set in relation to the amount of digital currency already held in the user account; The method of claim 1, wherein the payment event occurs when the amount of digital currency already held in the user account is less than a preset reference amount.

11. The user account stores reference quantity information regarding the preset reference quantity and purchase quantity information specifying the purchase quantity of the digital currency in a matched manner; In the step of providing, The method for providing digital currency used for viewing content as described in claim 10, characterized in that the electronic payment process is executed so that the digital currency is purchased in a purchase quantity corresponding to the purchase quantity information matched and stored in the user account each time the payment event occurs.

12. the content comprises at least one episode; Each of the at least one episode comprises: A digital currency payment method used for viewing content as described in claim 1, characterized in that the product type is either a paid product type that can be viewed by paying the digital currency, or a free product type that can be viewed without paying the digital currency.

13. The digital currency payment method used for viewing content described in claim 12, characterized in that the product type of a specific episode among the at least one episode, which has the paid product type, is switched to a free product type based on the passage of a preset time.

14. The present invention relates to a system for settling digital currency used for browsing content, a storage unit for storing user information relating to a user account; a control unit configured to monitor, in association with the user account, the occurrence of a payment event associated with a preset payment condition for the purchase of the digital currency; The control unit is if the monitoring results in the occurrence of the payment event in the user account, initiating an electronic payment process for the purchase of the digital currency for the user account based on the user information; If the electronic payment process completes the purchase of the digital currency, then providing the completed digital currency to the user account; Counting the number of completions of the electronic payment process based on the completion of the electronic payment process; If the number of times the electronic payment process is completed satisfies a preset reward condition, Provide the user account with a purchase amount of digital currency corresponding to the payment amount of the electronic payment process and a reward amount of digital currency corresponding to the reward; The amount of the digital currency of the reward amount provided to the user account is A digital currency payment system for use in viewing content, the digital currency payment system varying depending on the number of times the electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency is completed in the user account.

15. A program that can be executed by one or more processes in an electronic device and stored in a computer-readable recording medium, The program is monitoring, in association with the user account, the occurrence of a payment event associated with pre-established payment terms for the purchase of digital currency; if said monitoring results in said payment event occurring at said user account, initiating an electronic payment process for a purchase of said digital currency against said user account; if the electronic payment process completes the purchase of the digital currency, providing the purchased digital currency to the user account; and counting the number of completions of the electronic payment process based on the completion of the electronic payment process; In the step of providing, If the number of times the electronic payment process is completed satisfies a preset reward condition, Provide the user account with a purchase amount of digital currency corresponding to the payment amount of the electronic payment process and a reward amount of digital currency corresponding to the reward; The amount of the digital currency of the reward amount provided to the user account is A program that can be stored on a computer-readable recording medium, the program being characterized in that the program varies depending on the number of times the electronic payment process for purchasing the digital currency is completed in the user account.

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