Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

Abstract

Improving the convenience of one or both of the service provider and the service user. 【Solution means】Based on an instruction regarding creation of a first privilege available at a franchise of an electronic payment service, an identification unit that identifies specific users who have used the electronic payment of the electronic payment service at the franchise in the past among users of the electronic payment service, and a processing unit that distributes the first privilege to the user terminal devices of the specific users so as to be automatically available for use. An information processing apparatus comprising:

Description

Technical Field

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

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a management apparatus for providing a coupon applied to a settlement platform to a user has been known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the conventional technology, sufficient consideration has not been given to providing benefits to users.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and one of its objects is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that can improve the convenience of one or both of a service provider and a service user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] One aspect of the present invention includes a specifying unit that specifies a specific user who has used the electronic payment service at the franchise store among users of the electronic payment service based on an instruction regarding creation of a first privilege available at the franchise store of the electronic payment service, and a processing unit that distributes the first privilege to the terminal device of the specific user and causes it to be automatically available for use.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that can improve the convenience of one or both of a service provider and a service user. For example, the service provider can promote the use of the service provider by automatically providing the user with the benefits obtained by the user. For example, the convenience of the service user is improved by automatically obtaining the benefits.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of the information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program of the present invention will be described. Various apparatuses such as "servers" that appear below for providing services to users or performing internal analysis may be realized by a decentralized group of apparatuses, and the operators of each apparatus may be different. Also, the holder of the hardware of the apparatus (provider of the cloud server) and the operator who actually performs the operation may be different. The application program and the settlement server cooperate to provide an electronic settlement service. In the following description, the application program is referred to as a settlement application. The electronic settlement service is a service that supports the settlement related to the purchase of goods and services in a store. A store is, for example, a physical store (actual store) existing in the real space, but may include a virtual store for e-commerce. The virtual store may include those provided by a party different from the operator of the electronic settlement service. In that case, when making a purchase settlement in the virtual store, it may be controlled to transition to the interface screen of the electronic settlement service. In the electronic settlement service, a store is, for example, treated as belonging to a franchise store (brand), and processing such as settlement when a purchase action is performed in the store is mainly carried out between the user and the franchise store. Instead of this, processing such as settlement may be carried out between the user and the store.

[0010] [Electronic payment service] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. The electronic payment service is realized centering around a payment server 100. The payment server 100 communicates with, for example, one or more user terminal devices 10, one or more first store terminal devices 50, and one or more second store terminal devices 70 via a network NW. The network NW includes, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless base station, a provider device, and the like. The payment server 100 is an example of an "information processing device".

[0011] [User terminal device] The user terminal device 10 is, for example, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The user terminal device 10 is a computer device having at least an optical reading function, a communication function, a display function, an input reception function, and a program execution function. In the following description, the configurations for realizing these functions are respectively referred to as a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and the like. In the user terminal device 10, the payment application 20 is executed by a processor such as a CPU, and operates to provide an electronic payment service to the user in cooperation with the payment server 100. The payment application 20 is installed in the user terminal device 10 from, for example, an application store, and controls a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, and the like.

[0012] [First store terminal device] The first store terminal device 50 is installed in a store, for example. The first store terminal device 50 is a computer device having at least a product price acquisition function, an optical reading function, a program execution function, and a communication function. The first store terminal device 50 includes a so-called POS (Point of Sale) device, and the product price acquisition function and the optical reading function may be realized by the POS device. The store code image 60 is placed in the store and is a code image such as a QR code (registered trademark) printed on a paper or plastic medium. Note that the store code image 60 may be displayed by a display placed in the store (which may be a display of a terminal device such as a smartphone).

[0013] [Second Store Terminal Device] The second store terminal device 70 is used by the operator of the franchise store. The second store terminal device 70 is a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, or the like. In the second store terminal device 70, the interface 72 for franchise stores operates. The interface 72 for franchise stores may be an application for franchise stores or a browser. The interface 72 for franchise stores accepts settings of coupons by the operator of the franchise store and transmits them to the settlement server 100. The second store terminal device 70 which is a smartphone has a function of displaying a code image corresponding to the store code image or reading the code image displayed by the user terminal device 10 by executing an application for franchise stores.

[0014] [Settlement Server] The settlement server 100 realizes electronic settlement based on the settlement information received from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The first store terminal device 50 may include a POS device and a franchise store server. In that case, the settlement information is transmitted from the POS device to the settlement server 100 via the franchise store server. In the following description, without particularly distinguishing this, it is assumed that the settlement information is transmitted from the first store terminal device 50.

[0015] FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are sequence diagrams illustrating a general flow of electronic settlement. There may be two patterns, pattern 1 and pattern 2, in electronic settlement.

[0016] In the case of pattern 1 shown in FIG. 2 (hereinafter referred to as user scan), the user terminal device 10 in the state where the settlement application 20 is activated decodes the store code image 60 by means of an optical reading function (S1). The store code image 60 contains information on the store URL (Uniform Resource Locator). This store URL is obtained by adding information capable of identifying the store to the domain of the electronic payment service, and is associated with a franchise store ID, a store ID, etc. in the payment server 100 (described later). The settlement application 20 transmits first settlement information including the store URL and the account ID to the settlement server 100 (S2). The settlement server 100 searches for store information (described later) from the franchise store ID and the store ID corresponding to the store URL, acquires information on the franchise store name and the store name (S3), and transmits it to the settlement application 20 (S4). The user inputs the settlement amount into the user terminal device 10 on the screen where the franchise store name and the store name are displayed (S5). Then, the user terminal device 10 generates second settlement information including at least the settlement amount, and transmits it to the settlement server 100 (S6). The settlement server 100 performs an electronic payment based on the received second settlement information (S7). Then, the settlement server 100 transmits a payment completion notification (information for displaying a payment completion screen) to the settlement application 20 (S8), and the settlement application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S9). Note that when the store code image 60 is displayed by a display placed in the store, the store code image 60 may contain not only the store URL but also information on the settlement amount. In this case, the procedure for the user to input the settlement amount is omitted, and the information on the settlement amount is included in the first settlement information and transmitted to the settlement server 100. Information on the franchise store name and the store name may be included and displayed on the payment completion screen.

[0017] In the case of Pattern 2 shown in FIG. 3 (hereinafter referred to as store scan), when the payment application 20 is launched, when a payment operation is performed in the payment application 20, when the automatic update timing (for example, every minute) is reached, and at other timings, the payment application 20 sends a one-time code issuance request to the payment server 100 (S11). The payment server 100 generates a one-time code (S12) and sends it to the payment application 20 (S13). The payment application 20 displays a code image such as a QR code or a barcode generated based on the one-time code (S14). The user shields (presents) the display surface of the user terminal device 10 against the first store terminal device 50, and the first store terminal device 50 decodes the code image by an optical reading function and acquires a one-time code or the like (S15). Then, the first store terminal device 50 generates payment information including the one-time code, the payment amount, the franchise ID, the store ID, etc., and sends it to the payment server 100 (S16). The information on the payment amount has been acquired in advance by barcode reading, manual input, or the like. The payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the one-time code based on the received information and performs an electronic payment (S17). Then, the payment server 100 sends a payment completion notification to the payment application 20 (S18), and the payment application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S19).

[0018] Note that the electronic payment may be performed in only one of the above patterns. Also, the "account ID" described in FIG. 2 may be other information (for example, a phone number) that can be used as the identification information of the user. Further, in the store scan, the issuance of the one-time code may be omitted, and the payment application 20 may display a code image generated based on the user's account ID. In that case, instead of identifying the user corresponding to the one-time code, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the account ID.

[0019] [Payment Server] FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the settlement server 100 according to the embodiment. The settlement server 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a content providing unit 120, a settlement processing unit 130, an identifying unit 140, a distribution unit 150, an information processing unit 160, and a storage unit 170. Components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 170 are realized, for example, when a hardware processor such as a CPU executes a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit; circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device including a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and may be installed in the storage device when the storage medium is mounted on a drive device. One or both of the "distribution unit" and the "information processing unit" are examples of a "processing unit". Each function included in the settlement server 100 may be distributed among a plurality of functions.

[0020] The storage unit 170 is an HDD, a flash memory, a RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like. The storage unit 170 may be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device accessible by the settlement server 100 via a network. Information such as user information 172 including privilege information 173, content information 174, and affiliated store / store information 176 is stored in the storage unit 170.

[0021] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for connecting to the network NW. The communication unit 110 is, for example, a network interface card.

[0022] The content providing unit 120 has, for example, the function of a web server and provides information (content) for displaying various screens of the electronic payment service to the user terminal device 10. The content providing unit 120 appropriately reads necessary content from the content information 174 and provides it to the user terminal device 10. The user terminal device 10 receives various inputs by the user in a state where the content is reproduced by the payment application 20, and transmits the above-described payment information and the like to the payment server 100.

[0023] The payment processing unit 130 performs payment processing based on the payment information transmitted by the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The payment processing unit 130 performs payment processing while referring to the user information 172.

[0024] [User Information] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the content of the user information 172. The user information 172 is an example of the user's registration information. The user information 172 includes, for example, a user URL, an account ID, a telephone number, a password, as well as an email address, a user ID, name, address, date of birth, registration date, remaining charge amount, credit payment setting, credit payment limit, credit payment usage amount, available credit payment amount, payment method setting, bank account, credit card number, charge history information, payment history information, and other information that are associated with each other. The user URL is used for money transfer processing between users. When newly registering for the electronic payment service, registration of a telephone number and a password is required. The account ID is issued to the user by the payment server 100, and the user ID is an ID that the user can optionally set (it is not necessary to set it). Similarly, the email address, and the name, address, and date of birth are also information that the user can optionally set (it is not necessary to set it). The registration date is the date when the user registered for the electronic payment service (the date when the account was created). Hereinafter, an instance of the user (electronic payment account) in which these pieces of information are associated with each other is referred to as an account.

[0025] The remaining balance of the charge indicates the information of the remaining balance of the electronic money set by the user by remitting money to the account in advance. As means of remittance, there are remittance from an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) of a designated business operator (bank), remittance from a registered bank account, etc. The credit payment setting is information indicating whether the setting for enabling electronic settlement by credit payment has been completed or not, and is set to either "completed" or "not completed". The credit payment limit is the limit amount of credit payment available per month, the credit payment used amount is the amount of credit payment already used in the current month, and the available credit payment amount is the amount of credit payment available in the current month obtained by subtracting the credit payment used amount from the credit payment limit. Although only one credit payment limit is shown in the figure, actually there are further upper limits per day, etc., and the lower of them may be set as the credit payment limit. Further details of the credit payment will be described later. The settlement method setting is setting information indicating whether the user performs electronic settlement using the remaining balance of the charge or performs settlement by credit payment at that time. Each of the bank account and the credit card number is information (account number, card number) of a bank account or a credit card number that can receive payments for the electronic settlement service. The charge history information is the history of the user increasing the remaining balance of the charge by remitting money to the electronic settlement service in advance. The settlement history information is information showing the breakdown of the settlements made by the user (date and time, store ID of the store where the purchase action was performed, settlement amount, settlement method, etc.) for each settlement.

[0026] [Privilege Information] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of privilege information 173. The privilege information 173 is information on the privileges acquired by the user. The privilege information 173 is, for example, information in which normal privileges, automatically acquired privileges, and the contents of each privilege are associated with the user's identification information. In addition to the above, various information such as the availability of the privilege and the identification information of available affiliated stores may be associated with the privilege information 173. A normal privilege is a privilege distributed from the settlement server 100 (affiliated store) and can be acquired by the user performing an operation to acquire the privilege. For example, the user can acquire a normal privilege by operating the settlement app 20 (user terminal device 10) and performing an operation to acquire the normal privilege on the privilege acquisition interface screen provided by the settlement server 100 and the settlement app 20.

[0027] The automatically acquired privilege is a privilege distributed from the settlement server 100 (affiliated store) as described later and can be acquired by the user without performing an acquisition operation. The user can acquire the privilege without performing an acquisition operation.

[0028] The specifying unit 140 specifies specific users among the users of the electronic payment service who have used the electronic payment service at the affiliated store in the past based on an instruction regarding the creation of an automatically acquired privilege (first privilege) that can be used at the affiliated store of the electronic payment service. The specifying unit 140 specifies specific users by referring to the user information 172 (usage history information) including information on the affiliated store where the user has used electronic payment. Details will be described later.

[0029] The distribution unit 150 distributes the automatically acquired privilege to specific users. For example, the distribution unit 150 provides information indicating that the automatically acquired privilege has been acquired to the user terminal device 10 (settlement app 20) of the specific user. Distribution means displaying the normal privilege as acquirable on the privilege acquisition interface screen provided by the electronic payment service or providing information indicating that the automatically acquired privilege has been acquired to specific users.

[0030] The information processing unit 160 causes a specific user to acquire an automatically acquired privilege so that the automatically acquired privilege can be used automatically. For example, the information processing unit 160 makes the automatically acquired privilege available for use in electronic settlement by associating the automatically acquired privilege with the identification number of the specific user in the privilege information 173.

[0031] [Franchise / Store Information] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the franchise / store information 176. The franchise / store information 176 includes, for example, a first table 176A in which a franchise ID and a store ID are associated with a store URL, a second table 176B in which a franchise name and a sales amount (described above) are associated with the franchise ID, and a third table 176C in which a store name is associated with the store ID. In addition to these pieces of information, the franchise / store information 176 may include information such as the category of the franchise or store, the location of the store, and the settlement pattern.

[0032] The information processing unit 160 manages the user information 172 and the franchise / store information 176 based on the information acquired from the user terminal device 10 and the second store terminal device 70. The information processing unit 160 performs operations such as adding, editing, and deleting new records for the user information 172 and the franchise / store information 176.

[0033] [Electronic Settlement] When the settlement processing unit 130 acquires settlement information from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50, the settlement processing unit 130 refers to the user information 172 to acquire the "settlement method setting" of the user. For users whose "settlement method setting" is set to "charge balance", the settlement processing unit 130 performs electronic settlement as follows. The settlement processing unit 130 performs electronic settlement, for example, by decreasing the charge balance managed in association with the user ID and increasing the item value of the sales amount of the franchise. The item value of the sales amount of the franchise is not used as electronic money itself, and the amount corresponding to the item value of the sales amount is transferred to the bank account in a cycle according to the agreement between the franchise and the electronic settlement service.

[0034] The settlement processing unit 130 performs electronic settlement as follows for users whose "setting information" is set to "credit payment". Credit payment is a payment method through cooperation with a credit card company, which is a separate entity from the operator of the electronic payment service. The operator of the electronic payment service acts as the creditor and allows electronic settlement that does not depend on the remaining recharge amount within the credit payment limit. In addition, in order to receive the credit payment service, it may be required to obtain a credit card provided by the operator of the electronic payment service. The amount used for credit payment is settled in a lump sum for one month on the payment date of the following month, for example, by debit from a bank account. In this case, the settlement processing unit 130 performs provisional settlement by adding the settlement amount to the credit payment usage amount and subtracting the same amount from the available credit payment amount. When the closing date arrives, the processing for debiting the settlement for the current month to the payment date of the following month as described above is performed, or this processing is requested from the operator of the credit card company. If the settlement amount exceeds the available credit payment amount at the time of provisional settlement, an error notification is returned to the settlement application 20.

[0035] [Use of Privileges in Electronic Settlement] The settlement server 100 automatically causes a specific user to acquire an automatically acquired privilege and automatically applies the automatically acquired privilege when the specific user uses electronic settlement at a franchise store. In other words, after the automatically acquired privilege is distributed to the specific user, the settlement server 100 automatically applies the automatically acquired privilege when the specific user uses electronic settlement at a franchise store without the specific user performing an operation to acquire the automatically acquired privilege.

[0036] After a normal privilege that becomes available to the user when the user performs an acquisition operation is distributed to the user, the settlement server 100 does not apply the normal privilege when the user uses electronic settlement at a franchise store without the user performing an operation to acquire the normal privilege. After the normal privilege is distributed to the user, the settlement server 100 applies the normal privilege when the user performs an operation to acquire the normal privilege and the user uses electronic settlement at a franchise store.

[0037] As described above, the settlement server 100 automatically applies it in electronic settlement without an operation to acquire an automatic acquisition privilege, and automatically applies it in electronic settlement by performing an operation to acquire a normal privilege.

[0038] [Creation of Privilege] The franchise store can create a privilege (normal privilege, automatic acquisition privilege) by operating the franchisee interface 72. For example, the franchisee interface 72 displays an interface screen for creating a normal privilege and an automatic acquisition privilege on the display unit of the second store terminal device 70 in cooperation with the settlement server 100. For example, on the interface screen, when the content and budget of the privilege are input and a review is requested, the input content is transmitted to the settlement server 100 or a review server (not shown), and it is determined whether the privilege satisfies the preset conditions. If the conditions are satisfied, the settlement server 100 distributes (publishes) the privilege so that the user can acquire it. Note that if a privilege with the same content has been generated in the past and the privilege has been reviewed, the review may be omitted.

[0039] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an interface screen IF1 for creating an automatic acquisition privilege. The franchisee interface 72 displays the interface screen IF1 on the display unit of the second store terminal device 70 according to an operation for creating a privilege of the franchise store. When a button B1 for instructing to create an automatic acquisition privilege on the interface screen IF1 is operated, the franchisee interface 72 displays the interface screen IF2 on the display unit.

[0040] The interface screen IF2 includes, for example, the number of users (number of distributors) targeted to acquire the automatic acquisition privilege, a check box for requesting to distribute the automatic acquisition privilege, and the like. When the check box is checked and a predetermined operation is performed, the privilege created in this process is distributed to the user as an automatic acquisition privilege. The users (distributors) to whom the automatic acquisition privilege is distributed will be described later.

[0041] Users who are different from the targets to whom the automatically acquired benefits are distributed can acquire the benefits created as automatically acquired benefits as normal benefits as described above. For example, a user can acquire them as normal benefits on the benefits list screen of the electronic payment service, or can acquire them as normal benefits on the screen introducing the affiliated stores of the electronic payment service.

[0042] For example, based on an instruction regarding the creation of an automatically acquired benefit (first benefit) available at an affiliated store of the electronic payment service (e.g., the operation of button B1 in FIG. 8), the information processing unit 160 of the payment server 100 generates an automatically acquired benefit and generates correspondence information associating the generated automatically acquired benefit with the identification information of the user of the electronic payment service. When the above instruction includes an instruction for automatically acquired setting to distribute the automatically acquired benefit to the user terminal device 10 of the user so that it can be automatically used, the payment server 100 associates the automatically acquired benefit with the identification information of the user who is the target of the automatically acquired setting. Thereby, the automatically acquired benefit is associated with the identification information of the user in the user information 172.

[0043] The payment server 100, for example, refers to the payment history information of the user information 172 to identify a specific user who has used the electronic payment of the electronic payment service at the affiliated store in the past among the users of the electronic payment service. When the instruction includes an instruction for automatically acquired setting, the payment server 100 executes a process of associating the automatically acquired benefit with the identification information of the specific user.

[0044] The payment server 100 generates a normal benefit based on an instruction regarding the creation of a normal benefit different from the automatically acquired benefit available at the affiliated store. When the instruction includes an instruction for creating a normal benefit (for example, when the affiliated store performs an operation for creating a normal benefit and includes an instruction for creating a normal benefit), in response to the user performing an operation for acquiring a normal benefit in the electronic payment service, the payment server 100 executes a process of associating the normal benefit with the identification information of the user related to the operation.

[0045] [Flowchart of Benefit Creation] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the settlement server 100. This processing may be executed by the interface 72 for franchise stores (second store terminal device).

[0046] First, the settlement server 100 determines whether it has received a request to create an automatically acquired privilege (S100). If it has received a request to create an automatically acquired privilege, the specifying unit 140 of the settlement server 100 derives the number of distributors (S102). Next, the content providing unit 120 of the settlement server 100 provides content including the number of distributors to the interface 72 for franchise stores (S104). At this time, the franchise store determines the budget, design, etc. of the privilege. Next, the settlement server 100 provides the automatically acquired privilege to the user according to the operation of the franchise store on the interface 72 for franchise stores (S106). Thereby, the processing of one routine of this processing flowchart ends.

[0047] As described above, the settlement server 100 refers to the usage history of the past users' electronic payment services, derives the number of specific users, and causes the display unit of the second store terminal device 70 to display the derived number of specific users. For example, the settlement server 100 derives the number of distributors and provides information on the number of distributors (for example, the interface screen IF2) to the franchise store. The franchise store checks the number of distributors and determines whether to provide the automatically acquired privilege to the user, and can cause the user to acquire the automatically acquired privilege.

[0048] [Regarding the number of distributors] The settlement server 100 refers to the user information 172, specifies users who meet the conditions, and sets the specified users as specific users who are the distribution targets. The specific users are, for example, users who have used electronic payment at the franchise store.

[0049] In addition to (or instead of) meeting the above conditions, the following conditions may also be taken into account for specific users. For example, it is the use of electronic payment within a predetermined period. The payment server 100 identifies specific users among the users who have used the electronic payment service as those who have used electronic payment at affiliated stores within a predetermined period. The predetermined period can be any period, such as the past one month, the past six months, or the past one year. Refer to (1) of FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the predetermined period.

[0050] The predetermined period may be from the first past period to the second period (from the past one year to one month). Refer to (2) of FIG. 10. For example, as described above, dormant users who used the service more than the predetermined period ago but have not used the service recently (users who used electronic payment between the past one year and one month but have not used electronic payment within the past one month) may be targeted. Thereby, special offers for automatic acquisition can be provided to dormant users.

[0051] The specific user may be a user whose payment frequency at the affiliated store is equal to or greater than a threshold value or less than the threshold value. The payment server 100 identifies specific users based on the frequency of electronic payment at affiliated stores. The payment server 100 may extract users who meet one or both of the above period and frequency as specific users. For example, among the users who have made electronic payments within a predetermined period, the users with a frequency equal to or greater than the threshold value may be determined as specific users.

[0052] In addition, the payment server 100 may adjust the period based on the number of users specified by the affiliated store. For example, among the users who have used electronic payment at the affiliated store but have not used electronic payment for more than one month (users who have not used electronic payment during a certain period), users with a higher usage frequency may be preferentially targeted. For example, users with a higher frequency may be preferentially determined as specific users so that the number of specified specific users is reached, or users whose timing of electronic payment is a high-priority timing (for example, users who have used electronic payment within the past three months) may be preferentially determined as specific users.

[0053] The above period or frequency may be set by the user or by the payment server 100. For example, the payment server 100 may set the period or frequency based on attributes such as the business type and category of the affiliated store. The frequency of electronic payment varies depending on the attributes of the affiliated store. Therefore, "low frequency" for an affiliated store with originally high frequency means a situation where electronic payment has not been used for several days, but "low frequency" for an affiliated store with originally low frequency may mean a situation where electronic payment has not been used for more than one year. The payment server 100 may automatically identify specific users using an appropriate frequency threshold based on the attributes of the affiliated store as described above.

[0054] The payment server 100 may refer to the overall usage frequency of users who have used the target affiliated store and recommend a period to the affiliated store. For example, the payment server 100 may derive a reference frequency based on a predetermined algorithm or criteria among the overall usage frequencies and recommend the period of the derived reference frequency to the affiliated store. For example, usually, when electronic payment is made every week, in order to identify users who have not made electronic payment for one week as specific target users, the payment server 100 may recommend the period from the past 〇〇 to the past one week as a predetermined period.

[0055] In the above, the specific user has been described as a user who has used electronic payment. Instead (or in addition), it may be a user who has used the services provided by the electronic payment service. Using the service usually means a user who has obtained a privilege or a user who has evaluated an affiliated store.

[0056] When the payment server 100 identifies a specific user as described above, it provides information on the number of specific users (number of distributors) to the affiliated store (see the interface screen IF2). As a result, the affiliated store can easily recognize the number of distributors of the automatically acquired privilege.

[0057] [Interface Screen Provided by the Interface for Affiliated Stores] When a franchisee creates a privilege, the settlement server 100 causes the display unit to display an interface screen IF3 indicating the status of the privilege. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the interface screen IF3. The interface screen IF3 includes, for example, buttons for creating a privilege, the status of privileges created so far, the type of privilege (normal privilege, automatically acquired privilege), and the like. The status of the privilege is, for example, that the privilege is being publicly available (being in a state where it is publicly available for users to acquire) or that it is under review.

[0058] As described above, the franchisee can easily recognize the type and status of the created privilege.

[0059] [Notification to Users] When the settlement server 100 causes a user to automatically acquire an automatically acquired privilege, it sends a notification so that the user can recognize that the user has acquired the automatically acquired privilege. The notification may be a push notification or may be information indicating that the user has acquired the automatically acquired privilege on the interface screen IF4 displayed when the user operates the payment application 20. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the interface screen IF4. The interface screen IF4 includes, for example, the name of the franchisee and information indicating that the user has acquired the automatically acquired privilege of the franchisee. The interface screen IF4 is, for example, a screen (pop-up screen) displayed when the user attempts to display a privilege list screen on which a list of privileges provided by the electronic payment service is displayed.

[0060] For example, when it is estimated that the settlement server 100 has not visually recognized the information indicating that the user has acquired the automatically acquired privilege, it may send a notification again after a predetermined period from the first notification. The settlement server 100 may send a notification again, for example, when it cannot be confirmed from the user's operation history that the screen displaying the automatically acquired privilege corresponding to the notification has been opened for a predetermined time or longer.

[0061] In addition, the above notification screen may include map information of franchise stores where the automatically acquired privilege can be used, information on the distance and route from the current user's location to the franchise store.

[0062] Also, in the case of a notice of obtaining a plurality of automatically acquired benefits, when the settlement server 100 notifies the user of the number of automatically acquired benefits obtained and performs an operation to check the details included in the notice, it may display a screen showing a list of the automatically acquired benefits and the details of each automatically acquired benefit.

[0063] Furthermore, the settlement server 100 may notify that the expiration date is approaching within a predetermined time before the expiration date of the automatically acquired benefit. For example, the settlement server 100 notifies the user of the expiration date as described above for regular benefits as well, but for automatically acquired benefits, the frequency of this notification may be increased or the notification of the expiration date may be advanced even more.

[0064] As described above, the settlement server 100 notifies the user so that the user recognizes that the user has obtained an automatically acquired benefit. As a result, the user recognizes that the user has obtained an automatically acquired benefit, and the use of the affiliated store is promoted.

[0065] [Timing of Notification] The settlement server 100 may send a notice of obtaining an automatically acquired benefit at predetermined intervals. When the user obtains a plurality of automatically acquired benefits within a predetermined period, instead of sending a notice for each acquisition, the settlement server 100 may collectively notify the user terminal device 10 of obtaining the plurality of automatically acquired benefits at a predetermined timing.

[0066] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the timing of notifications. It shows the timing of notifications for a certain user. The settlement server 100 sends a notification indicating that an automatically acquired privilege has been obtained at regular intervals (at the timing of the bell in the figure). Assume that an automatically acquired privilege that the user automatically acquires is created between the timing of the first notification and the timing of the second notification. After the automatically acquired privilege is created, the settlement server 100 distributes the automatically acquired privilege for which predetermined processing such as review has been performed to the user, and the user acquires the automatically acquired privilege. For example, assume that the user acquires an automatically acquired privilege between the timing of the second notification and the timing of the third notification. The settlement server 100 notifies the user collectively at the timing of the third notification that arrives after distributing three automatically acquired privileges (C1, C2, C3) that the automatically acquired privileges (C1, C2, C3) have been acquired.

[0067] As described above, by collectively sending notifications, the settlement server 100 can send effective notifications while suppressing the annoyance of the user.

[0068] [Change from Regular Privilege to Automatically Acquired Privilege] In response to a request from a franchise store, the settlement server 100 may change a regular privilege to an automatically acquired privilege. After the settlement server 100 distributes a regular privilege that becomes available at the franchise store based on the instruction of the franchise store after the user performs an acquisition operation, when the franchise store performs an operation to change the regular privilege to an automatically acquired privilege, the settlement server 100 causes a specific user to acquire the automatically acquired privilege and sends a notification regarding the acquisition to the user terminal device 10 at a predetermined timing. In this case, even if it is changed to an automatically acquired privilege, it may be controlled so that users other than the specific user can acquire the privilege as a regular privilege.

[0069] FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the change from a normal privilege to an automatically acquired privilege. The settlement server 100 transmits a notice indicating that the automatically acquired privilege has been acquired to the user who has received the automatically acquired privilege at predetermined intervals (in the figure, at the timing of the bell). Assume that the franchise store creates Privilege C11 and then its use is started. Assume that after the timing of the second notice, the franchise store changes the normal privilege to an automatically acquired privilege. Thereafter, when the settlement server 100 distributes the automatically acquired privilege to the user, the user acquires the automatically acquired privilege. At the timing of the third notice, the settlement server 100 notifies the user of a notice indicating that the automatically acquired privilege has been acquired. Note that the change to the automatically acquired privilege may be conditional until a predetermined time or more before the end date of the use of the privilege.

[0070] As described above, the franchise store can change the normal privilege to an automatically acquired privilege in consideration of the acquisition status and use status of the normal privilege. This improves the convenience of the franchise store.

[0071] [Interface Screen for Privileges] The settlement server 100 causes the display unit to display an interface screen IF5 regarding the privilege acquired according to the operation of the user. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the interface screen IF5. The interface screen IF5 includes, for example, the name of the franchise store where the privilege can be used, information indicating whether the privilege is a normal privilege or an automatically acquired privilege, a filter button, and the like. The user can preferentially display the normal privilege or display the automatically acquired privilege by operating the filter button.

[0072] For example, on the interface screen IF5, when the user performs an operation to check the details of the automatically acquired privilege, the settlement server 100 causes the interface screen shown in FIG. 16 to be displayed on the display unit of the user terminal device 10. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the interface screens IF6 and IF7. The interface screen IF6 includes, for example, information indicating that the privilege is an automatically acquired privilege, an explanation of the automatically acquired privilege, a button for permitting future notifications, and the like. When a predetermined operation is performed, the interface screen IF7 is displayed on the display unit. The interface screen IF7 includes, for example, information regarding the automatically acquired privilege, a button for proceeding with the payment, and the like. When the button for proceeding with the payment is operated, the settlement server 100 cooperates with the payment application 20 to cause an interface screen for executing electronic payment to be displayed on the display unit of the user terminal device 10.

[0073] As described above, the settlement server 100 enables the user to recognize that the user has acquired the automatically acquired privilege and that electronic payment to which the automatically acquired privilege is applied can be performed. Thereby, the satisfaction of the user is improved, leading to the promotion of the use of the franchise store.

[0074] [Flowchart] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the settlement server 100. The settlement server 100 determines whether or not the processing for distributing the automatically acquired privilege has been executed by the franchise store (S200). When the processing for distributing the automatically acquired privilege has been executed by the franchise store, the settlement server 100 executes processing for associating the automatically acquired privilege with the identification information of the distributed user (S202). Thereby, the privilege information 173 is generated or updated. Next, the settlement server 100 notifies the user terminal device 10 of information indicating that the automatically acquired privilege has been acquired according to the processing of S202 (S204). Thereby, the processing of one routine of this flowchart is completed.

[0075] With the above-described settlement server 100, since the user can automatically acquire the automatically acquired privilege, the convenience of the user is improved.

[0076] [Interface screen for introducing franchise stores] The settlement server 100 causes the interface screen IF8 for introducing franchise stores to be displayed on the display unit of the user terminal device 10 in response to the operation of the user. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the interface screen IF8. The interface screen IF8 includes, for example, detailed information of the franchise store, evaluations of the franchise store, privileges, announcements, etc. When the user viewing the interface screen IF8 has acquired the above privilege as an automatically acquired privilege, the settlement server 100 causes information indicating that it has been automatically acquired to be displayed. Note that when it has not been acquired as an automatically acquired privilege (in the case of a user who is not a specific user), it is displayed as a normal privilege and can be acquired by the user through an operation.

[0077] When the above settlement server 100 has acquired it as an automatically acquired privilege, it causes the information indicating that it has been acquired to be displayed, thereby improving the convenience for the user.

[0078] [Settlement screen] When an automatically acquired privilege is applied in electronic settlement, the settlement server 100 causes information indicating that the automatically acquired privilege has been applied to be displayed on the display unit of the user terminal device 10. When the user makes an electronic settlement at a franchise store and applies an automatically acquired privilege, the settlement server 100 causes the interface screens IF9 and IF10 indicating that the automatically acquired privilege has been applied to be displayed on the display unit of the user terminal device 10. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the interface screens IF9 and IF10. The interface screen IF9 is a screen that the settlement server 100 and the settlement application 20 cause to be displayed on the display unit of the user terminal device 10 after the electronic settlement is completed. The interface screen IF9 includes the settlement amount, information of the franchise store where the electronic settlement was made, information indicating that the automatically acquired privilege has been applied, privileges obtained by the automatically acquired privilege, etc. (30 points).

[0079] After the interface screen IF9 is displayed, after a predetermined time or after a predetermined operation is performed, the interface screen IF10 is displayed. The interface screen IF10 includes, for example, among the information on the acquired points, the information on the points obtained by the application of the automatically acquired privilege and the information on the points obtained based on the predetermined rules of the electronic payment service.

[0080] As described above, when the automatically acquired privilege is used, the settlement server 100 causes the display unit to display so that the user can recognize that it has been used. Thereby, the satisfaction of the user is improved and the use of the franchise store is promoted.

[0081] In the case of user scan where the user captures the code information of the franchise store with the camera of the user terminal device 10 to perform electronic payment, the settlement server 100 may display information on which the automatically acquired privilege is applied on the screen (for example, the payment amount input screen) displayed after the code information is captured. Thereby, the user can also recognize the application of the automatically acquired privilege at the time of user scan.

[0082] [Information on Privileges Provided to Franchise Stores] The settlement server 100 may statistically process the information on the privilege and display the result of the statistical processing on the display unit of the second store terminal device 70. The settlement server 100 may display on the display unit that can be visually recognized by the franchise store information indicating the number of users who have used the automatically acquired privilege or the degree (for example, an index such as the utilization rate) among the number of users who have obtained the automatically acquired privilege.

[0083] FIG. 20 is an interface screen IF11 including information showing the result of statistical processing provided to a predetermined franchise store. The interface screen IF11 includes, for example, information on the normal privilege such as the number of people who have obtained the normal privilege and the utilization rate, and information on the automatically acquired privilege such as the number of people who have obtained the automatically acquired privilege and the utilization rate.

[0084] The interface screen IF11 may include information such as the number of people who have recognized obtaining the automatically acquired privilege and used it, and the utilization rate. For example, the settlement server 100 causes the storage unit 170 to store history information such as the user displaying a notification screen indicating obtaining the automatically acquired privilege and the user viewing the automatically acquired privilege on the privilege list screen, and derives the above-mentioned number of people and utilization rate by referring to the information stored in the storage unit 170.

[0085] As described above, since the settlement server 100 can provide information regarding each privilege to the franchise store, the franchise store can refer to this information and consider promotion strategies such as the distribution of privileges.

[0086] According to the embodiment described above, based on an instruction regarding the creation of the first privilege that can be used at the franchise store of the electronic payment service, the settlement server 100 identifies specific users among the users of the electronic payment service who have used the electronic payment of the electronic payment service at the franchise store, and distributes the first privilege to the terminal devices of the specific users so that they can be automatically used, thereby improving the convenience of one or both of the service provider and the service user.

[0087] As described above, the embodiments for implementing the present invention have been described using the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0088] 10 User terminal device 20 Settlement application 100 Settlement server 120 Content providing unit 130 Settlement processing unit 140 Identification unit 150 Distribution unit 160 Information processing unit 173 Privilege information

Claims

1. an identification unit that identifies a specific user who has used the electronic payment service of the electronic payment service at the affiliated store in the past, among users of the electronic payment service, based on an instruction regarding creation of a first benefit that can be used at the affiliated store of the electronic payment service; a processing unit that delivers the first benefit to a user terminal device of the specific user and allows the specific user to automatically acquire the first benefit so that the benefit can be used; The processing unit includes: After the first benefit is delivered to the specific user, the specific user is automatically granted the first benefit without the specific user performing any operation to grant the first benefit, and when the specific user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store, the first benefit is automatically applied; When a second benefit that can be used at the affiliated store when the user performs an operation to obtain the second benefit is delivered to the user, and the user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store without performing an operation to obtain the second benefit, the second benefit is not applied, After the second benefit is delivered to the user, when an operation for obtaining the second benefit is performed by the user and the user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store, the second benefit is applied; when the affiliated store performs an operation to change the second benefit to the first benefit after the second benefit is distributed based on an instruction from the affiliated store, the first benefit is automatically acquired by the specific user, and a notification regarding the acquisition is sent to the user terminal device at a predetermined timing. Information processing device.

2. The processing unit includes: When the specific user automatically acquires a plurality of the first benefits during a predetermined period, a notification regarding the acquisition is not given for each automatic acquisition, but the plurality of first benefits acquired during the predetermined period are notified to the user terminal device collectively after the predetermined period. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The identification unit identifies the specific user by referring to usage history information including information on the affiliated store where the user used the electronic payment; the processing unit causes the user of the electronic payment service to acquire the first benefit by associating the first benefit with identification information of the user of the electronic payment service. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

4. The processing unit identifies, as the specified user, a user who has used the electronic payment service at the affiliated store within a predetermined period in the past, among the users who have used the electronic payment service. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

5. The processing unit identifies the specific user based on a frequency of the electronic payment at the affiliated store. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

6. When the processing unit causes the specific user to automatically acquire the first privilege, the processing unit notifies the specific user of information indicating that the specific user has acquired the first privilege. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

7. When the first benefit is applied in the electronic payment, the processing unit causes a display unit of the user terminal device to display information indicating that the first benefit has been applied. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

8. the processing unit causes a display unit visible to the affiliated store to display information indicating the number or degree of the users who have used the first benefit among the number of the users who have acquired the first benefit. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

9. when the processing unit receives an instruction for creating the first benefit from the affiliated store terminal device of the affiliated store, the processing unit derives the number of the specific users by referring to the past usage history of the electronic payment service of the users, and causes the derived number of the specific users to be displayed on a display unit of the affiliated store terminal device; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

10. The processing unit includes: generating the first benefit based on an instruction for generating the first benefit that can be used at affiliated stores of the electronic payment service, and generating correspondence information that associates the generated first benefit with identification information of a user of the electronic payment service; When the instruction includes an instruction for automatic acquisition setting for delivering the first benefit to a user terminal device of the user and acquiring the first benefit so that the first benefit can be automatically used, the first benefit is associated with identification information of a user who is a target of the automatic acquisition setting. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

11. the processing unit executes a process of associating the first benefit with identification information of the specific user when the instruction includes an instruction for automatic acquisition setting. The information processing device according to claim 10.

12. The processing unit generates the second benefit based on an instruction for creating the second benefit that is different from the first benefit available at the affiliated store; When the instruction includes an instruction to create the second benefit, in response to the user performing an operation to acquire the second benefit in the electronic payment service, a process is executed to associate the second benefit with identification information of the user related to the operation.

12. The information processing device according to claim 10 or 11.

13. The computer A process for identifying a specific user who has used the electronic payment service at the affiliated store in the past among users of the electronic payment service based on an instruction for creating a first benefit that can be used at the affiliated store of the electronic payment service; A process of delivering the first benefit to a user terminal device of the specific user so that the specific user can automatically acquire the first benefit and use it; After the first benefit is delivered to the specific user, the specific user is automatically granted the first benefit without the specific user performing any operation to obtain the first benefit, and when the specific user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store, the first benefit is automatically applied; When a second benefit that can be used at the affiliated store when the user performs an operation to obtain the second benefit is delivered to the user, and the user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store without performing an operation to obtain the second benefit, the second benefit is not applied, a process of applying the second benefit when the user performs an operation to obtain the second benefit after the second benefit is delivered to the user and the user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store; a process of automatically causing the specific user to acquire the first benefit and notifying the user terminal device of the acquisition at a predetermined timing when the specific user performs an operation to change the second benefit to the first benefit after the second benefit is distributed based on an instruction from the affiliated store; An information processing method for performing the above.

14. On the computer, A process for identifying a specific user who has used the electronic payment service at the affiliated store in the past among users of the electronic payment service based on an instruction for creating a first benefit that can be used at the affiliated store of the electronic payment service; A process of delivering the first benefit to a user terminal device of the specific user so that the specific user can automatically acquire the first benefit and use it; After the first benefit is delivered to the specific user, the specific user is automatically granted the first benefit without the specific user performing any operation to obtain the first benefit, and when the specific user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store, the first benefit is automatically applied; When a second benefit that can be used at the affiliated store when the user performs an operation to obtain the second benefit is delivered to the user, and the user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store without performing an operation to obtain the second benefit, the second benefit is not applied, a process of applying the second benefit when the user performs an operation to obtain the second benefit after the second benefit is delivered to the user and the user uses the electronic payment at the affiliated store; a process of automatically causing the specific user to acquire the first benefit and notifying the user terminal device of the acquisition at a predetermined timing when the specific user performs an operation to change the second benefit to the first benefit after the second benefit is distributed based on an instruction from the affiliated store; A program that executes the following.

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