Payment management system, payment management method, and payment management program

Abstract

To improve convenience for both businesses and consumers regarding payment for goods or services. [Solution] A payment management system 1 comprises a business operator terminal 3 used by a business operator, a user terminal 2 used by a user, an account management server 4 that manages the balances of the user's multiple accounts, and a payment management server 5. The payment management server 5 calculates the user's total balance amount related to the payment of the price from the balances of each of the multiple accounts, judges whether the total balance amount exceeds the billing amount, and if it determines that the total balance amount exceeds the billing amount, performs a withdrawal process to withdraw an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the multiple accounts.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a payment management system, a payment management method, and a payment management program for payment of the price of a product or service. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of a system for managing the settlement status (payment status) of the price of a product or service, a payment confirmation notification system has been proposed that can manage excess or shortfall amounts by obtaining the purchase price of the product and the transfer amount related to the purchase price of the product, and updating the purchase price by reducing it by the transfer amount actually deposited (see Patent Document 1).

[0003] The payment confirmation notification system described in Patent Document 1 detects excess or shortfall amounts, and if the amount transferred by the purchaser is less than the purchase price, it notifies the purchaser that the amount is insufficient, and can continue to wait for the shortfall to be deposited in the designated account.

[0004] However, in the payment confirmation notification system described in Patent Document 1, when there is an insufficient amount of money, from the consumer's perspective, a notification to that effect is simply received, while from the business's perspective, the business simply waits for the shortfall to be paid, so there is room for improvement in terms of convenience from the perspectives of both the business and the consumer. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-114389 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to provide a payment management system, a payment management method, and a payment management program that can improve convenience for both businesses and consumers regarding payment for goods or services. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention is characterized in that it is a payment management system, payment management method, and payment management program comprising: a business terminal used by a business providing goods or services; an account management server managing the balances of multiple accounts of users who receive the goods or services; and a management server capable of communicating with each of the business terminal and the account management server, wherein the management server comprises: a billing amount acquisition means for acquiring the billing amount for the price related to the provision of the goods or services; a calculation means for calculating the user's total balance related to payment of the price from the balances of each of the multiple accounts; a judgment means for determining whether the total balance exceeds the billing amount; and a withdrawal processing means for performing a withdrawal process to withdraw an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the multiple accounts if the judgment means determines that the total balance exceeds the billing amount. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The present invention can improve convenience for both businesses and consumers regarding payment for products or services. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a payment management system of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a user terminal. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a carrier terminal. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an account management server. [Diagram 5]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a payment management server. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of the claims process of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of calculation of the total balance amount before a withdrawal process. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the result of the withdrawal process and the remaining balance after the billing process in the example of FIG. 7. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] <System configuration> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a payment management system 1 of the present invention. The payment management system 1 of the present invention is a system for providing a payment management service related to the settlement (payment) of the price in a transaction related to the provision of a product or service. The manner of settling the price of a transaction includes a one-time payment, in which the price of a product or service that is temporarily provided is settled, and a recurring payment, in which the price of a product or service that is periodically and continuously provided is settled. The payment management system 1 of the present invention assumes that in a transaction related to a one-time payment or a recurring payment, the price is paid by withdrawing (debiting) currency (including deposit currency) or electronic money equivalent to the currency from a user's account.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the payment management system 1 has a user terminal 2, a business operator terminal 3, an account management server 4, and a payment management server 5. The user terminal 2 is a terminal used by a user (consumer) who receives products or services from a business operator. The business operator terminal 3 is a terminal used by a business operator (product seller or service provider) who provides products or services to users. The account management server 4 is a server managed by an account management institution that manages the account from which the price of the products or services is remitted. The payment management server 5 is a server for providing payment management services.

[0013] The account management server 4 is a server used by an account management institution that manages accounts opened for users. An account management institution is an institution that manages accounts from which payments for goods or services (deposit currency or electronic money) are remitted. Examples of account management institutions include financial institutions such as banks and credit unions, and payment service providers that manage electronic money. In the payment management system 1 of the present invention, a user has at least one account. Also, in the payment management system 1 of this embodiment, a user is assumed to have multiple accounts. The number of users is not particularly limited as long as it is two or more.

[0014] The user terminal 2, business operator terminal 3, account management server 4, and payment management server 5 are each connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other via a predetermined communication line 6. However, communications between multiple account management servers 4 (between account management institutions) may use dedicated lines for data communications.

[0015] For ease of explanation, one each of user terminal 2 and business operator terminal 3 is shown in the figure, however, the payment management system 1 of the present invention can be used by multiple users and multiple business operators and may have multiple user terminals 2 and multiple business operator terminals 3. Furthermore, in the payment management system 1 of the present invention, there are multiple account management institutions, and each account management institution has one or more account management servers 4. Therefore, the payment management system 1 has multiple account management servers 4.

[0016] The user terminal 2 and the operator terminal 3 are general-purpose computers (user terminals) used by users, such as desktop PCs, notebook (laptop) PCs, tablet PCs, smartphones, and feature phones.

[0017] Each of the account management server 4 and the payment management server 5 is configured as a general-purpose server computer (computing device). Each of the account management server 4 and the payment management server 5 may be configured as one (single) computing device, or may be configured as multiple computing devices. Furthermore, each of the account management server 4 and the payment management server 5 may be configured as a cloud server in whole or in part.

[0018] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the user terminal 2. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the business operator terminal 3. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the account management server 4. Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the payment management server 5.

[0019] 2, the user terminal 2 includes a control unit 21, an input unit 22, a display unit 23, a communication unit 24, and an auxiliary storage unit 25. The input unit 22, the display unit 23, the communication unit 24, and the auxiliary storage unit 25 are each communicatively connected to the control unit 21. The control unit 21 of the user terminal 2 has a calculation unit 26 and a main storage unit 27, and executes various calculations and control operations in the user terminal 2.

[0020] 3, the operator terminal 3 includes a control unit 31, an input unit 32, a display unit 33, a communication unit 34, and an auxiliary storage unit 35. The input unit 32, the display unit 33, the communication unit 34, and the auxiliary storage unit 35 are each communicatively connected to the control unit 31. The control unit 31 of the operator terminal 3 has a calculation unit 36 ​​and a main storage unit 37, and executes various calculations and control operations in the operator terminal 3.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 4, account management server 4 comprises a control unit 41, a communication unit 42, and an auxiliary memory unit 43. The communication unit 42 and the auxiliary memory unit 43 are each communicatively connected to the control unit 41. The control unit 41 of the account management server 4 has a calculation unit 44 and a main memory unit 45, and executes various calculations and control operations in the account management server 4.

[0022] 5, the payment management server 5 includes a control unit 51, a communication unit 52, and an auxiliary memory unit 53. The communication unit 52 and the auxiliary memory unit 53 are each communicatively connected to the control unit 51. The control unit 51 of the payment management server 5 has a calculation unit 56 and a main memory unit 57, and executes various calculations and control operations in the payment management server 5.

[0023] Each of the calculation units (26, 36, 44, 56) shown in Figures 2 to 5 is a calculation processing unit including a CPU or an MPU, etc. Each of the main storage units (27, 37, 45, 57) has a RAM (DRAM) or the like. The RAM is used as a work area and a buffer area for the calculation units (26, 36, 44, 56).

[0024] The input unit (22, 32) has input components that accept operational inputs from the user (user or operator) of the user terminal 2 or the operator terminal 3, and an input detection circuit that is interposed between the input components and the control unit (21, 31). The input components are, for example, a touch panel and / or hardware operation keys. Any type of touch panel can be used. The input detection circuit outputs an operation signal or operation data (operation input data) corresponding to the operation of each input component to the control unit (21, 31).

[0025] The display unit (23, 33) has a display and a display control circuit interposed between the display and the control unit (21, 31). As the display, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display) or an organic EL display can be used.

[0026] The communication units (24, 34, 42, 52) have a communication circuit for connecting to the communication line 6. The communication circuit is a wired communication circuit or a wireless communication circuit, and communicates with an external computer via the communication line 6 in accordance with instructions from the calculation units (26, 36, 44, 56). In addition, the communication units (24, 34, 42, 52) of the user terminal 2, the business operator terminal 3, the account management server 4, and the payment management server 5 can also communicate with each other via a dedicated line or the like, without going through the communication line 6. In particular, the communication unit 42 of the account management server 4 can also communicate via a dedicated line for data communication.

[0027] The auxiliary memory units (25, 35, 43, 53) are composed of non-volatile memory such as an HDD, SSD, flash memory, and EEPROM, and store programs for each calculation unit (26, 36, 44, 56) to control the operation of the user terminal 2, the business operator terminal 3, the account management server 4, and the payment management server 5, as well as various data necessary for using this system.

[0028] 2, the auxiliary storage unit 25 of the user terminal 2 stores a user program 25a for executing various operations of the user terminal 2 in the system in response to operational inputs by the user, and user data 25b necessary for using the system. The user program 25a and user data 25b are read out from the auxiliary storage unit 25 as necessary and stored (expanded) in the main storage unit 27. The operation of the user terminal 2 is realized by the calculation unit 26 executing the user program 25a expanded in the main storage unit 27.

[0029] User program 25a has at least a communication program for accessing (establishing communication with) external computers (e.g., business terminal 3, account management server 4, and payment management server 5), a display program for displaying various screens on display unit 23, an input program for accepting input operations from the user via input unit 22, and a program for selecting and executing various functions equipped in user terminal 2. User data 25b includes at least user data necessary in this system.

[0030] 3, the auxiliary storage unit 35 of the operator terminal 3 stores operator programs 35a for executing various operations of the operator terminal 3, and operator data 35b required for using the system. The operator programs 35a and the operator data 35b are read out from the auxiliary storage unit 35 as necessary and stored (expanded) in the main storage unit 37. The operation of the operator terminal 3 is realized by the calculation unit 36 ​​executing the operator programs 35a expanded in the main storage unit 37.

[0031] The business operator program 35a includes at least a communications program for accessing (establishing communication with) an external computer (e.g., the user terminal 2, the account management server 4, and the payment management server 5), a billing amount notification program for notifying the payment management server 5 of data (billing amount data) on the price (billing amount) for each transaction, an input program for accepting input operations from the business operator's staff (user of the business operator terminal 3) via the input unit 32, and a program for selecting and executing various functions provided by the business operator terminal 3.

[0032] As shown in Figure 4, the auxiliary memory unit 43 of the account management server 4 stores an account management program 43a for executing various operations of the account management server 4, and account management data 43b necessary for using the system. The account management program 43a and the account management data 43b are read out from the auxiliary memory unit 43 as necessary and stored (expanded) in the main memory unit 45. The operation of the carrier terminal 3 is realized by the calculation unit 44 executing the account management program 43a expanded in the main memory unit 45.

[0033] The account management program 43a includes at least a communication program for accessing (establishing communication with) an external computer (e.g., the user terminal 2, the business terminal 3, the other account management servers 4, and the payment management server 5), a program for managing the balance (bank deposit currency) for each account, a charge setting storage program for storing charge setting data indicating whether or not an auto-charge setting (charge setting) for each account has been set, a deferred payment setting storage program for storing deferred payment setting data indicating whether or not a credit balance for deferred payment has been set for each account, and a program for selecting and executing various functions provided by the account management server 4. The account management data 43b includes balance data indicating the balance for each account, charge setting data for each account, deferred payment setting data for each account, and various data for account management required in this system.

[0034] 5, the auxiliary memory unit 53 of the payment management server 5 stores a payment management program 54 for executing various operations of the payment management server 5, and payment management data 55 required for using the system. The payment management program 54 and the payment management data 55 are read out from the auxiliary memory unit 53 as necessary and temporarily stored in the main memory unit 57. The operation of the payment management server 5 is realized by the calculation unit 56 executing the payment management program 54 temporarily stored in the main memory unit 57.

[0035] The payment management program 54 includes at least a main processing program 54a for selecting and executing various functions of the payment management server 5, a billing amount management program 54b for managing billing amount data for each transaction notified from the business terminal 3, an account information acquisition program 54c for accessing the account management server 4 to acquire balance data, charge setting data, and deferred payment setting data for the user's multiple accounts related to the transaction, as well as priority data for the multiple accounts, a calculation program 54d for calculating the total amount (total balance amount) of the balance (withdrawable balance) that can be withdrawn from the user's account from the balance data, charge setting data, and deferred payment setting data of the user's account, a judgment program 54e for determining whether the total balance amount exceeds the billing amount, a withdrawal processing program 54f for performing a withdrawal process to withdraw an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the multiple accounts when the total balance amount exceeds the billing amount, and an unpaid amount collection program 54g for performing an unpaid amount collection process when the total balance amount does not exceed the billing amount or when the withdrawal process is not successful (fails).

[0036] The payment management data 55 includes user data 55a, which is data on users who use this system, business data 55b, which is data on business operators who use this system, billing amount data for each transaction notified from the business operator terminal 3 55c, account data 55d including balance data, charge setting data, and deferred payment setting data for the user's multiple accounts related to the transaction, data on the user's total balance amount (total balance amount data) 55e, data on the remaining billing amount after deduction processing (remaining billing amount data) 55f, and data on the results of the deduction processing (result data) 55g.

[0037] The user data 55a has data for linking the user terminal 2 with the user (the user of the user terminal 2). The business data 55b has data for linking the business terminal 3 with the business (the user of the business terminal 3). The account data 55d is linked to the user data 55a of the user who is the owner of the account. As described above, since a user has multiple accounts, one user data 55a is linked to multiple account data 55d. The user data 55a also includes data on the priority of the multiple account data 55d (the order in which withdrawals are performed). The billing amount data 55c includes not only the billing amount but also data for identifying the user involved in the transaction. The billing amount data 55c, the account data 55d, the withdrawable balance data 55e, the billing balance data 55f, and the result data 55g are stored in a manner that allows them to be distinguished for each transaction, such as by being linked to the identification information (ID) for each transaction.

[0038] It should be noted that the above-mentioned configurations of the user terminal 2, the business operator terminal 3, the account management server 4, and the payment management server 5 are merely examples, and the configurations are not necessarily limited to these.

[0039] <System operation example> An example of the operation of the payment management system 1 will be described below. First, a brief description will be given of the generation of billing amount data 55c, which is a premise for describing an example of the operation of the payment management system 1. When a specific transaction is carried out between a business operator and a user and the timing of the payment arrives, the business operator terminal 3 notifies the payment management server 5 of data (billing amount data) on the price of the transaction (billing amount). The payment management server 5 stores the billing amount data notified by the business operator terminal 3 as billing amount data 55c. When the billing amount data 55c is stored, a billing process is executed, which includes a deduction process for deducting the price of the transaction related to the billing amount data 55c from the user's account.

[0040] Fig. 6 is a flow diagram of the billing process of the present invention. Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of calculation of the total balance amount before withdrawal. Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the result of the withdrawal process after the billing process in the example of Fig. 7 and the balance after the billing process. The billing process will be described below with reference to Figs. 6 to 8.

[0041] The billing process shown in Fig. 6 is a process performed by the payment management server 5 (control unit 51) in cooperation with the user terminal 2, account management server 4, and business operator terminal 3, etc. As shown in Fig. 6, when the payment management server 5 starts the billing process, it obtains the billing amount from the billing amount data 55c (step S1) and identifies the user related to the transaction (billing amount) (step S2).

[0042] Next, the balance of each account (all accounts) of the user involved in the transaction is inquired (step S3), the balance of each account of the user involved in the transaction is inquired from billing amount data 55c (step S3), the charge settings of each account of the user involved in the transaction are inquired (step S4), the deferred payment settings of each account of the user involved in the transaction are inquired (step S5), and the total balance amount is calculated from the balance data, charge setting data, and deferred payment setting data of each account of the user (step S6).

[0043] Specifically, when calculating the total balance, not only are the balances of all the user's accounts added together, but a predetermined amount is added to the balance when the charge setting is "Yes" and when the deferred payment setting is "Yes" to calculate the withdrawable balance. Here, the amount added when the charge setting is "Yes" and when the deferred payment setting is "Yes" can be any amount. Also, when the charge setting is "Yes" and the payment management server 5 is able to acquire data on the charge amount per transaction, the charge amount per transaction can be added to calculate the withdrawable balance. Also, when the deferred payment setting is "Yes" and the payment management server 5 is able to acquire the credit limit (credit limit), the credit limit or an amount equivalent to the credit limit can be added to calculate the withdrawable balance.

[0044] The flow from step S1 to step S6 and the method of calculating the total balance will be described with reference to FIG. 7. In the example of FIG. 7, a certain business operator bills four users "aaa", "bbb", "ccc", and "ddd" for 50,000 yen each for a transaction. In this example, each of the four users "aaa", "bbb", "ccc", and "ddd" has two accounts (a first account and a second account). The priority of the accounts is such that the first account is higher than the second account. Each of the first account and the second account may be a bank account or a non-bank account such as electronic money. In addition, the amount added when the charge setting is "Yes" and when the deferred payment setting is "Yes" is set to 20,000 yen.

[0045] For example, the balance in user "aaa"'s first account is 40,000 yen, and both the charge setting and the deferred payment setting are "none," so there is no surcharge due to the charge setting and the deferred payment setting. Therefore, the withdrawable balance in user "aaa"'s first account is 40,000 yen. Also, the balance in user "aaa"'s second account is 40,000 yen, and both the charge setting and the deferred payment setting are "none," so there is no surcharge due to the charge setting and the deferred payment setting. Therefore, the withdrawable balance in user "aaa"'s second account is 40,000 yen. Therefore, the total balance for user "aaa" is 80,000 yen.

[0046] The balance in user "bbb"'s first account is 40,000 yen, and both the charge setting and the deferred payment setting are set to "Yes." The charge setting and the deferred payment setting add 20,000 yen each, for a total of 40,000 yen. As a result, the withdrawable balance from user "bbb"'s first account is 80,000 yen. The balance in user "bbb"'s second account is 0 yen, and both the charge setting and the deferred payment setting are set to "No." There are no additions made from the charge setting and the deferred payment setting. As a result, the withdrawable balance from user "bbb"'s second account is 0 yen. Therefore, the total balance for user "bbb" is 80,000 yen.

[0047] The balance in user "ccc"'s first account is 90,000 yen, and both the charge setting and the deferred payment setting are "none," meaning there are no surcharges due to the charge setting and the deferred payment setting. As a result, the withdrawable balance from user "ccc"'s first account is 90,000 yen. Additionally, the balance in user "ccc"'s second account is 20,000 yen, and both the charge setting and the deferred payment setting are "yes." The charge setting and the deferred payment setting each add 20,000 yen, for a total of 40,000 yen. As a result, the withdrawable balance from user "ccc"'s second account is 60,000 yen. Therefore, the total balance for user "ccc" is 150,000 yen.

[0048] The balance in user "ddd"'s first account is 10,000 yen, and both the charge setting and deferred payment setting are "none", meaning there is no surcharge due to the charge setting and deferred payment setting. As a result, the withdrawable balance from user "ddd"'s first account is 10,000 yen. Additionally, the balance in user "ddd"'s second account is 10,000 yen, and the charge setting is "yes" and the deferred payment setting is "none". The charge setting surcharge is 20,000 yen. As a result, the withdrawable balance from user "ddd"'s second account is 30,000 yen. Therefore, the total balance for user "ddd" is 40,000 yen.

[0049] 6, once the total balance amount is calculated (step S6), it is determined whether the total balance amount exceeds the billing amount (step S7). If it is determined that the total balance amount does not exceed the billing amount (step S7: NO), the process proceeds to step S10, which will be described later.

[0050] On the other hand, if it is determined that the total balance exceeds the billing amount (step S7: YES), the billing amount is deducted (step S8). In step S8, the deducting process is carried out starting with the first account, which has the highest priority among accounts. If the amount to be deducted from the first account is less than the billing amount, the remaining amount (billing balance) is deducted from the second account.

[0051] Next, it is determined whether the withdrawal process in step S8 was successful (step S9). Here, it is determined that the withdrawal process was successful if the full amount of the billing amount was withdrawn. That is, in step S9, it is determined whether the full amount of the billing amount was withdrawn (whether the billing balance becomes 0 yen). Here, if it is determined that the withdrawal process was not successful (the withdrawal process failed) (step S9: NO), the process proceeds to step S10. Note that cases in which the withdrawal process fails include when the account balance changes due to deposits being withdrawn from the account or electronic money being used between the calculation of the total balance amount in steps S1 to S6 and the execution of the withdrawal process. On the other hand, if it is determined that the withdrawal process was successful (step S9: YES), the billing process ends.

[0052] In step S10, the process moves to unpaid collection processing. That is, if the total balance does not exceed the billing amount or if the withdrawal process has failed, the process moves to unpaid collection processing. Furthermore, when the process moves to unpaid collection processing, the unpaid amount (uncollected charges) is collected by a method other than the normal payment method. For example, in the unpaid collection processing, a reminder notice (such as email) may be sent to the user terminal 2. Note that a detailed explanation of the specific method of unpaid collection processing is omitted since it is not an essential part of the present invention and a known method can be used, such as mailing a payment slip to the user individually for each transaction.

[0053] The flow from step S7 to step S10 and the contents of the withdrawal process will be described with reference to Fig. 8. The example of Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the result of the withdrawal process and the remaining balance in the example of Fig. 7.

[0054] As described above, the withdrawable balance of user "aaa"'s first account was 40,000 yen, the withdrawable balance of user "aaa"'s second account was 40,000 yen, and the total balance of user "aaa" was 80,000 yen (see Figure 7). The billing amount was 50,000 yen, so the total balance exceeded the billing amount. For this reason, the withdrawal process was carried out starting with the first account, which has the highest account priority, and 40,000 yen was withdrawn from the first account and 10,000 yen was withdrawn from the second account, for a total of 50,000 yen. Since the entire billing amount was withdrawn, the result of the withdrawal process was "success (○)", and the billing process for user "aaa" was completed. Note that the balance of the first account is 0 yen, and the balance of the second account is 30,000 yen.

[0055] The withdrawable balance of the first account of user "bbb" was 80,000 yen, the withdrawable balance of the second account of user "bbb" was 0 yen, and the total balance of user "bbb" was 80,000 yen (see FIG. 7). The billing amount was 50,000 yen, so the total balance exceeded the billing amount. For this reason, the withdrawal process was carried out starting with the first account, which has the highest priority, and 50,000 yen was withdrawn from the first account, for a total of 50,000 yen. Since the entire billing amount was withdrawn, the result of the withdrawal process was "success (○)", and the billing process for user "bbb" was completed. The balance of the first account is 0 yen, and the balance of the second account is 0 yen. Note that in the example shown in FIG. 8, the balance of the first account after the billing process is 0 yen, but if auto-charge is performed when the balance falls below a certain balance, a balance according to the amount charged per time may be generated.

[0056] The withdrawable balance of user "ccc"'s first account was 90,000 yen, and the withdrawable balance of user "ccc"'s second account was 60,000 yen, leaving a total balance for user "ccc" of 150,000 yen (see Figure 7). The amount claimed was 50,000 yen, so the total balance exceeded the amount claimed. For this reason, the withdrawal process was carried out starting with the first account, which has the highest account priority, and 50,000 yen was withdrawn from the first account, for a total of 50,000 yen. As the entire amount claimed was withdrawn, the result of the withdrawal process was "success (○)", and the billing process for user "ccc" was completed. The balance of the first account was 40,000 yen, and the balance of the second account was 60,000 yen.

[0057] The withdrawable balance of user "ddd"'s first account was 10,000 yen, and the withdrawable balance of user "ddd"'s second account was 30,000 yen, leaving a total balance for user "ddd" of 40,000 yen (see Figure 7). The amount claimed is 50,000 yen, so the total balance does not exceed the amount claimed. As a result, the withdrawal process is not executed, and the system moves on to the unpaid balance collection process. Furthermore, because the withdrawal process is not executed, the result of the withdrawal process is "failed (×)", and there is no change in the balance of each account.

[0058] As described above, the settlement management system 1 of the present invention judges whether the total balance exceeds the billing amount, and if it is judged that the total balance exceeds the billing amount, a withdrawal process is performed to withdraw an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the multiple accounts. Therefore, even if the balance in one account does not exceed the billing amount, if the total balance exceeds the billing amount, payment of the price is possible. Therefore, from the business operator's point of view, the possibility of collecting the price increases, and from the user (consumer)'s point of view, it is convenient because payment can be made as long as the total amount of multiple accounts is sufficient, without having to worry about the balance of a certain account. Therefore, it is possible to improve the convenience of both the business operator and the consumer regarding the payment of the price of the product or service.

[0059] Furthermore, according to the present invention, the withdrawal process is carried out in order of priority of multiple accounts, starting with the highest priority account, so that the user can make preparations in advance, such as increasing the balance of the highest priority account, which is convenient.

[0060] Furthermore, according to the present invention, a specified amount is added to the balance of an account for which an auto-charge charge setting has been set up to calculate the total balance, so that payments can be made even when the balance is low, improving convenience for both businesses and consumers.

[0061] Furthermore, according to the present invention, a predetermined amount is added to the balance of an account with a deferred payment setting to calculate the total balance, so that payment can be made even when the balance is low, improving convenience for both businesses and consumers. In addition, additions related to the charge setting and additions related to the deferred payment setting can be combined, increasing the possibility of being able to pay the price, improving convenience for both businesses and consumers.

[0062] Furthermore, according to the present invention, if it is determined that the total balance does not exceed the billed amount, the process proceeds to unpaid balance collection, so that unpaid balance (uncollected charges) can be collected by a method other than the normal payment method, thereby increasing the possibility of collecting the charges.

[0063] The management server of this invention corresponds to the payment management server 5 in the above embodiment, the business operator terminal corresponds to the business operator terminal 3, the account management server corresponds to the account management server 4, the billing amount acquisition means corresponds to the billing amount management program 54b and the control unit 51 operating in accordance with it, the calculation means corresponds to the calculation program 54d and the control unit 51 operating in accordance with it, the judgment means corresponds to the judgment program 54e and the control unit 51 operating in accordance with it, the withdrawal processing means corresponds to the withdrawal processing program 54f and the control unit 51 operating in accordance with it, the priority storage means corresponds to the auxiliary memory unit 53 storing user data 55a, the priority acquisition means corresponds to the account information acquisition program 54c and the control unit 51 operating in accordance with it, the charge setting storage means corresponds to the auxiliary memory unit 43 storing the account management data 43b, and the deferred payment setting storage means corresponds to the auxiliary memory unit 43 storing the account management data 43b, but this invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be made into various other embodiments. Furthermore, the screens and specific configurations described in the above embodiment are merely examples and can be modified as appropriate according to the actual product.

[0064] For example, in the above embodiment, the account priority data is stored in auxiliary storage unit 53 (payment management server 5) as part of user data 55a, but it may be stored in another device (device having a memory unit) capable of communicating with payment management server 5, a cloud server, etc. Furthermore, each of the charge setting data and the deferred payment setting data is stored in auxiliary storage unit 43 (account management server 4) as part of account management data 43b, but it may be stored in another device (device having a memory unit) capable of communicating with payment management server 5, a cloud server, etc. [Industrial Applicability]

[0065] The present invention can be used in industries related to payment for goods or services. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 1. Payment management system 2. User terminal 3. Business server 4. Account management server 5. Payment management server 51...Control unit

Claims

1. A business terminal used by a business that provides a product or service; an account management server that manages the balances of multiple accounts of users who receive the products or services; a charge setting storage means for storing whether or not a charge setting related to auto-charge is set for each of the plurality of accounts; a management server capable of communicating with each of the business operator terminal, the charge setting storage means, and the account management server; The management server includes: a billing amount acquisition means for acquiring a billing amount relating to the price for the provision of the product or service; a calculation means for calculating a total balance of the user related to the payment of the fee from the balances of the multiple accounts by adding a predetermined amount to the balance of the account in which the charge setting is set; a determination means for determining whether the total balance exceeds the billing amount; a withdrawal processing means for performing a withdrawal process for withdrawing an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the plurality of accounts when the determination means determines that the total balance amount exceeds the billing amount. Payment management system.

2. A priority order storage means for storing the priorities of the plurality of accounts is further provided, The management server further includes a priority acquisition means for acquiring the priority of the plurality of accounts, The withdrawal processing means performs withdrawal processing in accordance with the priority of the multiple accounts, starting from the account with the highest priority. The payment management system according to claim 1.

3. A payment management method in a payment management system including a business terminal used by a business providing a product or service, an account management server managing the balances of multiple accounts of users who receive the product or service, a charge setting storage means for storing whether or not a charge setting related to auto-charge is set for each of the multiple accounts, and a management server capable of communicating with each of the business terminal, the charge setting storage means, and the account management server, comprising: The management server Obtain the invoice amount for the price related to the provision of said goods or services; adding a predetermined amount to the balance of the account in which the charge setting is set, and calculating a total balance amount of the user related to the payment of the price from the balances of each of the multiple accounts; determining whether said total outstanding amount exceeds said billing amount; When it is determined that the total balance exceeds the billing amount, a withdrawal process is performed to withdraw an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the multiple accounts. Payment management methods.

4. A management server computer capable of communicating with a business terminal used by a business providing a product or service, an account management server for managing the balances of multiple accounts of a user receiving the product or service, and a charge setting storage means for storing whether or not a charge setting related to auto-charge is set for each of the multiple accounts, a billing amount acquisition means for acquiring a billing amount relating to the price for the provision of the product or service; a calculation means for calculating a total balance of the user related to the payment of the fee from the balances of the multiple accounts by adding a predetermined amount to the balance of the account in which the charge setting is set; a determination means for determining whether the total balance exceeds the billing amount; When the determining means determines that the total balance exceeds the billing amount, the determining means functions as a withdrawal processing means for performing a withdrawal process for withdrawing an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the plurality of accounts. Payment management program.

5. A business terminal used by a business providing a product or service; an account management server that manages the balances of multiple accounts of users who receive the products or services; a deferred payment setting storage means for storing whether or not a deferred payment setting is set for each of the plurality of accounts; a management server capable of communicating with each of the carrier terminal, the postpaid setting storage means, and the account management server; The management server includes: a billing amount acquisition means for acquiring a billing amount relating to the price for the provision of the product or service; a calculation means for calculating a total balance of the user related to the payment of the price from the balances of the multiple accounts by adding a predetermined amount to the balance of the account set for deferred payment; a determination means for determining whether the total balance exceeds the billing amount; a withdrawal processing means for performing a withdrawal process for withdrawing an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the plurality of accounts when the determination means determines that the total balance amount exceeds the billing amount. Payment management system.

6. A payment management method in a payment management system including a business terminal used by a business providing a product or service, an account management server that manages the balances of multiple accounts of users who receive said product or service, a deferred payment setting storage means that stores whether or not a deferred payment setting is set for each of said multiple accounts, and a management server that is capable of communicating with each of said business terminal, said deferred payment setting storage means, and said account management server, The management server Obtain the invoice amount for the price related to the provision of said goods or services; adding a predetermined amount to the balance of the account set for deferred payment, and calculating a total balance of the user related to the payment of the price from the balances of each of the multiple accounts; determining whether said total outstanding amount exceeds said billing amount; When it is determined that the total balance exceeds the billing amount, a withdrawal process is performed to withdraw an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the multiple accounts. Payment management methods.

7. A management server computer capable of communicating with each of a business terminal used by a business providing a product or service, an account management server managing the balances of multiple accounts of a user receiving the product or service, and a deferred payment setting storage means for storing whether or not a deferred payment setting is set for each of the multiple accounts, a billing amount acquisition means for acquiring a billing amount relating to the price for the provision of the product or service; a calculation means for calculating a total balance of the user related to the payment of the price from the balances of the multiple accounts by adding a predetermined amount to the balance of the account set for deferred payment; a determination means for determining whether the total balance exceeds the billing amount; When the determining means determines that the total balance exceeds the billing amount, the determining means functions as a withdrawal processing means for performing a withdrawal process for withdrawing an amount equivalent to the billing amount from at least one of the plurality of accounts. Payment management program.

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