Information Processing Apparatus, Program, and Information Processing Method

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus which informs a user of information about a seller holding card information when informing the user of use details of a credit card.SOLUTION: In a payment system 100, a payment service management server being an information processing apparatus comprises: a request acquisition unit (communication control unit) which acquires, from a first provider providing an article, data, or a service to a user of a payment service, a validity confirmation request for requesting confirmation of validity of using the payment service by the user, first provider identification information for identifying the first provider, and user identification information assigned to the user by a second provider providing the payment service; and a confirmation history generation unit which generates confirmation time information indicating the time at which the request acquisition unit received the validity confirmation request, and / or the time at which processing for confirming the validity in response to the validity confirmation request was performed, and confirmation history information associating the user identification information acquired by the request acquisition unit and the first provider identification information with each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a program, and an information processing method.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing method for outputting a list of usage details of a credit card to a member's terminal device. [Prior Art Document] [Patent Document] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-113081

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0003] In a first aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus is provided. The above information processing apparatus, for example, requests a user of a payment service to (i) a validity confirmation request for confirming the validity of the use of the payment service by the user from a first provider who provides an article, data, or service, (ii) first provider identification information for identifying the first provider, and (iii) a request acquisition unit that acquires user identification information assigned to the user by a second provider that provides the payment service. The above information processing apparatus, for example, (i) confirmation time information indicating the time when the request acquisition unit received the validity confirmation request and / or the time when the process for confirming the validity was executed in response to the validity confirmation request, and (ii) a confirmation history generation unit that generates confirmation history information in which the user identification information and the first provider identification information acquired by the request acquisition unit are associated.

[0004] The above information processing apparatus may include a confirmation history notification unit that refers to a confirmation history storage unit that stores one or more pieces of confirmation history information generated by the confirmation history generation unit and notifies the user of at least a part of the first provider identification information included in one or more pieces of confirmation history information associated with the user identification information of the user. In the above information processing apparatus, the confirmation history notification unit may refer to the confirmation history storage unit and extract confirmation history information in which the length of the period since the validity was confirmed is greater than a predetermined value among one or more pieces of confirmation history information associated with the user identification information of the user. The confirmation history notification unit may notify the user of the first provider identification information included in the extracted confirmation history information. In the above information processing apparatus, the confirmation history notification unit may generate detail information indicating the usage status of the payment service by the user for each period having a predetermined length. The confirmation history notification unit may notify the user of (a) the first provider identification information included in at least a part of the confirmation history information and (b) the detail information.

[0005] In the above information processing apparatus, the confirmation history notification unit may transmit a first command for causing an information processing terminal used by the user to execute a process of transmitting to the information processing apparatus (c) (i) selection information indicating the first provider identification information selected by the user among the first provider identification information notified to the user and (ii) a restriction request for requesting the information processing apparatus to restrict the use of the payment service in a transaction between the first provider identified by the first provider identification information indicated by the selection information and the user. In the above information processing apparatus, the confirmation history notification unit may transmit a second command for causing an information processing terminal used by the user to execute a process of transmitting to the information processing apparatus (d) (i) selection information indicating the first provider identification information selected by the user among the first provider identification information notified to the user and (ii) a deletion request for requesting the information processing apparatus to delete or not use the information of the user regarding the payment service by the first provider identified by the first provider identification information indicated by the selection information.

[0006] In the information processing apparatus described above, the payment service may be a service that provides credit card payment or a payment agency service that uses credit card payment. In the information processing apparatus described above, the validity confirmation request may be a request for confirming the validity of a credit card distributed to the user. In the information processing apparatus described above, the confirmation history generation unit may generate confirmation history information when (i) the validity confirmation request requests confirmation of the validity of the credit card and does not request securing of the usage limit in the user's payment service, or (ii) no credit request for securing the usage limit in the user's payment service is made until a predetermined period elapses after the request acquisition unit acquires the validity confirmation request.

[0007] In a second aspect of the present invention, an information processing method is provided. Each step of the information processing method described above is executed by, for example, a computer. The information processing method described above includes, for example, a request acquisition step of requesting a user of a payment service to acquire (i) a validity confirmation request for confirming the validity of the use of the payment service from a first provider that provides an article, data, or service, (ii) first provider identification information for identifying the first provider, and (iii) user identification information assigned to the user by a second provider that provides the payment service. The information processing method described above includes, for example, a confirmation history generation step of generating (i) confirmation time information indicating the time when the validity confirmation request was received in the request acquisition step and / or the time when processing for confirming the validity was executed in response to the validity confirmation request, and (ii) confirmation history information in which the user identification information and the first provider identification information acquired in the request acquisition step are associated with each other.

[0008] In a third aspect of the present invention, a program is provided. The above program may be a program for causing a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to the above first embodiment. The above program may also be a program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to the above second embodiment. A computer-readable medium storing the above program may be provided. The computer-readable medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable recording medium.

[0009] Note that the above summary of the invention does not list all the necessary features of the present invention. Also, sub-combinations of these feature groups may also be inventions.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention claimed in the claims. Also, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution of the invention. In the drawings, the same or similar parts may be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions may be omitted.

[0012] (Overview of Settlement System 100) FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of the system configuration of the settlement system 100. In the present embodiment, for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the settlement system 100, the details of the settlement system 100 will be described by taking as an example a commercial transaction between a user 20 who is a member of the credit card settlement service provided by a settlement service provider 40 and a seller 30 who is a franchisee of the credit card settlement service. In the present embodiment, for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the settlement system 100, the details of the settlement system 100 will be described by taking as an example a case where the user 20 uses an e-commerce site (which may be referred to as an EC site) operated by the seller 30 to purchase an item, data, or service (which may be referred to as a product) from the seller 30.

[0013] As described above, in the present embodiment, the user 20 purchases a product sold by the seller 30. The user 20 pays the seller 30 for the product using the settlement service provided by the settlement service provider 40. In the present embodiment, the seller 30 provides the product to the user 20. In the present embodiment, the settlement service provider 40 provides a settlement service to the user 20 and the seller 30.

[0014] By the way, depending on the EC site, before the user 20 purchases a product on the EC site using a credit card, a service that enables quick settlement is provided by registering in advance the credit card information (which may be referred to as card information) of the user 20 on the EC site. Examples of the card information include a membership number (which may be referred to as a card number), the expiration date of the credit card, and a security code.

[0015] For example, when user 20 registers card information on an EC site with low usage frequency, even though user 20 has not used the EC site for a relatively long period of time, the card information remains registered on the EC site. As a result, for example, user 20 continues to be exposed to the risk of card information leakage.

[0016] However, when a relatively long period of time has passed since user 20 registered credit card information on an EC site, or when user 20 has registered credit card information on multiple EC sites, it is not easy for user 20 to grasp the registration status of the card information. In addition, since it is relatively time-consuming to access the EC site and cancel the registration of the card information, the number of users 20 who deliberately access the EC site to cancel the registration of the card information is relatively small. In addition, the operator of the EC site has no incentive to prompt user 20 to cancel the registration of the card information.

[0017] Therefore, the inventors focused on the fact that when the credit card information of user 20 is registered, a process for confirming the validity of the credit card (which may be referred to as validity check) is executed, and constructed the settlement system 100 according to this embodiment. According to the settlement system 100 according to this embodiment, for example, when the card information of user 20 is registered on the website operated by the seller 30, the settlement service management server 110 operated by the settlement service provider 40 stores the identification information of the seller 30 and the identification information of user 20 in association with each other. Thereby, the settlement service management server 110 can notify user 20 of information regarding the seller 30 that holds the card information, for example, when notifying user 20 of the usage details of the credit card.

[0018] The identification information of user 20 may be the identification information assigned to user 20 by the settlement service provider 40. Examples of the identification information of user 20 include the membership number or card number of the credit card.

[0019] Also, in this embodiment, the payment system 100 can restrict the use of a credit card at a seller 30 designated by the user 20 among one or more sellers 30 that hold the user 20's card information based on an instruction from the user 20. Thereby, unauthorized use of the credit card can be suppressed. For example, even if the user 20's account on the above-mentioned seller 30's website is misused, the payment using the credit card registered on the website is restricted.

[0020] (Overview of each part related to the payment system 100) In this embodiment, the payment system 100 includes a payment service management server 110. The payment system 100 may include a transaction management system 120. In this embodiment, the payment service management server 110 has a registration processing unit 112, a payment processing unit 114, and a storage unit 116. In this embodiment, the transaction management system 120 has, for example, a website management unit 122.

[0021] Also, in this embodiment, the user 20 can access the payment service management server 110 and / or the transaction management system 120 using the user terminal 22. In this embodiment, in this embodiment, the user terminal 22 can transmit and receive information to and from the payment service management server 110 and / or the transaction management system 120 via the communication network 10. Similarly, in this embodiment, the payment service management server 110 and the transaction management system 120 can transmit and receive information to and from each other via the communication network 10.

[0022] In this embodiment, the communication network 10 transmits information. The communication network 10 may be a wired communication transmission line, a wireless communication transmission line, or a combination of a wireless communication transmission line and a wired communication transmission line. The communication network 10 includes, for example, at least one of a wireless packet communication network, the Internet, a P2P network, a dedicated line, a VPN, a power line communication line, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication line, and a road-to-vehicle communication line. The communication network 10 may (i) include a mobile communication network such as a mobile phone line network, and may (ii) include a wireless communication network such as a wireless MAN (e.g., WiMAX (registered trademark)), a wireless LAN (e.g., WiFi (registered trademark)), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Zigbee (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication).

[0023] In this embodiment, the user terminal 22 transmits and receives information to / from the payment service management server 110 and / or the transaction management system 120 via the communication network 10, for example. The user terminal 22 may be any device capable of transmitting and receiving information to / from other information processing devices, and its details are not particularly limited. Examples of the user terminal 22 include a personal computer and a mobile terminal. Examples of the mobile terminal include a mobile phone, a smartphone, a PDA, a tablet, a notebook computer or a laptop computer, and a wearable computer.

[0024] In this embodiment, when the card information of the user 20 is registered in the Web site management unit 122 of the seller 30, for example, the payment service management server 110 stores the identification information of the seller 30 and the identification information of the user 20 in association with each other. Thereby, the payment service management server 110 can grasp one or more sellers 30 that hold the card information of the user 20 for each user 20 or for each credit card.

[0025] The settlement service management server 110 may notify the user 20 of the identification information of one or more sellers 30 that hold the user 20's card information. For example, when notifying the user 20 of the usage details of a credit card, the settlement service management server 110 notifies the user 20 of information regarding the seller 30 that holds the card information. Details of the settlement service management server 110 will be described later.

[0026] In the present embodiment, when the card information of the user 20 is registered in the website management unit 122 of the seller 30, for example, the registration processing unit 112 associates the identification information of the seller 30 with the identification information of the user 20 and stores it in the storage unit 116. More specifically, the registration processing unit 112 generates, for example, information indicating the time when the card information of the user 20 was registered in the website management unit 122 of the seller 30 (which may be referred to as confirmation time information), the identification information of the seller 30, and information in which the identification information of the user 20 is associated (which may be referred to as confirmation history information). The registration processing unit 112 stores the generated confirmation history information in the storage unit 116. Details of the registration processing unit 112 will be described later.

[0027] In the present embodiment, when a product is traded between the user 20 and the seller 30, the settlement processing unit 114 executes the settlement for the transaction. Details of the settlement processing unit 114 will be described later.

[0028] In the present embodiment, the storage unit 116 stores various types of information. In one embodiment, the storage unit 116 stores information used for various information processes in the settlement system 100. In other embodiments, the storage unit 116 stores information generated in various information processes in the settlement system 100. Details of the storage unit 116 will be described later.

[0029] In this embodiment, the portal site management unit 118 manages a website related to the payment service. The portal site management unit 118 manages the operation of a website (which may be referred to as a portal site) for providing various information regarding the credit card of the user 20 to the user 20.

[0030] In one embodiment, the portal site includes a page (for example, a web page) for presenting the usage status and / or registration status to the user 20. The portal site includes a page (for example, a web page) for the user 20 to send various requests to the payment service management server 110.

[0031] Examples of the above requests include a request (which may be referred to as a viewing request) for viewing the usage status and / or registration status of the credit card, a request (which may be referred to as a restriction request) for restricting the use of the credit card by a specific vendor 30, and a request (which may be referred to as a cancellation request) for canceling the registration of card information with a specific vendor 30.

[0032] The specific vendor 30 may be a vendor 30 designated by the user 20. The vendor 30 designated by the user 20 may be a vendor 30 selected by the user 20 among the vendors 30 in which the card information of the user 20 is registered.

[0033] The process for the user 20 to specify or select a specific vendor 30 is executed, for example, according to the following procedure. First, the payment service management server 110 sends a list of vendors 30 in which the card information of the user 20 is registered to the user terminal 22. The user terminal 22 causes the above list to be displayed on a display device (not shown) of the user terminal 22. The user 20 operates the user terminal 22 to select a vendor 30 among the vendors 30 listed in the above list, which is the target for credit card use restriction and / or card information registration cancellation. The user terminal 22 sends the identification information of the vendor 30 selected by the user 20 to the payment service management server 110.

[0034] Examples of restriction requests include (i) a request to temporarily suspend the use of user 20's credit card by the payment service management server 110, and (ii) a request to temporarily reduce the credit limit for user 20's credit card by the payment service management server 110. Examples of release requests include a request to delete card information from a specific vendor 30 and a request to prevent a specific vendor 30 from using card information.

[0035] As described above, the release request is sent to the payment service management server 110. The release request may be a request for the payment service management server 110 to execute a process to delete card information from the vendor 30. The release request may be a request for the payment service management server 110 to execute a process to prevent the vendor 30 from using card information.

[0036] Examples of processes for deleting card information from a specific vendor 30 include a process of requesting the deletion of card information from the website management department 122 of the specific vendor 30. Examples of processes for preventing a vendor 30 from using card information include a process of requesting the suspension of the use of card information from the website management department 122 of the specific vendor 30 and a process of requesting measures to prevent unauthorized use and / or leakage of card information.

[0037] In another embodiment, the portal site includes a page (e.g., a web page) for user 20 to access one or more websites operated by one or more vendors 30 via the portal site. According to this embodiment, the payment service management server 110 can obtain information input by user 20 into the website operated by vendor 30.

[0038] As a result, when the card information of the user 20 is registered in the Web site management unit 122 of the seller 30, for example, the settlement service management server 110 can associate the identification information of the seller 30 with the identification information of the user 20. Further, when the settlement service management server 110 acquires a cancellation request from the user 20, the settlement service management server 110 can execute a process of canceling the registration of the card information on the Web site operated by the seller 30 that is the target of the cancellation request.

[0039] In this embodiment, the transaction management system 120 manages transactions between the user 20 and the seller 30. The transaction management system 120 may manage transactions in a physical store or may manage transactions on an EC site. The transaction management system 120 may include a store terminal arranged in a physical store in addition to the Web site management unit 122. The store terminal may support various settlement services.

[0040] In this embodiment, the Web site management unit 122 manages the operation of a Web site for the seller 30 to sell goods. In one embodiment, the Web site management unit 122 manages the operation of an EC site. In other embodiments, the Web site management unit 122 manages the operation of a Web site for supporting transactions in a physical store.

[0041] (Specific configuration of each part of the settlement system 100) Each part of the payment system 100 may be implemented by hardware, may be implemented by software, or may be implemented by hardware and software. At least a part of each part of the payment system 100 may be implemented by a single server or may be implemented by a plurality of servers. At least a part of each part of the payment system 100 may be implemented on a virtual machine or on a cloud system. At least a part of each part of the payment system 100 may be implemented by a personal computer or a mobile terminal. Examples of the mobile terminal include a mobile phone, a smartphone, a PDA, a tablet, a notebook computer or a laptop computer, a wearable computer, and the like. Each part of the payment system 100 may store information using a distributed ledger technology such as a blockchain or a distributed network.

[0042] When at least a part of the components constituting the payment system 100 is implemented by software, the components implemented by the software may be realized by starting software or a program that defines the operations related to the components in an information processing apparatus having a general configuration. The above information processing apparatus having a general configuration may include: (i) a data processing apparatus having a processor such as a CPU or a GPU, a ROM, a RAM, a communication interface, etc.; (ii) an input apparatus such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a touch panel, a camera, a voice input device, a gesture input device, various sensors, a GPS receiver, etc.; (iii) an output apparatus such as a display device, a voice output device, a vibration device, etc.; and (iv) a storage device such as a memory, an HDD, an SSD (including an external storage device).

[0043] In the information processing apparatus having the above general configuration, the above data processing apparatus or storage device may store the above software or program. When the above software or program is executed by a processor, the information processing apparatus is caused to execute operations defined by the software or program. The above software or program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium. The above software or program may be a program for causing a computer to function as the settlement system 100 or a part thereof. The above software or program may be a program for causing a computer to execute information processing in the settlement system 100 or a part thereof.

[0044] An information processing method in the settlement system 100 or a part thereof, for example, requests a user of a settlement service to (i) a validity confirmation request for confirming the validity of the use of the settlement service by the user from a first provider that provides goods, data, or services, (ii) first provider identification information for identifying the first provider, and (iii) a request acquisition stage for acquiring user identification information assigned to the user by a second provider that provides the settlement service. The above information processing method, for example, (i) confirmation time information indicating the time when the validity confirmation request was received in the request acquisition stage and / or the time when the process for confirming the validity in response to the validity confirmation request was executed, and (ii) a confirmation history generation stage for generating confirmation history information in which the user identification information and the first provider identification information acquired in the request acquisition stage are associated. Each stage of the above information processing method may be executed by a computer.

[0045] User 20 may be an example of a user of a payment service. User terminal 22 may be an example of an information processing terminal used by the user. Seller 30 may be an example of a first provider. Payment service provider 40 may be an example of a second provider. Payment service management server 110 may be an example of an information processing apparatus. Registration processing unit 112 may be an example of an information processing apparatus. Storage unit 116 may be an example of a confirmation history storage unit. Card information and a part thereof may be an example of information regarding the user's payment service. Identification information of user 20 may be an example of user identification information. Identification information of seller 30 may be an example of first provider identification information.

[0046] (Example of another embodiment) In the present embodiment, the details of the payment system 100 have been described by taking as an example the case where the payment service provider 40 provides a service for providing credit card payment. However, the payment system 100 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, the payment service provider 40 may provide a payment agency service. The above payment agency service may be a payment agency service that uses credit card payment.

[0047] FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of an information processing method in the payment system 100. Using FIG. 2, an example of the registration process of card information and the generation process of confirmation history information will be described. Also, using FIG. 2, an example of the payment process will be described.

[0048] According to the present embodiment, first, in step 220 (the step may be abbreviated as S), the registration process of card information in the transaction management system 120 and the generation process of confirmation history information in the payment service management server 110 are executed.

[0049] After that, in S240, a settlement process using a credit card is executed. In the present embodiment, one or more settlement processes are executed during a period having a predetermined length (which may be referred to as a billing period). Also, in S260, for each billing period, a process of creating a usage detail indicating the credit usage status during the billing period is executed.

[0050] The usage detail created in S260 is notified to the user 20. In one embodiment, the usage detail is created on paper and mailed to the user 20. The above-mentioned paper usage detail may describe the URL of the portal site operated by the portal site management unit 118 and / or a code or diagram in which the above URL is encoded. In other embodiments, the usage detail is presented to the user 20 as electronic data such as a web page. For example, the electronic data of the usage detail of the user 20 is transmitted to the user terminal 22 of the user 20. The URL of the web page of the usage detail of the user 20 may be transmitted to the user terminal 22 of the user 20.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 2, according to S220 according to the present embodiment, first, in S222, a registration request for requesting registration of the card information of the user 20 to the transaction management system 120 is transmitted from the user terminal 22 to the transaction management system 120. When the transaction management system 120 receives the registration request, the user 20 operates the user terminal 22 to transmit the card information of the user 20 to the transaction management system 120.

[0052] Also, when the transaction management system 120 receives the registration request, in S224, the above-described validity check is executed. For example, first, the transaction management system 120 transmits information (which may be referred to as a validity confirmation request) for requesting the settlement service management server 110 to confirm the validity of the use of the settlement service by the user 20. More specifically, the transaction management system 120 transmits the identification information of the user 20 and a request for confirming the validity of the credit card distributed to the user 20 to the settlement service management server 110 to the settlement service management server 110.

[0053] When the settlement service management server 110 receives a validity confirmation request, the registration processing unit 112 of the settlement service management server 110 refers to the information stored in the storage unit 116 to confirm the validity of the credit card of the user 20. Further, the registration processing unit 112 transmits information indicating the confirmation result to the transaction management system 120.

[0054] More specifically, the registration processing unit 112 refers to the database stored in the storage unit 116 to confirm the presence or absence of a record associated with the identification information of the user 20. If no record associated with the identification information of the user 20 is stored in the above database, the registration processing unit 112 transmits information indicating that the credit card of the user 20 is invalid to the transaction management system 120.

[0055] On the other hand, if a record associated with the identification information of the user 20 is stored in the above database, the settlement service management server 110 refers to the record to confirm whether the expiration date of the credit card of the user 20 has expired. If the expiration date of the credit card of the user 20 has not expired, the registration processing unit 112 transmits information indicating that the credit card of the user 20 is valid to the transaction management system 120. If the expiration date of the credit card of the user 20 has expired, the registration processing unit 112 transmits information indicating that the credit card of the user 20 is invalid to the transaction management system 120.

[0056] When the credit card of the user 20 is valid, in S226, the registration processing unit 112 generates confirmation history information and stores the confirmation history information in the storage unit 116. Further, in S228, the website management unit 122 of the transaction management system 120 stores the card information of the user 20 in a storage device (not shown) of the transaction management system 120.

[0057] On the other hand, when the credit card of user 20 is invalid, the registration processing unit 112 does not need to generate confirmation history information. Also, the website management unit 122 does not need to store the card information of user 20 in the storage device. As a result, the registration process of the card information and the generation process of the confirmation history information in S220 are completed.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 2, according to S240 of the present embodiment, first, in S242, a settlement request for requesting settlement of the price of the transaction between user 20 and seller 30 is transmitted from the user terminal 22 to the transaction management system 120. When the transaction management system 120 receives the settlement request, in S244, a credit check (sometimes referred to as a credit request) is executed. More specifically, a credit approval process (sometimes referred to as authorization, provisional sales processing, etc.) is executed, and the usage limit of the credit card of user 20 is secured. As a result, during a predetermined period, a usage limit for the amount corresponding to the price of the goods within the usage limit amount is secured. Note that in many payment services, at this stage, a claim right for the price against user 20 has not occurred, and a process for debiting the price of the goods has not been executed.

[0059] Next, in S244, a sales process (sometimes referred to as an actual sales process) is executed. As a result, the amount corresponding to the price of the goods secured in S242 is recorded as actual sales. Thereby, the settlement process is completed.

[0060] (An example of another embodiment) In this embodiment, taking as an example the case where when the settlement service management server 110 receives a validity confirmation request, the processes described in relation to S224, S226, and S228 are executed, an example of the settlement system 100 has been described. However, the settlement system 100 is not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, (i) when the validity confirmation request requests confirmation of the validity of a credit card and does not request securing of the usage limit frame in the user 20's settlement service, or (ii) when no credit request is made until a predetermined period has elapsed after the settlement service management server 110 acquires the validity confirmation request, the processes described in relation to S224, S226, and S228 may be executed and confirmation history information may be generated.

[0061] FIG. 3 schematically shows an example of the credit card usage details 300. In this embodiment, the usage details 300 include information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card settlements and information 340 indicating the registration destination with a long unused period. The information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card settlements indicates the usage status of the settlement service by the user 20 for each period having a predetermined length. The information 340 indicating the registration destination with a long unused period indicates the seller 30 in which the user 20's card information is registered and which the user 20 has not used recently.

[0062] In the embodiment, the information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card settlements includes one or more records. Each record includes information for each credit card settlement. Each record stores, for example, information indicating the time when the credit card settlement was used, identification information of the seller 30 where the credit card settlement was used, and information indicating the product price in the transaction where the credit card settlement was used, in association with each other.

[0063] As information indicating the time when credit card payment was used, the usage date is exemplified. The above time may be a date, a date and time, or a time. As identification information of the seller 30 when credit card payment was used, the store name of the seller 30 is exemplified. As information indicating the product price in the transaction where credit card payment was used, information indicating the usage amount is exemplified.

[0064] Each record may include information indicating the time when the validity check was executed at the above-mentioned seller 30. The above time may be a date, a date and time, or a time. Each record may include information (which may be referred to as user confirmation information) for confirming the user of the credit card payment.

[0065] As user confirmation information, examples include the terminal identification information of the user terminal 22 that requested each payment, the password or passphrase input into the transaction management system 120 in each payment, etc. As the terminal identification information, the MAC address is exemplified. The user confirmation information is transmitted from the transaction management system 120 to the payment service management server 110, for example, when the transaction management system 120 can obtain the information from the user terminal 22.

[0066] In the present embodiment, the information 340 indicating the registration destination with a long unused period is, for example, among one or more sellers 30 where the card information of the credit card of the user 20 is registered, information regarding the seller 30 in which the length of the period during which no transaction using the credit card has been made (which may be referred to as the unused period) is greater than a predetermined value. As shown in FIG. 3, the information 340 indicating the registration destination with a long unused period includes one or more records. Each record includes various information regarding each of one or more sellers 30.

[0067] In this embodiment, each record stores, for example, the identification information of the seller 30 with a long unused period, the information indicating the registration date of the latest card information (which may be referred to as the latest registration date), and the information indicating the registration status of the card information (which may be referred to as the status) in association with each other. The identification information of the seller 30 may be the name of the seller 30, or may be a combination of the name, the industry type, and / or the sales form.

[0068] The information indicating the latest registration date may be the information indicating the time when the validity check was last performed. As an embodiment of the validity check in credit card settlement, (i) a form in which the validity check is performed alone without accompanying credit inquiry and sales processing, (ii) a form in which the validity check is also performed during credit inquiry, (iii) a form in which the validity check is performed in accordance with the process for securing the usage limit amount, etc. are exemplified. The information indicating the latest registration date may be the information indicating the time when the validity check was last performed in the form in which the validity check is performed alone among the above three embodiments.

[0069] As a form in which the validity check is performed in accordance with the process for securing the usage limit amount, in a transaction where the usage limit amount cannot be secured in advance, when the usage amount is determined and the sales processing is executed, in order to call the card information, a form in which the validity check is performed instead of the credit inquiry is exemplified. Examples of transactions where the usage limit amount cannot be secured in advance include transactions where the amount varies according to the usage time or usage record, such as rental services and sharing services.

[0070] Examples of the information indicating the status include: (i) a state where the registration of card information is maintained at the seller 30 (which may be referred to as "registration maintained"), (ii) a state where the use of card information is stopped or restricted at the payment service management server 110 or the seller 30 (which may be referred to as "use stopped" or "use restricted"), (iii) a state where a deletion request or deregistration request for card information is notified to the seller 30, and the like. In the present embodiment, after the payment service management server 110 notifies the seller 30 of the deletion request or deregistration request for card information, when the payment service management server 110 receives information indicating that the card information at the seller 30 has been deleted or the registration of the card information has been deregistered, the record regarding the specific seller 30 is not included in the information 340 indicating the registration destination with a long unused period.

[0071] In the present embodiment, the usage details 300 include an object in which an instruction for assisting the user 20 when the user 20 desires to update the registration information is embedded. As shown in FIG. 3, according to the present embodiment, the usage details 300 include a column in which the above object is arranged for each record of the information 340 indicating the registration destination with a long unused period. In other embodiments, the usage details 300 may include an object for allowing the user 20 to select a record and an object for collectively processing the records selected by the user 20.

[0072] For example, the usage details 300 include an object 362 in which an instruction (which may be referred to as a "stop instruction") for temporarily stopping the use of the user 20's credit card is embedded in the payment service management server 110. The stop instruction includes an instruction for causing the user terminal 22 of the user 20 to execute a predetermined process.

[0073] For example, the usage details 300 are presented to the user 20 by the user terminal 22 displaying the usage details 300 on the display screen of the user terminal 22. When the user 20 clicks on the object 362 associated with a specific seller 30 on the screen, the user terminal 22 executes the stop instruction.

[0074] When a stop command is executed on the user terminal 22, the user terminal 22 executes a process of transmitting a restriction request to the payment service management server 110 to request the payment service management server 110 to temporarily stop the use of the credit card of the user 20. At this time, the user terminal 22 may execute a process of transmitting the above restriction request and information indicating a record corresponding to the object 362 (which may be referred to as selection information) to the payment service management server 110. The information indicating the record corresponding to the object 362 may be the identification information of the seller 30 included in the record. When the payment service management server 110 receives a restriction request from the user terminal 22, the payment service management server 110 executes the process indicated in the restriction request.

[0075] The restriction request requests the payment service management server 110 to restrict the use of the payment service in the transaction between the seller 30 identified by the identification information of the seller 30 indicated by the above selection information and the user 20. Examples of the above restriction content include temporarily stopping the use of the credit card of the user 20 and temporarily reducing the credit limit of the credit card of the user 20.

[0076] Thereby, among the identification information of the seller 30 notified to the user 20 by the usage details 300, the identification information of the seller 30 selected by the user 20 is transmitted to the payment service management server 110. Also, the content of the restriction imposed on the credit card payment between the above seller 30 and the user 20 is transmitted to the payment service management server 110.

[0077] For example, the usage details 300 include an object 364 in which a command (which may be referred to as a resumption command) for resuming the use of a credit card whose use has been temporarily stopped is embedded in the payment service management server 110. The resumption command includes a command for causing the user terminal 22 of the user 20 to execute a predetermined process.

[0078] For example, by the user terminal 22 displaying the usage details 300 on the display screen of the user terminal 22, the usage details 300 are presented to the user 20. When the user 20 clicks on an object 364 associated with a specific seller 30 on the said screen, the user terminal 22 executes a resume command.

[0079] When the resume command is executed on the user terminal 22, the user terminal 22 executes a process of sending a relaxation request to the payment service management server 110, requesting the payment service management server 110 to relax the usage restriction of the user 20's credit card. At this time, the user terminal 22 may execute a process of sending the above relaxation request and information indicating a record corresponding to the object 364 (which may be referred to as selection information) to the payment service management server 110. The information indicating the record corresponding to the object 364 may be the identification information of the seller 30 included in the said record. When the payment service management server 110 receives the relaxation request from the user terminal 22, the payment service management server 110 executes the process indicated in the relaxation request.

[0080] The relaxation request requests the payment service management server 110 to relax the restrictions imposed on the use of the payment service in the transaction between the seller 30 identified by the identification information of the seller 30 indicated by the above selection information and the user 20. Examples of the content of the relaxation of the above restrictions include resuming the use of a credit card whose use has been temporarily stopped, increasing or restoring the usage limit of a credit card that has been temporarily reduced, etc.

[0081] For example, the usage details 300 include an object 366 in which a command (which may be referred to as a cancellation command) for causing the payment service management server 110 to cancel the registration of card information in the transaction management system 120 is embedded. The cancellation command includes a command for causing the user terminal 22 of the user 20 to execute a predetermined process.

[0082] For example, the user terminal 22 presents the usage details 300 to the user 20 by displaying the usage details 300 on the display screen of the user terminal 22. When the user 20 clicks on the object 366 associated with a specific seller 30 on the screen, the user terminal 22 executes a cancellation command.

[0083] When the cancellation command is executed on the user terminal 22, the user terminal 22 executes a process of sending a cancellation request to the payment service management server 110 to request the cancellation of the registration of the user 20's card information registered with a specific seller 30 to the payment service management server 110. At this time, the user terminal 22 may execute a process of sending the above cancellation request and information indicating the record corresponding to the object 366 (which may be referred to as selection information) to the payment service management server 110. The information indicating the record corresponding to the object 366 may be the identification information of the seller 30 included in the record. When the payment service management server 110 receives the cancellation request from the user terminal 22, the payment service management server 110 executes the process indicated in the cancellation request.

[0084] The cancellation request requests the payment service management server 110 to cause the seller 30 identified by the identification information of the seller 30 indicated by the above selection information to cancel the registration of the user 20's card information. Examples of the process of causing the seller 30 to cancel the registration of the card information include a process of causing the seller 30 to delete the card information and a process of preventing the seller 30 from using the card information. When the payment service management server 110 executes the process indicated in the cancellation request, the payment service management server 110 transmits, for example, the identification information of the user 20 and information requesting the cancellation of the registration of the user 20's card information to the website management unit 122 of the seller 30 indicated by the selection information.

[0085] According to this embodiment, the usage details 300 notified from the payment service management server 110 to the user 20 include information 340 indicating a registration destination with a long unused period in addition to information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card payments. As a result, the user 20 is notified of the registration status of the user 20's card information.

[0086] Also, according to this embodiment, when the usage details 300 are notified to the user 20 as electronic data, the usage details 300 include an object in which commands for sending various requests to the payment service management server 110 are embedded in addition to information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card payments. As a result, the user 20 can update the registration status of the user 20's card information while checking the usage details 300.

[0087] The information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card payments may be an example of the details information. The identification information of the seller 30 included in the information 340 indicating a registration destination with a long unused period may be an example of the first provider identification information included in at least a part of the confirmation history information. The record corresponding to the object 362 may be an example of at least a part of the confirmation history information. The identification information of the seller 30 indicated by the record corresponding to the object 362 may be an example of the first provider identification information indicated by the selection information. The stop command may be an example of the first command. The release command may be an example of the second command. The release request may be an example of the deletion request.

[0088] (Example of another embodiment) In this embodiment, an example of the usage details 300 has been described by taking as an example the case where the usage details 300 include information 340 indicating a registration destination with a long unused period. However, the usage details 300 are not limited to this embodiment. In other embodiments, the usage details 300 may include information indicating all registration destinations.

[0089] In this embodiment, taking as an example the case where information indicating the usage status of credit card payments 320 describes information indicating the usage status of the payment service by the user 20 for each period having a predetermined length, an example of the usage details 300 was described. However, the usage details 300 are not limited to this embodiment.

[0090] In other embodiments, the information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card payments may include information regarding the possibility of unauthorized use. When it is presented in the information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card payments in the usage details 300 that there is a possibility that the credit card has been unauthorizedly used at the registered store, the information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card payments may include an object embedded with instructions for assisting the user 20 when the user 20 wishes to update the registration information. For example, the information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card payments includes an object having a configuration similar to that of the object 362. For example, the information 320 indicating the usage status of credit card payments includes an object having a configuration similar to that of the object 366.

[0091] For example, when the payment system 100 determines that there is a possibility that the credit card has been unauthorizedly used at the registered store, the payment system 100 creates the usage details 300 including the above information regarding the possibility of unauthorized use and / or the above object. Specifically, the payment system 100 may determine whether the usage is likely to be unauthorized based on the date and time, amount, and interval from the previous usage date of the credit card at the registered store.

[0092] Figure 4 schematically shows another example of the information processing method in the payment system 100. Using Figure 4, an example of the process in which the user 20 who has received the usage details 300 updates the registration status of the card information using the usage details 300 is described. Also, using Figure 4, an example of the usage restriction process of the credit card is described.

[0093] According to this embodiment, first, in S420, the user terminal 22 receives a notice regarding usage details (which may be referred to as a usage details notice) from the payment service management server 110. The usage details notice is, for example, electronic data that describes a message indicating that the usage details for this month are available for viewing and the URI of the usage details 300, and is transmitted from the payment service management server 110 to the user terminal 22 using SMS or email.

[0094] Next, in S422, the user 20 accesses the portal site provided by the payment service provider 40. For example, the user 20 accesses the above-mentioned portal site by operating the user terminal 22 to access the URI of the usage details 300. In S424, the user 20 operates the user terminal 22 to view the usage details 300 of the user 20 on the portal site.

[0095] As described above, the usage details 300 include information 340 indicating registration destinations with a long unused period, and for each registration destination with a long unused period, an object embedded with the above-mentioned instructions is arranged. When the user 20 wishes to update the registration status of the card information registered with a specific seller 30, the user 20 operates the user terminal 22 to click on the object corresponding to the specific seller 30. When the above object is clicked, the instruction embedded in the object is executed, and a request corresponding to the clicked object (which may be referred to as an update request) is transmitted to the payment service management server 110.

[0096] As described above, when user 20 clicks on object 362, a process for temporarily restricting the use of the credit card is executed. As a result, the registration status of the card information is updated. Similarly, when user 20 clicks on object 364, a process for relaxing the credit card use restriction is executed. As a result, the registration status of the card information is updated. When user 20 clicks on object 366, a process for canceling the registration of the card information is executed. As a result, the registration status of the card information is updated.

[0097] When the settlement service management server 110 receives an update request, in S430, the settlement service management server 110 executes a process corresponding to the update request. For example, the settlement service management server 110 updates the credit card use restriction. Also, in S432, the settlement service management server 110 notifies the transaction management system 120 of information indicating that the credit card use restriction has been updated.

[0098] In one embodiment, when the settlement service management server 110 receives a restriction request, the settlement service management server 110 restricts the use of the credit card. In other embodiments, when the settlement service management server 110 receives a relaxation request, the settlement service management server 110 relaxes the credit card use restriction.

[0099] In other embodiments, when the settlement service management server 110 receives a cancellation request, the settlement service management server 110 may restrict the use of the credit card. For example, the settlement service management server 110 restricts the use of the credit card until the deletion of the card information in the transaction management system 120 is confirmed. In this case, in S432, the settlement service management server 110 requests the transaction management system 120 to cancel the registration of the card information.

[0100] Next, in S440, the transaction management system 120 updates the registration information of the user 20. For example, the transaction management system 120 adds information regarding usage restrictions to the card information of the user 20. For example, the transaction management system 120 deletes the card information of the user 20. Thereby, the update process ends.

[0101] FIG. 5 schematically shows an example of the internal configuration of the settlement service management server 110. In the present embodiment, the settlement service management server 110 includes a communication control unit 510, a registration processing unit 112, a settlement processing unit 114, and a portal site management unit 118. In the present embodiment, the registration processing unit 112 includes a validity confirmation unit 522, a confirmation history generation unit 524, and a confirmation history update unit 526. In the present embodiment, the settlement processing unit 114 includes a credit approval unit 542, a usage restriction unit 544, a sales processing unit 546, and a notification unit 548. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 116 includes a member information storage unit 562, a confirmation history storage unit 564, and a settlement information storage unit 566.

[0102] In the present embodiment, the communication control unit 510 controls communication between the settlement service management server 110 and the user terminal 22 and / or the website management unit 122. For example, the communication control unit 510 acquires various requests from the user 20 to the settlement service management server 110 from the user terminal 22. The communication control unit 510 acquires various requests from the seller 30 to the settlement service management server 110 from the website management unit 122.

[0103] For example, the communication control unit 510 acquires a validity confirmation request from the seller 30. As described above, when the website management unit 122 receives a registration request from the user terminal 22, the website management unit 122 transmits a validity confirmation request from the seller 30 to the settlement service management server 110. At this time, the communication control unit 510 acquires (i) a validity confirmation request, (ii) identification information of the seller 30, and (iii) identification information of the user 20 who uses the credit card subject to the validity check.

[0104] In this embodiment, the validity confirmation unit 522 acquires a validity confirmation request from the communication control unit 510. The validity confirmation unit 522 refers to the member information storage unit 562 and executes a validity check on the credit card of the user 20. The validity confirmation unit 522 transmits information indicating the result of the validity check to the transaction management system 120 that sent the validity confirmation request.

[0105] In this embodiment, the confirmation history generation unit 524 acquires a validity confirmation request from the communication control unit 510. The confirmation history generation unit 524, for example, analyzes the above-mentioned validity confirmation request and acquires information indicating the time when the communication control unit 510 received the validity confirmation request or the time when the transaction management system 120 sent the validity confirmation request. The confirmation history generation unit 524 may acquire information indicating the time when the validity confirmation unit 522 executed the validity check.

[0106] As described above, the communication control unit 510 acquires (i) a validity confirmation request, (ii) identification information of the seller 30, and (iii) identification information of the user 20 who uses the credit card to be subject to the validity check. The confirmation history generation unit 524 acquires these pieces of information from the communication control unit 510.

[0107] The confirmation history generation unit 524 associates (i) information indicating the time when the communication control unit 510 received the validity confirmation request and / or the time when the validity confirmation unit 522 executed the validity check (which may be referred to as confirmation time information) with (ii) the identification information of the user 20 and the identification information of the seller 30 acquired by the communication control unit 510 to generate confirmation history information. The confirmation history generation unit 524 may generate the confirmation history information when (i) the validity confirmation request requests confirmation of the validity of the credit card and does not request securing of the usage limit amount in the user's payment service, or (ii) no above-mentioned credit granting request is made until a predetermined period elapses after the communication control unit 510 acquires the validity confirmation request. The confirmation history generation unit 524 stores the generated confirmation history information in the confirmation history storage unit 564.

[0108] In this embodiment, the confirmation history update unit 526 updates the confirmation history information. For example, when the confirmation history information includes information regarding credit card restrictions, the confirmation history update unit 526 updates the confirmation history information each time the credit card restriction status changes.

[0109] In this embodiment, the credit approval unit 542 executes a credit approval process in response to a credit inquiry or a credit request from the seller 30. In this embodiment, the usage restriction unit 544 restricts or relaxes the usage of the credit card. In this embodiment, the sales processing unit 546 executes a sales process in response to the seller 30 having executed a settlement.

[0110] In this embodiment, the notification unit 548 notifies the user 20 of various types of information. For example, the notification unit 548 notifies the user 20 of the usage details 300.

[0111] The notification unit 548 may generate the usage details 300. For example, the notification unit 548 refers to the confirmation history storage unit 564, extracts the identification information of the seller 30 included in at least a part of one or more pieces of confirmation history information associated with the identification information of the user 20, and generates information 340 indicating a registration destination with a long unused period.

[0112] For example, the notification unit 548 extracts confirmation history information in which the length of the period since the validity has been confirmed is greater than a predetermined value from among one or more pieces of confirmation history information associated with the identification information of the user 20. The notification unit 548 uses the identification information of the seller 30 included in the extracted confirmation history information to generate information 340 indicating a registration destination with a long unused period. As a result, at least a part of the sellers 30 related to the confirmation history information associated with the identification information of the user 20 is notified to the user 20.

[0113] As described above, the usage details 300 may include not only a list of registration destinations with a long unused period but also a list of all registration destinations. In this case, the usage details 300 including a list in which the identification information of all the extracted sellers 30 is listed are notified to the user 20.

[0114] Also, as described above, in the usage details 300, objects embedded with various instructions are arranged. Thus, the payment system 100 can transmit these instructions to the user terminal 22 of the user 20 by notifying the user 20 of the electronic data of the usage details 300.

[0115] In the present embodiment, the member information storage unit 562 stores information regarding the credit cards of each of one or more users 20. In the present embodiment, the confirmation history storage unit 564 stores confirmation history information regarding each of one or more users 20. In the present embodiment, the payment information storage unit 566 stores information regarding the payment of each of one or more users 20.

[0116] The communication control unit 510 may be an example of a request acquisition unit. The validity confirmation unit 522 may be an example of a request acquisition unit. The usage restriction unit 544 may be an example of a restriction unit. The notification unit 548 may be an example of a confirmation history notification unit. The time when the validity confirmation unit 522 executes the validity check may be an example of the time when the process for confirming the validity in response to the validity confirmation request is executed.

[0117] FIG. 6 schematically shows an example of the data structure of the data stored in the storage unit 116. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 116 includes a member information database 620, a confirmation history database 640, and a payment information database 660.

[0118] The member information database 620 may be an example of the member information stored in the member information storage unit 562. The member information database 620 stores, in association with each other, a member number assigned to each of one or more users 20, the expiration date of the credit card, the security code of the credit card, and various information regarding the user 20 (which may be referred to as member information).

[0119] The confirmation history database 640 may be an example of the confirmation history information stored in the confirmation history storage unit 564. The confirmation history database 640 stores, in association, the member number assigned to each of one or more users 20, the identification information of the seller 30 who registered the card information, the information indicating the time when the validity check was performed, the user confirmation information for confirming the user 20 who registered the card information, and the information indicating the status of usage restrictions.

[0120] The settlement information database 660 may be an example of the settlement information stored in the settlement information storage unit 566. The settlement information database 660 stores, in association, the member number assigned to each of the above users 20, the information indicating the usage date of the credit card, the identification information of the seller 30 for which the transaction using the credit card was performed, the information indicating the amount of the transaction, the information indicating the time when the validity check was performed, and the user confirmation information for confirming the user 20 who conducted the transaction.

[0121] FIG. 7 shows an example of a computer 3000 in which a plurality of aspects of the present invention may be embodied in whole or in part. For example, a part of the settlement system 100 is realized by the computer 3000. For example, at least a part of the settlement service management server 110 is realized by the computer 3000. For example, at least a part of the transaction management system 120 is realized by the computer 3000. At least a part of the user terminal 22 may also be realized by the computer 3000.

[0122] The program installed in the computer 3000 can cause the computer 3000 to function as an operation associated with the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention or as one or more "parts" of the apparatus, or to execute the operation or the one or more "parts", and / or can cause the computer 3000 to execute a process according to an embodiment of the present invention or a stage of the process. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 3012 to cause the computer 3000 to execute certain operations associated with some or all of the blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

[0123] The computer 3000 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 3012, a RAM 3014, a GPU 3016, and a display device 3018, which are interconnected by a host controller 3010. The computer 3000 also includes input / output units such as a communication interface 3022, a hard disk drive 3024, a DVD-ROM drive 3026, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 3010 via an input / output controller 3020. The computer also includes legacy input / output units such as a ROM 3030 and a keyboard 3042, which are connected to the input / output controller 3020 via an input / output chip 3040.

[0124] The CPU 3012 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 3030 and the RAM 3014, thereby controlling each unit. The GPU 3016 acquires image data generated by the CPU 3012 in a frame buffer or the like provided in the RAM 3014 or in itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on the display device 3018.

[0125] The communication interface 3022 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The hard disk drive 3024 stores programs and data used by the CPU 3012 in the computer 3000. The DVD-ROM drive 3026 reads programs or data from the DVD-ROM 3001 and provides the programs or data to the hard disk drive 3024 via the RAM 3014. The IC card drive reads programs and data from an IC card and / or writes programs and data to an IC card.

[0126] The ROM 3030 stores therein a boot program and the like executed by the computer 3000 at activation and / or a program dependent on the hardware of the computer 3000. The input / output chip 3040 may also connect various input / output units to the input / output controller 3020 via a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, etc.

[0127] The program is provided by a computer-readable storage medium such as the DVD-ROM 3001 or an IC card. The program is read from the computer-readable storage medium, installed in the hard disk drive 3024, the RAM 3014, or the ROM 3030, which is also an example of a computer-readable storage medium, and executed by the CPU 3012. The information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 3000, resulting in cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. The device or method may be configured by realizing the operation or processing of information according to the use of the computer 3000.

[0128] For example, when communication is executed between the computer 3000 and an external device, the CPU 3012 may execute a communication program loaded in the RAM 3014 and instruct the communication interface 3022 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. The communication interface 3022 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in a recording medium such as the RAM 3014, the hard disk drive 3024, the DVD-ROM 3001, or an IC card under the control of the CPU 3012, transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes the received data received from the network to a reception buffer area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0129] Further, the CPU 3012 may cause all or a necessary part of a file or database stored in an external recording medium such as the hard disk drive 3024, the DVD-ROM drive 3026 (DVD-ROM 3001), or an IC card to be read into the RAM 3014 and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 3014. The CPU 3012 may then write back the processed data to the external recording medium.

[0130] Various types of information such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases may be stored in a recording medium and may undergo information processing. The CPU 3012 may perform various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 3014, including various types of operations, information processing, condition judgment, conditional branch, unconditional branch, information search / replacement, etc., described throughout this disclosure and specified by the instruction sequence of the program, and write back the results to the RAM 3014. Also, the CPU 3012 may search for information in files, databases, etc. within the recording medium. For example, when a plurality of entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 3012 searches for an entry that matches the condition where the attribute value of the first attribute is specified among the plurality of entries, reads the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby may obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0131] The program or software module described above may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on or near the computer 3000. Also, a recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided within a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby providing the above program to the computer 3000 via the network.

[0132] The blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams in the above embodiments may represent stages of a process in which operations are performed or "parts" of a device that performs the role of an operation. A particular stage and "part" may be implemented by a dedicated circuit, a programmable circuit supplied with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a processor supplied with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuit may include digital and / or analog hardware circuits, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. The programmable circuit may include, for example, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic array (PLA), and other such reconfigurable hardware circuits including logical products, logical sums, exclusive logical sums, negative logical products, negative logical sums, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, and memory elements.

[0133] The computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions executable by an appropriate device. As a result, a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein will comprise a product including instructions executable to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowchart or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, and the like. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy (registered trademark) disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc, memory stick, integrated circuit card, and the like.

[0134] Computer-readable instructions may include any combination of one or more programming languages, including assembly instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or object-oriented programming languages such as Smalltalk®, JAVA®, C++, and conventional procedural programming languages such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages, either source code or object code written in any such combination.

[0135] The computer-readable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, or a programmable circuit, locally or via a wide area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc., to execute the computer-readable instructions to generate means for performing the operations specified in the flowchart or block diagram. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

[0136] As described above, the present invention has been described using embodiments. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. Also, within a technically consistent range, matters described for a specific embodiment can be applied to other embodiments. It is clear from the description of the claims that such forms with changes or improvements added can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0137] In the claims, the specification, and the drawings, the execution order of each process such as the operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the apparatus, system, program, and method shown is not explicitly stated as "before" or "preceding" etc. in particular, and it should be noted that it can be realized in any order as long as the output of the previous process is not used in the subsequent process. Regarding the operation flow in the claims, the specification, and the drawings, even if it is described for convenience using "first," "next," etc., it does not mean that it is essential to be implemented in this order.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0138] 10 Communication network 20 User 22 User terminal 30 Seller 40 Payment service provider 100 Payment system 110 Payment service management server 112 Registration processing unit 114 Payment processing unit 116 Storage unit 118 Portal site management unit 120 Transaction management system 122 Website management unit 300 Usage details 320 Information 340 Information 362 Object 364 Object 366 Object 510 Communication control unit 522 Validity confirmation unit 524 Confirmation history generation unit 526 Confirmation history update unit 542 Credit approval unit 544 Usage restriction unit 546 Sales processing unit 548 Notification unit 562 Member information storage unit 564 Confirmation history storage unit 566 Payment information storage unit 620 Member Information Database 640 Confirmation History Database 660 Settlement Information Database 3000 Computer 3001 DVD-ROM 3010 Host Controller 3012 CPU 3014 RAM 3016 GPU 3018 Display Device 3020 Input / Output Controller 3022 Communication Interface 3024 Hard Disk Drive 3026 DVD-ROM Drive 3030 ROM 3040 Input / Output Chip 3042 Keyboard

Claims

When credit card information of a user is registered on an e-commerce site of a first provider that provides an item, data, or service, from the first provider, (i) a validity confirmation request for requesting confirmation of the validity of the credit card, (ii) first provider identification information for identifying the first provider, and (iii) a request acquisition unit that acquires user identification information assigned to the user by a second provider that provides a payment service using the credit card. (i) Confirmation time information indicating the time when the request acquisition unit received the validity confirmation request and / or the time when a process for confirming the validity was executed in response to the validity confirmation request, and (ii) a confirmation history generation unit that generates confirmation history information in which the user identification information and the first provider identification information acquired by the request acquisition unit are associated. An information processing apparatus comprising the same.

2. A confirmation history notification unit that refers to a confirmation history storage unit that stores one or more pieces of confirmation history information generated by the confirmation history generation unit and notifies the user of at least a part of the first provider identification information included in one or more pieces of the confirmation history information associated with the user identification information of the user. Further comprising The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The confirmation history notification unit Refers to the confirmation history storage unit, extracts confirmation history information in which the length of the period after the validity is confirmed is greater than a predetermined value from among the one or more pieces of confirmation history information associated with the user identification information of the user, And notifies the user of the first provider identification information included in the extracted confirmation history information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.

4. The confirmation history notification unit Generates detail information indicating the usage status of the payment service by the user for each period having a predetermined length, And notifies the user of (a) the first provider identification information included in at least a part of the confirmation history information and (b) the detail information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3.

5. The confirmation history notification unit A first instruction for causing an information processing terminal used by the user to execute a process of transmitting to the information processing apparatus: (c)(i) selection information indicating the first provider identification information selected by the user among the first provider identification information notified to the user; and (ii) a restriction request for requesting the information processing apparatus to restrict the use of the settlement service in a transaction between the first provider identified by the first provider identification information indicated by the selection information and the user. Transmit to the information processing terminal of the user. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

6. The confirmation history notification unit A second instruction for causing an information processing terminal used by the user to execute a process of transmitting to the information processing apparatus: (d)(i) selection information indicating the first provider identification information selected by the user among the first provider identification information notified to the user; and (ii) a deletion request for requesting the information processing apparatus to cause the first provider identified by the first provider identification information indicated by the selection information to delete or not use information regarding the settlement service of the user. Transmit to the information processing terminal of the user. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

7. The settlement service is a service that provides credit card settlement or a settlement agency service that uses credit card settlement. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The validity confirmation request is a request for confirming the validity of a credit card distributed to the user. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The confirmation history generation unit (i) when the validity confirmation request requests confirmation of the validity of a credit card and does not request securing of a usage limit frame in the settlement service of the user; or (ii) when, after the request acquisition unit acquires the validity confirmation request, a credit request for requesting securing of a usage limit frame in the settlement service of the user is not made until a predetermined period elapses. Generate the confirmation history information. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A program for causing a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. When information on a user's credit card is registered on an e-commerce site of a first provider that provides an article, data, or a service, a computer requests the first provider to (i) make a validity confirmation request for confirming the validity of the credit card, (ii) provide first provider identification information for identifying the first provider, and (iii) obtain a user identification information assigned to the user by a second provider that provides a settlement service using the credit card; a request acquisition step The computer generates (i) confirmation time information indicating a time when the validity confirmation request is received in the request acquisition step and / or a time when a process for confirming the validity is executed in response to the validity confirmation request, and (ii) confirmation history information in which the user identification information and the first provider identification information acquired in the request acquisition step are associated with each other; a confirmation history generation step An information processing method comprising the steps above

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