JP2002203188A - Credit card settlement method, its device, card management device, and card usage limit amount management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lower a risk of a card company. SOLUTION: This card management device 21 is provided with a receiving means receiving transaction approval request information transmitted from a card usage information input device 32, a first authorizing part 213 retrieving user information by using a credit card identifier included in the transaction approval request information as a key and determining whether a credit card is valid or not, a second authorizing part 213 retrieving usage limit amount information matching the credit card identifier by using the credit card identifier as a key and determining whether the credit card transaction is allowed or not on the basis of the transaction approval request information and the usage limit amount information, a usage limit amount management part 212 updating sales amount information if the credit card transaction is approved by the first and second authorizing parts and updating the usage limit amount information on the basis of the updated sales amount information, and a transmission part transmitting the updated usage limit amount information to the card usage information input device 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a credit card settlement method, an apparatus, a card management apparatus, and a card usage limit management method, and more particularly, to a method for a credit card user to use the credit card. The present invention relates to a credit card settlement method, a device, a card management device, and a card use limit management method capable of changing the use limit of the credit card according to the account balance of the account used for debiting the amount.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique, there is a mechanism of a credit card settlement system. Regarding the credit card settlement mechanism, please refer to the card / credit glossary
April 30, 1999 First edition issuance, issuance office (Kindai Sales Co., Ltd., edited by the Japan Card Business Study Group), "credit card", "Personal credit (credit) is a postpaid card. ) The general credit card mechanism is to issue the card to the applicant, make it a credit card member, and turn the retail store into a credit card merchant. The credit card company pays the retail price to the retailer by deducting a certain franchise fee, and the credit card company collects the purchase price from the member in one payment or split. I have.

Further, as a prior art relating to a card system settlement system having a function of setting a use limit amount by a card user himself, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-7 / 1996
A technique described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 016 is known. This prior art allows the card user to set a credit limit only for the balance currently in his or her bank account,
In order to give priority to the use of the card within the range, a system comprising a host station, a storage unit of a plurality of accounts, a plurality of money amount registration devices, and a plurality of money amount withdrawal devices is configured. And each of these devices
It is configured as follows. That is, the amount registering device includes a card slot device, a card account and a password of the card user are written as fixed information on a card inserted into the card slot device, and the maximum amount of card use is variable. Written as information. The amount registering device registers the maximum amount within the range of the current bank account in the card via the host station. The money withdrawal device reads the fixed information of the card, inputs a password within the range of the maximum money, makes the password input, and registers the money from the bank account via the host station in the money withdrawal device in advance. Transfer the amount corresponding to the numerical value to another bank account that has been set.

As another conventional technique, a technique relating to a card system settlement system for accessing an account balance in real time and performing card settlement based on the account balance result is described in, for example, JP-A-7-28900. Has been known. This prior art treats a prepaid card as a product of the store concerned, and aims to provide a terminal device for a bank POS system capable of immediately settling the purchase price of a prepaid card. In a POS system installed in a store or the like, a terminal device that can be operated by the customer himself and purchase a prepaid card issued by the store or the like using a bank cash card, and the customer can use the bank cash card. It checks whether the amount of the prepaid card purchased using is within the balance of the customer's bank account, and if the purchase is possible, issues a prepaid card and subtracts the corresponding amount from the customer's bank account. The debited and debited amount is deposited in a bank account of the dealer.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A credit card settlement system according to the prior art is a method in which a credit card company executes a transaction between a user's transaction and receipt of payment by automatic debit from the user's account at a later date. You will bear the credit risk of the user. In addition, the conventional card payment system,
In order to limit the credit risk of the card company, a usage limit is set as an upper limit of use of the issued card.

[0006] Therefore, a user whose credit card payment account (hereinafter referred to as “card debit account”) has a significantly larger balance than a set credit limit, even if there is a large amount of funds in the credit card debit account. If the credit card debit account balance is less than the set credit limit, the problem that the credit card debit account cannot be used as a card payment There is a problem that the risk of the card company increases because the card can be used.

The prior art described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-7016 attempts to solve the above problem by providing a card settlement system with a function of setting a usage limit by a user himself. According to this prior art, the card user himself / herself sets the usage limit, so that the card settlement system is convenient for the card user. But,
After the card user sets the credit limit, even if the bank account balance decreases due to the card usage, the credit limit of the card user will be effective because the initial credit limit is valid unless the user resets the credit limit. As described above, there is a problem that the possibility of using the card payment is increased, and it cannot be said that the risk burden on the card payment of the card company is exempted.

Therefore, the prior art described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-28900 attempts to solve the above problem by accessing a card debit account in real time and checking the account balance of the card user. In this prior art, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the balance of the card debit account is accessed at the time of settlement, and the card user's ability to pay is confirmed. However, this conventional technique has a problem in that it is necessary to access a user's account in real time, which results in excessive costs for the system and the environment of the system. Although this prior art describes checking the account balance at the time of settlement, it is disclosed up to checking the account balance at each transaction when the transaction and the settlement are performed separately. Not.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to set up a credit card settlement system for reducing the risk of a card company, a credit card settlement method, an apparatus, a card management apparatus, and a card. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of managing a credit limit.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, when a transaction is performed using a credit card, the object is to store the account balance or the sales amount or the account balance and the sales amount at the time of the transaction. Update the credit limit accordingly. Alternatively, this is achieved by updating the user's account balance or sales amount every predetermined period, or the usage limit amount according to the account balance and the sales amount.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of information flow in a business scheme of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is personal account information. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a usage limit management file for managing a usage limit, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an individual sales information management file for managing individual sales information. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing operation when the card management device 21 of the present invention receives card issuance application information, and FIG. 7 is used by the card management device 21 when a user changes a debit account. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation when managing the limit amount. FIG. 8 is a processing operation when the card management device gives approval to the transaction for which approval is requested when the card of the present invention is used. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation when the card management device updates / changes the usage limit for each card, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart in which the card management device receives a usage limit reference request from the user. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of the card management apparatus in the case where the transaction is performed, and FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a display screen displayed when the transaction amount of the transaction which is the target of the transaction approval request information exceeds the usage limit, and FIG. 13 is displayed when the user inquires about the usage limit. It is a figure showing an example of a use limit inquiry screen.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flow of information in a business scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention is as follows. First, an account (hereinafter simply referred to as a debit account) designated by an applicant (user) at the time of a card issuance application. The account balance is referred to and the account balance is set as the usage limit of the issued card (step 11). Then, the usage limit set in step 11 is updated according to the account balance of the debit account at predetermined intervals after the card issuance (step 12), and when the user uses the card, the usage limit is updated. By referring to the amount, the user can carry out a card transaction by using the amount corresponding to the account balance of his / her own debit account as the usage limit (step 1).
3).

Note that the usage limit set in the above step 11 does not need to be the same as the account balance of the debit account, and for example, a predetermined ratio of the account balance can be set as the usage limit. The predetermined ratio may be set by a card company or by a user. Further, in this embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation, the debit account is used only for payment related to the card of the present invention, and is not used as a payment means other than the payment related to the card of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to such a case, and the debit account may be used for payment other than the payment according to the card of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the entire hardware configuration of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the system includes a card management device 21, a card issuance information input device 22, a card use information input device 23, and an account management device 24.

The card management device 21 is a device installed by a card company. The card management device 21 performs issuance of a new card and approval for individual card transactions, as well as usage limits and sales (for each card and debit account). In the present embodiment, the sales amount refers to a transaction amount in a card transaction that is not charged to the user), and manages a payment request to the user.
The card management device 21 includes a card issuing unit 211, a usage limit management unit 212, an approval unit 213, a sales totalization unit 214, an automatic transfer information generation unit 215, an execution control unit 217, a transmission / reception unit 218, and a search unit 219. A storage unit 216 that stores user information, transaction history information, financial institution information, and member store information for each customer is connected.

Here, the user information includes the user's name, address, telephone number, date of birth, place of employment, number of years of service, type of residence, number of years of residence, annual income, identifier assigned to each user, Set for each card according to the identifier assigned to each user's card, the account number of the user's debit account, the financial institution identifier which is the identifier of the financial institution managing the account, and the balance of the user's debit account Indicates information indicating the usage limit amount (hereinafter simply referred to as usage limit information), but it is not necessary to include all of the above or to be limited to the above. In addition, the said financial institution shall mean a bank, a credit union, a credit union, a post office, a securities company, an insurance company, etc.

The transaction history information is information indicating the transaction history of each user, and includes the number of uses in a past predetermined period,
Usage amount information at each use and the total amount thereof, usage result information including an identifier (hereinafter simply referred to as a “member store identifier”) that uniquely identifies a member store that transacted with the user at each use, payment in a past predetermined period The number of times of delay, the amount of delay at the time of each delay, the payment result information including the collection status of the amount of delay, etc., and the billing information indicating the sales amount at that time and the amount of uncollected delay. Encompasses everything,
It is not necessary to be limited to the above.

The financial institution information includes the name of a financial institution having an account management device described later, or the name of a financial institution and its branch,
In addition to the financial institution identifier corresponding to each financial institution, the location, telephone number, and the like of each financial institution or each branch of the financial institution may be included. Here, the range identified by the financial institution identifier may be up to each financial institution, regardless of whether it is up to the branch of each financial institution. In the present embodiment, the identifier identifying up to the branch of each financial institution is used. It is assumed that

The member store information includes the name, location, telephone number, and member store identifier assigned to each member store that has a member store contract with the card company, but includes all of the above. Or need not be limited to the above.

The card issuance section examines and credits the user when applying for a card issuance from the applicant. The usage limit management unit 212 sets or changes the usage limit in the debit account of the card based on account balance information (information indicating the account balance of the user's debit account, details of which will be described later). . Therefore, in the present invention, even when a single account is set as a debit account for a plurality of cards, the use limit is set for each debit account as described above. There is no need to set a usage limit.

The approval unit 213 accepts a user's card use application, and determines whether or not to accept the transaction to be applied. Further, the sales totaling unit 214 calculates the sales amount related to the use of the card of the present invention, such as the sales amount for each card, the sales amount for each user (= the sales amount for each debit account), and the total amount of the sales amounts. Is stored in the storage unit 216 as sales amount information. The automatic transfer information generating unit 215 generates billing information for each user based on the sales amount information, and uses the automatic transfer information used to request each financial institution to debit the account based on the billing amount information. Generate The transmitting / receiving unit 218 transmits / receives information to / from the card issuing information input device 22, the card use information input device 23, and the account management device 24. Transaction control unit 217
Based on the received information, the processing is distributed to the above-described units, and the execution is controlled.

The card issuance / input device 22 is an input / output terminal connected to a card management device which is a host of the card company, and includes an information input unit 221, an information output unit 222, a transmission / reception unit 223, and an execution control unit 224. , Card issuance application information submitted by the card issuer to the credit card company (for example, name, address, phone number, date of birth, place of employment, length of service, type of residence, number of years of residence, annual income, account identifier of debit account, Input of the name of the financial institution that manages the debit account, output of the examination result of the applicant, card management device 22
It is used for maintenance etc. Although not shown, an input / output terminal may be connected to the card use information input device 23. The information input unit 221 is provided for the card management device 21.
The information output unit 222 outputs the information transmitted from the card management device 21. The transmission / reception unit transmits / receives information to / from the card management device 21, and the execution control unit 224 distributes a process to each unit based on the received information, and controls execution.

The card use information input device 23 is a device used when a user makes a card transaction, and includes a data input unit 231, a data output unit 232, a transmission / reception unit 233, and an execution control unit 234. For example, a member store terminal or an information terminal owned by a user in the case of electronic commerce corresponds to this. Although not shown, the card usage information input device 23
, An input / output terminal may be connected. At the time of the transaction, the information input unit 231 stores information on a card possessed by the user (hereinafter, simply referred to as card information, including, for example, a credit card identifier, an expiration date, and a holder) and information on a transaction performed by the user (hereinafter, referred to as card information). This is simply referred to as transaction information, and includes, for example, a product, an amount, and a payment method (= the user's repayment method), and may also include a member store identifier. At this time, the input of the information is
Regardless of the input method, such as a numeric keypad, a card reader, a barcode reader, etc., and if the card use input device 23 has any storage unit, the above-mentioned information or a part thereof is stored in advance. It is also possible to configure so that information input for each transaction is not required.

The transmitting / receiving unit 233 transmits and receives information between the card management device 21 and the card use information input device 23.
The information output unit 232 is configured as a device that outputs response information from the card management device 21 received by the transmission / reception unit 233. The form of the output of the answer information is not limited, for example, printing by a printer, or display on the display when the card use information input device 23 has a display or the like. Here, the answer information refers to an approval notice, a decline notice, and usage limit information, which will be described later in detail. The execution control unit 234 distributes processing to each of the above units based on the received information, and controls execution.

The account management device 24 includes an account management unit 241,
It includes a storage unit 242, a transmission / reception unit 243, and an execution control unit 244. Specifically, for example, a host of a financial institution that manages a user's debit account corresponds to this. Account management unit 24
1 performs a withdrawal process from the user's account and a deposit process to the account, and updates the user's account information (account information includes account balance information) stored in the storage unit 242.
The transmission / reception unit 243 transmits / receives information to / from the card management device 21. The updated account balance information is transmitted to the card management device 21 via the transmission / reception unit 243 for each predetermined institution. Although the details will be described later, the account management device 24 transmits the account balance information to the card management device 21.
From the storage unit 242 connected to itself, and retrieves an account for which account balance information transmission is requested (hereinafter, simply referred to as a request target account). This is performed by transmitting the balance to the card management device 21. Here, the request target account specified in the account balance request information need not be a single account.

In addition, the other account management device 24 may have received designation of a request target account in advance. In this case, the account management device 24 requires a storage unit such as the storage unit 216 for storing the request target account, and the card management device 21 determines whether the request target account newly increases or decreases (new application, cancellation, Account change), the account management device 24 notifies the account management device 24 of the increase or decrease of the account balance at predetermined intervals or triggered by other reasons (for example, a request from a card company). May be notified to the card management device 21. Here, the account balance request information and the account balance information corresponding to the account balance request information will be described as being transmitted and received via a network. However, a predetermined recording medium (for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk or CD -Any form, such as a ROM), may be received and provided.

The execution control section 244 distributes processing to the above sections based on the received information, and controls execution.

The storage unit 24 of the account management device 24 shown in FIG.
The data structure of the account information stored in 2 is an account identifier 3
1. It includes account balance information 32, and may further include an account holder, a customer identifier assigned by each financial institution for each account holder, an account type, and the like. The account identifier 31 is an identifier for uniquely identifying each account, and generally corresponds to an account number. The account balance information 32 is information indicating the account balance of each account, the account holder indicates the account holder, and the customer identifier is an identifier assigned by the financial institution managing the account for each account holder. Specifically, it corresponds to a customer number. The account type is information indicating the product classification of each account, and includes, for example, an ordinary deposit, a time deposit, a securities general account, and the like, but is not limited thereto.

The storage unit 2 of the card management device 21 shown in FIG.
The credit limit information stored in the account identifier 16 is information indicating a credit limit set for each debit account.
And a usage limit 42 corresponding to the account identifier.

The storage unit 2 of the card management device 21 shown in FIG.
The sales information 16 stores the account identifier 31 and the sales amount 51 that is the sales amount related to the use of the card corresponding to the account identifier 31. Here, FIG.
The usage limit information and the sales information described in the above are separately described, but both are managed as one of the records stored in one storage unit 216, and are also associated with the respective information described above. And

Next, the processing operation when the card management device 21 receives the card issuance application information will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG.

First, the card management device 21 receives the card issuance application information input from the information input unit 221 of the card issuance information input device 22 (step 61). As described above, the card issuance application information includes the applicant's name, address, telephone number, date of birth, place of employment, length of service, residence, residence, annual income, account identifier of the debit account, and the debit account. The name of the financial institution to be managed and the like may be included (the name of the branch may be included in addition to the name of the financial institution). Subsequently, a card identifier which is a card-specific identifier (number) issued for the applicant through a predetermined examination step, which is not particularly mentioned in this embodiment, is registered (step 6).
2). In this screening step, if the applicant does not satisfy the predetermined screening criteria set by the card company, no card is issued.

Next, the card management device 21 transmits the account balance request information to the account management device 24, requests the account balance information of the applicant, and receives it (step 6).
3). In this embodiment, the transmission of the account information transmitted from the card management device 21 when applying for a card issuance to the card company between the card company having the card management device 21 and the financial institution having the account management device 24. It is assumed that an agreement has already been made to respond to the request with a predetermined procedure. However, regarding the transmission of the account balance request information and the reception of the account balance information, as described above, in addition to the processing flow described in this drawing, a predetermined recording medium (for example, floppy disk, CD-ROM, or any other form). May be stored, received, and provided. The predetermined procedure refers to a procedure for confirming the identity of the card company and the authenticity of the transmission request, such as a procedure for authenticating the electronic signature of the card company attached to the transmission request.

The card management device 21 executes step 63
Based on the account balance information received in step 2, the card usage limit set for the applicant is set, stored in the storage unit 216 (step 64), and the card issuance information device 22 is notified that the card is to be issued. Then, a card issuance notification to be issued is generated (step 651) and transmitted to the card issuance information input device (step 652), and the process is terminated. It is assumed that the usage limit is the same as the account balance, or an arbitrary amount of the account balance, or a predetermined ratio (for example, 80% or 90%).

Next, the processing operation when the management device 21 updates the card usage limit set for each card will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG.

In the embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the card usage limit is updated once a day at a predetermined time, and a process performed by the card management device 21 at that time will be described. However, the updating of the card usage limit is not limited to being performed once a day, and may be performed at other predetermined intervals. It may be performed by a trigger.

First, the card management device 21 transmits the account balance request information to the account management device 24 of the financial institution that manages the user's debit account once a day at a predetermined time (step 71). ). The account balance request information includes an account identifier that uniquely identifies the user's debit account. The account management device 24 searches the storage unit 242 using the account identifier as a key, and determines the account of the corresponding account. The balance information is transmitted to the card management device 21. Card management device 21
Receives the account balance information (step 7)
2) The sales information corresponding to the account balance information is read from the storage unit 216 connected to itself (step 73). Subsequently, the card management device 21 newly calculates a card usage limit for each account based on the account balance information and the sales information (step 74). Specifically, the card usage limit is calculated by calculating the account balance shown in the account information minus the sales amount shown in the sales information. In addition, the calculation of the usage limit may be performed based on the number obtained by subtracting the sales amount from the account balance as described above, or may be calculated simply based on the account balance. In that case, it is not necessary to read the sales information in step 73 described above. Therefore, when the account balance indicated by the account balance information increases, the use limit increases, and when the account balance indicated by the account balance information decreases, the use limit also decreases. When the sales amount indicated in the sales information increases, the usage limit decreases, and when the sales amount decreases, the usage limit increases.

The card management device 21 stores the card usage limit calculated in step 74 in a usage limit table prepared in the storage unit 216 of the card management device 21 (step 75), and corresponds to the account balance information. Of the cards that do
It is determined whether or not there is a card whose usage limit has not been updated (step 76), and if not, the process is terminated. If there is a card whose usage limit has not been updated, the process proceeds to step 73. Also, as described above, the account management device 24 may have received the designation of the account to be requested in advance, and the account management device 24 may make a request at predetermined intervals or triggered by other reasons (for example, a request from a card company). The account balance of the target account may be notified to the card management device 21, and the account balance request information and the account balance information may be stored in a predetermined recording medium (for example, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form).
May be stored, received, and provided.

Next, FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the processing operation of the card management device 21 when transaction approval request information is transmitted from the card use information input device 23 when a user makes a transaction using the card of the present invention. This will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the description will be made assuming that the card use information input device 23 is a member store terminal installed in a member store, but it does not mean that the card use information input device is limited to the member store terminal of the card. Absent.

The member store receives the card presentation from the user in the transaction with the user, inputs the card information stored in the user's card using the card reader provided in the member store terminal, and simultaneously inputs the card information. The transaction information relating to the transaction is input using a numeric keypad provided in the member store terminal. The card management device 21 receives transaction approval request information, which is information including the card information and the transaction information (step 81), and receives a card identifier (such as a card number) included in the card information.
The storage unit 216 connected to itself is searched by using as a key (step 82), and it is determined whether the card corresponding to the card identifier is valid or not (step 83). Here, when a certain card is set to be unusable for a predetermined reason, the storage unit 216 stores a flag indicating that the card is unusable in association with a card identifier for each card, and The reasons for this include, for example, theft, loss, unauthorized use, and delay in payment.

Next, the card management device 21 reads out the credit limit information stored in the storage unit 216 in association with the account identifier of the debited account of the card (step 84), and is included in the transaction information. The amount information and the usage limit information are compared to make a usage authorization determination (step 8).
5) If the transaction is approved, the sales amount in the transaction is calculated based on the amount information and the sales amount information stored in the storage unit 216 is updated (step 86). Subsequently, a new usage limit is calculated based on the usage limit information and the sales amount information updated in step 216 (step 87), and the usage limit information in the storage unit 216 is updated (step 88). Then, an approval notice is transmitted to the member store terminal (step 89), and the process ends. In addition,
When the member store terminal receives the approval notice, the member store terminal outputs a use copy and provides it to the user. Further, as will be described later, the approval notice may indicate the usage limit updated in step 88, in which case the usage limit output is described in the usage record output from the member store terminal, Alternatively, it is desirable to be displayed.

If the transaction is not approved in step 85, a decline notice is transmitted to the member store terminal, and the process is terminated (step 895).

Further, steps 87 and 88 can be omitted. However, in that case, the usage limit is
It is updated by the processing flow described in 7 and does not reflect the sales amount in each transaction. Therefore, the credit limit includes the sales amount, and the credit limit information is not always the transaction amount available to the user at a certain time,
By going through steps 93 and 94, the transaction value available to the user can be indicated with a relatively high probability at each point in time.

Next, in addition to generating usage statement information to be presented in the usage statement to be sent to the user, a request for the sales amount (to the debit account of the user) is given to the user. The processing operation of the card management device 21 will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG.

The card management device 21 stores the sales amount information of each card stored in the storage unit 216 for each predetermined period and the transaction history of each card stored in the storage unit 216 during the predetermined period. With reference to the information (step 91), card use content notification information is generated based on the information (step 92). The card use content notification information includes information on the use status of the card during the above-mentioned predetermined period (for example, date of use, name of member store, use amount, transaction product, and the like. , Services, and financial services (caching, etc.) provided by the card company itself, billing amount, etc.) are provided to the user after being described in the card usage statement (step 93). . In addition,
The method of providing to the user may not be electronic means such as electronic mail, but may be mailing.

On the other hand, the card management device 21 generates automatic transfer information based on the sales amount information (step 9).
4) Based on the financial institution information stored in the customer information table of the storage unit 216, the user provides the automatic transfer information to the financial institution designated as the transaction financial institution (step 95). At this time, the provision of the automatic transfer information to the financial institution need not be performed for each card, and a plurality of automatic transfer information may be provided collectively for each financial institution or for each branch of each financial institution. The method of providing the information is not necessarily required to be on-line, but may be in any form, such as providing a floppy or CD-ROM storing the automatic transfer information.

FIG. 1 shows the processing operation of the card management device 21 when the user refers to the credit limit of the card held by the user.
This will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG.

The card management device 21 receives the credit limit reference information (step 101), and uses the card identifier included in the credit limit reference information as a key to correspond to the card identifier from the credit limit information table in the storage unit 216. The usage limit information 4 to be used is retrieved (step 102) and transmitted to the card usage information input device (step 103), and the process is terminated.

As shown in FIG. 11, an example of the screen display 111 output to the member store terminal when the user makes a transaction using the card at the member store is shown in FIG. 112, a purchase amount 113, a usage limit 114 at the time of transaction, and a confirmation icon 115 are displayed. Although the member store terminal is described here as having a screen displaying 112 to 115, such a screen is not an essential element in the present invention and does not have such a screen in the present invention. It is also possible to use a member store terminal. However, in that case, the information described in FIG. 11 and the following FIG. 12 are printed or provided by a printer provided in the member store terminal, or are not provided.

FIG. 12 shows an example in which the decline notice transmitted in step 87 of FIG. 8 is output on a screen provided in the member store terminal.

FIG. 13 shows an example in which the use limit information transmitted in step 103 of FIG. 10 is displayed on the display of the use information input device.

In the case of settlement using a credit card, the reduction of the account balance (withdrawal from the withdrawal account) is performed every predetermined period, whereas in the case of the debit card, the account balance is reduced. Is reduced for each transaction by the debit card user, so the payment system for performing the debit card payment does not necessarily require the debit card user to accumulate sales information. On the other hand, in the case of a credit card, as described above, the reduction of the account balance is performed every predetermined period, so that it is necessary to accumulate and store sales information for each credit card for the predetermined period.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the effect of reducing the risk of the card company can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of an information flow in a business scheme according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a personal account information file for managing personal account information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a usage limit management file for managing a usage limit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an individual sales information management file for managing individual sales information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation when the card management device 21 of the present invention receives card issuance application information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation when the card management device manages a usage limit when a user changes a debit account.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation when the card management device gives approval to a transaction for which approval is requested when the card of the present invention is used.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation when the card management device updates / changes the usage limit for each card.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the card management device when the card management device receives a request for referring to a usage limit from a user.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of a use refund presented when a transaction using a card (hereinafter, simply referred to as a card transaction) is performed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed when a transaction amount of a transaction targeted for transaction approval request information exceeds a usage limit.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a use limit inquiry screen displayed when a user inquires about a use limit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Card Management Device 22 Card Issuance Information Input Device 23 Card Usage Information Input Device 24 Account Management Device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shunji Fukui 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside of Hitachi, Ltd.System Development Laboratory Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takao Yoda 2--15-12 Nishishinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. Within Hitachi Capital Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masakazu Hatakeyama 2--15-12 Nishi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Within Hitachi Capital Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A credit card identifier assigned to each credit card, user information that is information on a credit card user corresponding to the credit card identifier, and a debit account specified in advance by the credit card user A credit card settlement method performed via a credit card management device including a storage unit for storing sales amount information for each account and usage limit information set for each debit account in association with each other, The credit card management device receives the transaction approval request information transmitted from the card usage information input device in the credit card transaction between the user and the member store, and uses the credit card identifier included in the transaction approval request information as a key to obtain the user information. And a first determination step of determining whether the credit card is valid And searching for credit limit information corresponding to the credit card identifier using the credit card identifier as a key, and determining whether or not to accept the credit card transaction based on the transaction approval request information and the credit limit information. And the first and second steps
Updating the sales amount information when the credit card transaction is approved by the determining step, and updating the usage limit information based on the updated sales amount information; and Transmitting the amount to the card usage information input device. 2. A credit card identifier assigned to each credit card, user information which is information on a credit card user corresponding to the credit card identifier, and a debit account designated by the credit card user in advance. A credit card payment device for performing a credit card payment via a credit card management device including a storage unit for storing sales amount information for each of the accounts and usage limit information set for each of the debit accounts. Receiving means for receiving transaction approval request information transmitted from a card use information input device in a credit card transaction between a user and a member store, and a credit card identifier included in the transaction approval request information as a key. Search the user information and determine whether the credit card is valid A first approval unit for determining, using the credit card identifier as a key, searching for credit limit information corresponding to the credit card identifier, and determining the credit card transaction based on the transaction approval request information and the credit limit information; A second approval unit for determining whether or not to approve and, if the first and second approval units approve the credit card transaction, updating the sales amount information, based on the updated sales amount information; A credit card settlement device, comprising: a use limit management unit that updates the use limit information; and a transmission unit that transmits the updated use limit information to the card use information input device. 3. A card management device connected to an account management device, wherein the transmission portion transmits account balance request information of a debit account specified in advance by a credit card user to the account management device; A receiving unit that receives account balance information transmitted by the account management device with respect to request information,
A search unit for searching for the use limit information stored in the storage unit connected to the self based on the account balance information, and updating the use limit information based on the account balance information and the use limit information. A card management device, further comprising a usage limit management unit for storing the usage limit in the storage unit. 4. A card management device connected to a card usage information input device, wherein the storage unit stores a credit card identifier and usage limit information in association with each other, and is transmitted from the card usage information input device. A receiving unit that receives usage limit reference information; a search unit that searches for usage limit information stored in the storage unit using a credit card identifier included in the usage limit reference information as a key; A transmission unit for transmitting the usage limit information to the card usage information input device. 5. A card management device connected to a card usage information input device, a storage unit for storing a credit card identifier and usage limit information in association with each other, and a transaction approval request from the card usage information input device. A receiving unit that receives information; a search unit that searches the storage unit using a credit card identifier included in the transaction approval request information as a key; and the transaction approval request based on the usage limit information searched by the search unit. An approval unit that determines whether or not to approve the transaction that is the object of the information; and, when the transaction is approved by the approval unit, the use limit information based on the transaction approval request information and the use limit information. A usage limit management unit that updates the usage limit information, and an approval notification to the card usage information input device and the usage limit information updated by the usage limit management unit. A card management device, comprising: a transmission unit for transmitting. 6. A card management device connected to an account management device, wherein the reception unit receives account balance information of a debit account specified in advance by a credit card user, and the storage unit based on the account balance information. And a use limit management unit that updates the use limit information based on the account balance information and the use limit information. Card management device. 7. A credit limit managing unit for setting a credit limit for each credit card user's debit account based on the account balance information of the credit card user's debit account. Card management device. 8. A method for managing a credit limit of a credit card, comprising: using credit limit information for each account specified in advance by a credit card user; and a credit card identifier of a credit card for which the account is debited. In a card management device provided with a storage unit associated and stored, a step of receiving input of account balance information of the account; a step of searching for an account corresponding to the account balance information;
Updating the usage limit information based on the account balance information for each account searched in the search step.