JP7471124B2 - Information processing device, terminal device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device etc. that exchanges value between two or more payment methods.

Conventionally, there have been systems that exchange value between two or more payment methods of a single user (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this system, the value of acquired points, which is a second payment method of a single user, is exchanged for the value of various points, digital tickets, national currencies, etc., which is a first payment method of the single user.

International Publication No. WO2016/103772

However, until now, there has been no mechanism for exchanging the value of a first user's second payment method with the value of a second user's first payment method.

The information processing device of the first invention is an information processing device that includes a user information storage unit in which two or more pieces of user information having a user identifier that identifies a user, a payment means identifier that identifies a payment means, and one or more pieces of held value information that have value held by the user for the payment means, are stored; an exchange information acquisition unit that acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies value acquired by a user identified by the first user identifier; and an exchange processing unit that performs a first exchange process that is a process of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and paired with the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a second exchange process that is a process of giving a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information.

This configuration allows the value of the first user's second payment method to be exchanged for the value of the second user's first payment method.

The information processing device of the second invention is an information processing device in which, compared to the first invention, the user information has means condition information that is a condition regarding exchangeable payment means, and the exchange processing unit is equipped with a user determination means for acquiring a second user identifier that is paired with the means condition information satisfied by the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, a first exchange processing means for performing a first exchange processing to give a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with the second user identifier acquired by the user determination means and paired with the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a second exchange processing means for performing a second exchange processing to give a value specified by the second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and paired with a second payment means identifier that is a payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, to a user identified by the second user identifier.

This configuration allows precise restriction of the payment methods that are eligible for exchange.

The information processing device of the third invention is an information processing device according to the first or second invention, in which the exchange processing unit performs fee processing by subtracting a value corresponding to a first fee from the holding value information paired with the first user identifier and adding a value corresponding to a second fee to the holding value information paired with the second user identifier.

This configuration can encourage exchanges by providing benefits to users who agree to exchange.

The information processing device of the fourth invention is an information processing device in which, compared to the third invention, the user information has benefit condition information that is a condition regarding the benefit at the time of exchange, the exchange information has payment condition information that is a condition regarding the payment at the time of exchange, and the exchange processing unit is equipped with a user determination means for acquiring a second user identifier that is paired with the benefit condition information satisfied by the payment condition information possessed by the exchange information, a first exchange processing means for performing a first exchange processing to give a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with the second user identifier acquired by the user determination means and paired with the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a second exchange processing means for performing a second exchange processing to give a value specified by the second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and paired with a second payment means identifier that is a payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information.

This configuration allows for efficient exchange.

The information processing device of the fifth invention is an information processing device according to any one of the first to fourth inventions, in which the user information of one user has three or more payment means information and has priority information specifying the priority of the payment means held by each of the three or more payment means information, and the exchange processing unit uses the priority information to select one second payment means identifier from two or more second payment means identifiers other than the first payment means identifier.

With this configuration, the value of the second payment means can be accurately aggregated into the first payment means for each of two or more users.

The information processing device of the sixth invention is an information processing device according to any one of the first to fifth inventions, in which the exchange processing unit performs the first exchange process and the second exchange process when a predetermined condition is satisfied.

This configuration allows for accurate replacement.

In the sixth invention, the determination of whether the predetermined condition is satisfied may be performed, for example, in the information processing device or in the terminal device. That is, the information processing device of the sixth invention may further include, for example, a determination unit that determines whether the predetermined condition is satisfied. Alternatively, the information processing device of the sixth invention may further include, for example, an exchange instruction receiving unit that determines whether the predetermined condition is satisfied and receives an exchange instruction from a terminal device that transmits an exchange instruction to the information processing device when it is determined that the predetermined condition is satisfied, and the exchange processing unit may perform the first exchange process and the second exchange process when the exchange instruction receiving unit receives the exchange instruction.

The information processing device of the seventh invention, compared to the sixth invention, further includes a receiving unit that receives consumption information, which is information regarding the consumption of value held by a user and has a payment method identifier and a consumption value, which is the value to be consumed, and the exchange processing unit, when the receiving unit receives the consumption information, obtains the held value, which is the value held by the user and corresponds to the payment method identifier held by the consumption information, and performs an exchange process when the held value is less than the consumption value held by the consumption information.

With this configuration, even if the value of the payment method that a user wishes to use is less than the value to be consumed, the shortfall in value is made up through exchange, making it possible to consume the value.

The information processing device of the eighth invention is an information processing device according to the sixth invention, in which the exchange processing unit performs an exchange process for a payment means that satisfies a predetermined first condition among one or more payment means corresponding to a user, when the payment means satisfies a predetermined second condition regarding the holding value corresponding to the payment means.

This configuration allows value to be transferred accurately between two or more users while restricting the payment methods that can be exchanged.

In the eighth invention, the second condition may be an information processing device that includes a condition regarding a change in holding value.

This configuration allows value to be transferred at the right time.

The terminal device of the ninth invention is a terminal device according to the sixth invention, which includes a determination unit that determines whether a predetermined condition is satisfied, and a terminal transmission unit that transmits an exchange instruction to the information processing device when the determination unit determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied.

This configuration allows the information processing device to perform the correct exchange process.

The information processing device of the tenth invention includes a user information storage unit in which three or more pieces of user information are stored, the user information having a user identifier for identifying a user, a payment means identifier for identifying a payment means, and one or more pieces of payment means information having one or more pieces of held value information specifying a value held by the user for the payment means, an exchange information acquisition unit that acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information specifying a value to be acquired by a user identified by the first user identifier, a first exchange process that is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier held in the exchange information and that provides a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with the first payment means identifier held in the exchange information, and a second exchange process that is paired with the first user identifier and that provides a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier, The information processing device includes an exchange processing unit that performs a second exchange process, which is a process of giving a value to a user identified by a third user identifier, which is paired with a third user identifier other than the first user identifier and the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information, from a value specified by second held value information paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information, and a third exchange process, which is a process of giving a value specified by third acquired value information paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the second acquired value information, from a value specified by second held value information paired with a third payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier and the second payment means identifier, to a user identified by the second user identifier.

This configuration allows for a value exchange between three users in which the value of three payment methods is transferred.

The present invention provides a mechanism for exchanging the value of a first user's second payment method with the value of a second user's first payment method.

Block diagram of an information system according to an embodiment. A flowchart illustrating the operation of the information processing device. A flowchart illustrating an example of the exchange process. 11 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the exchange process. A flowchart explaining an example of value aggregation through the exchange A flowchart explaining the operation of the terminal device. Data structure of the payment terms information group FIG. 13 is a data structure diagram of the user information, showing a user information group before the exchange process is performed. FIG. 13 shows a user information group after the exchange process is performed. FIG. 13 shows a user information group after a settlement process has been performed following the exchange process. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a user information group after the same exchange process has been performed. Block diagram of an information system in Modification 1 A flowchart illustrating the operation of the information processing device. A flowchart explaining the operation of the terminal device. Computer system overview FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a computer system.

Below, an embodiment of an information system including an information processing device and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that components with the same reference numerals in the embodiments perform similar operations, and therefore repeated explanations may be omitted.

In this embodiment, an information system is described that can exchange the value of a first user's second payment method with the value of a second user's first payment method by managing held value information in association with a pair of a user identifier and a payment method identifier.

Here, a first user is one of two or more users who use the information system, and a second user is one of one or more users other than the first user.

The first user is, for example, one of two or more users who has requested an exchange, but it can be any user. The first user can use at least a first payment method, and typically can use two or more payment methods including a first payment method and a second payment method.

The second user is, for example, one or more users other than the first user who have allowed the exchange, but may be any user. The second user can use at least the second payment means, and typically can use two or more payment means including the first payment means and the second payment means.

In addition, in this embodiment, an information system is described in which, even if a first user is short of value in a first payment means when paying for consumption value with the first payment means, the shortfall in value is made up through an exchange, allowing the payment to be made.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, we describe an information system that can aggregate the value of a second payment means into a first payment means for each of two or more users through exchange.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of an information system in this embodiment. This information system includes an information processing device 1 and two or more terminal devices 2. The information processing device 1 is communicatively connected to each of the two or more terminal devices 2 via, for example, a network such as a LAN or the Internet, or a wireless or wired communication line.

However, the information system may, for example, include only an information processing device 1 and one terminal device 2, or may be configured as a standalone information processing device 1; the configuration is not important.

The information processing device 1 is typically a server, but may be a terminal such as a personal computer (PC), smartphone, or tablet terminal, and the type of the device does not matter. The terminal device 2 is a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, tablet terminal, or notebook PC, but may be a fixed terminal such as a desktop PC, and the type of the device does not matter.

The information processing device 1 includes a storage unit 11, a receiving unit 12, a processing unit 13, and a transmitting unit 14. The storage unit 11 includes a user information storage unit 111. The processing unit 13 includes a judgment unit 131, an exchange information acquisition unit 132, and an exchange processing unit 133. The exchange processing unit 133 includes a user determination means 1331, a first exchange processing means 1332, and a second exchange processing means 1333.

The terminal device 2 includes a terminal storage unit 21, a terminal reception unit 22, a terminal processing unit 23, a terminal transmission unit 24, a terminal reception unit 25, and a terminal output unit 26.

Note that the determination unit 131 may not be present in the information processing device 1, for example, but may be present in each of two or more terminal devices 2. Such a case will be described in Modification Example 1.

The storage unit 11 may store various types of information. For example, the various types of information may be a group of user information, which will be described later. The storage unit 11 may also store, for example, a group of payment terms information, which will be described later, and timing information, which will be described later.

The user information storage unit 111 stores a user information group. A user information group is a collection of two or more pieces of user information. User information is information about a user. User information includes a user identifier and one or more pieces of payment method information.

The number of payment method identifiers in one piece of user information is usually two or more, and preferably three or more. However, the two or more pieces of user information constituting the user information group may also include user information that has only a user identifier and one piece of payment method information.

A user identifier is information that identifies a user. A user identifier is, for example, an email address, an address/name, an ID, etc., but any information that can identify a user is acceptable. A user identifier may be, for example, a terminal identifier that identifies the user's terminal device 2. A terminal identifier is information that identifies the terminal device 2. A terminal identifier is, for example, a MAC address, an IP address, an ID, etc., but any information that can identify the terminal device 2 is acceptable.

Payment method information is information about a payment method. A payment method is a method for making a payment. A payment method is usually a prepaid payment method. A prepaid payment method, for example, uses pre-charged electronic money to make a payment, but it may also use accumulated points or a combination of electronic money and points to make a payment. Alternatively, the payment method may use, for example, the direct balance of a deposit at a financial institution such as a bank to make a payment.

Specific examples of the payment method include a payment method using a code such as a QR code (registered trademark) or a barcode. Payment methods using codes include, for example, LINE Pay (registered trademark), PayPay (registered trademark), au PAY (registered trademark), Rakuten Pay (registered trademark), etc., but the type is not important.

However, the payment method may be, for example, a contactless communication payment method such as FeliCa (registered trademark) or NFC, or a payment method using a contact-type IC card or magnetic card, and the type is not important as long as it is a method that uses information communication to make payments electronically.

The payment method information includes a payment method identifier and holding value information. The payment method identifier is information that identifies the payment method. The payment method identifier is, for example, a payment method name or ID such as "aaPay" or "bbPay", but any information that can identify the payment method is acceptable.

The held value information is information that specifies the value held by the user for the payment method. The value is a monetary value, and is usually an amount of money, but it may also be a quantity such as points or miles. The quantity of points, etc. may be, for example, equivalent to money (e.g., 1 point = 1 yen, etc.), or may have a value according to a predetermined ratio to money (e.g., 1 point = 10 yen, etc.).

The amount may be, for example, the balance of electronic money, but may also be an amount according to the number of points, etc., or may be the balance of electronic money plus an amount according to the number of points, etc.

The holding value information is, for example, information indicating the amount of electronic money balance, but it may also be information indicating the number of points, etc. that can be used as electronic money, or it may include information indicating the amount and information indicating the number of points, etc., and the form is not important.

However, information regarding points, etc. may be excluded from holding value information.

The holding value information may be information that specifies not only the current value, such as the balance of electronic money, but also the value that takes into consideration, for example, points or cashback that are awarded when the current value is consumed. For example, if the balance of aaPay is 2,000 yen and 10% points are returned when aaPay is used for payment, the value of aaPay may be 2,200 yen, which is the balance of 2,000 yen plus the point return of 200 yen.

User information may also include, for example, means condition information. Means condition information is a condition related to exchangeable payment means. An exchangeable payment means is a payment means, among two or more payment means corresponding to one user, that can be used to exchange value with the payment means of another user. In the following, such a payment means may be referred to as a "second payment means", and a non-exchangeable payment means may be referred to as a "first payment means". In the following, the one user referred to here may be referred to as a "first user", and the other user may be referred to as a "second user".

An exchangeable payment means may be, for example, a payment means that allows its value to be given to other users. A payment means that allows its value to be given is a payment means whose value may decrease, and may be, for example, a secondary payment means.

In other words, for example, the first payment means, which is a non-fungible payment means, is a payment means that does not allow value to be given and is a payment means for which you would like to increase the value, whereas the second payment means, which is a fungible payment means, is a payment means that allows value to be given and is a payment means for which you do not mind if the value decreases.

In addition, the first payment means, which is a non-exchangeable payment means, can be said to be, for example, a primary payment means, a payment means whose value decreases not through exchange but solely through consumption, whereas the second payment means, which is an exchangeable payment means, can be said to be, for example, a secondary payment means, a payment means whose value decreases not through consumption but solely through exchange.

The means condition information is, for example, a payment means identifier that identifies the payment means that are permitted to give value. Alternatively, the means condition information may be, for example, a set of one or more payment means identifiers that identify exchangeable payment means, and the structure is not important.

The user information may also include, for example, profit condition information. The profit condition information is a condition related to the profit at the time of exchange. The profit at the time of exchange is a profit given to a user who has permitted the exchange, and has a value corresponding to, for example, a second fee. The profit at the time of exchange may be, for example, a profit given by a user who has requested an exchange to a user who has permitted the exchange. The profit is, for example, an amount obtained by multiplying the value of the exchange by a certain percentage, but may also be a fixed amount.

The profit condition information is, for example, "the second fee is equal to or greater than the threshold value." The threshold value held by the profit condition information is specifically information that expresses a ratio as a percentage or commission, such as "5%" or "10%, but it can also be a ratio such as "0.05" or "1/10", and the format or numerical value is not important.

The profit condition information may be, for example, "y%~". "y%~" means that the second fee is equal to or greater than y%. However, the format of the profit condition information is not important.

Furthermore, the user information may include, for example, priority information. Priority information is information that specifies the priority of two or more payment methods corresponding to one user.

The priority information is, for example, information that specifies the priority of two or more payment methods including a first payment method and one or more second payment methods.

Alternatively, the priority information may be, for example, information that identifies the priority of two or more second payment means among three or more payment means including a first payment means and two or more second payment means.

In this embodiment, the priority order refers to the priority order regarding the increase or decrease in value due to the exchange. Such priority order is, for example, the order of whether to increase or not decrease the held value, but it may also be the order of whether to decrease or not increase the held value. In the former case, for example, for a first user requesting an exchange, the held value of the first payment means, which is the payment means with the highest priority order, increases, and for a second user accepting the exchange, the held value of the second payment means, which is the lowest priority order among one or more second payment means that are payment means other than the first payment means, decreases. Note that accepting an exchange is equivalent to allowing the exchange.

In the latter case, for example, the value of the first payment means held by the first user will increase, and the value of the second payment means with the highest priority among two or more second payment means held by the second user will decrease.

In the following, priority is defined as the order in which holding value is increased or decreased.

The priority information is composed of, for example, an array of two or more payment method identifiers. The array may be arranged in descending order from highest priority, or in ascending order from lowest priority. In the following, the side of the payment method identifier with the highest priority is regarded as the beginning of the array.

However, the order in which the payment method information is defined may be information indicating the priority order. The order in which the payment method information is defined may be, for example, the order in which the information is stored. In other words, the user information does not explicitly have priority order information, and the priority order information may be, for example, an array of three or more payment method identifiers (e.g., "aaPay, bbPay, ccPay") extracted from an array of three or more payment method information stored in the user information storage unit 111 in association with a user identifier (e.g., an array of "(aaPay, 2500), (bbPay, 500), (ccPay, 400)" corresponding to user identifier "D": see Figure 8).

The receiving unit 12 receives various types of information. For example, the various types of information are consumption information, which will be described later. The receiving unit 12 may also receive an exchange instruction, for example, as described in variant example 1.

The receiving unit 12 typically receives information such as consumption information from each of two or more terminal devices 2 in pairs with a user identifier that identifies the user of the terminal device 2. However, the consumption information may be transmitted, for example, from a payment server that performs payment, and the source of the various information is not important.

Consumption information is information related to the consumption of value held by a user. Consumption refers to a decrease in value held by a user when the user purchases a product, such as an item or service, and makes the payment using a payment method. Consumption usually refers to the value of the payment method used for payment out of one or more payment methods, but it may also refer to the value of other payment methods.

The consumption information includes, for example, a payment method identifier and a consumption value. The payment method identifier included in the consumption information is an identifier of the payment method for which value is consumed, and is usually an identifier of the payment method used for payment. The consumption value is the value consumed, and is usually the value of the payment method that decreases in response to the execution of a payment using the payment method identified by the payment method identifier.

Specific examples of consumption information include "(aaPay, 2,000 yen)" or "(bbPay, 2,860 yen)," but the format is not important.

The consumption information may also include, for example, payment terms information (described later), and the structure of the ancestor p is not important.

The processing unit 13 performs various types of processing. The various types of processing are, for example, processing by a judgment unit 131, an exchange information acquisition unit 132, an exchange processing unit 133, a user determination means 1331, a first exchange processing means 1332, and a second exchange processing means 1333. The processing unit 13 also performs processing such as various determinations that are explained in the flowcharts. Other types of processing will be explained at appropriate times.

The judgment unit 131 judges whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied. The condition is a condition under which the exchange processing unit 133 performs the exchange process.

The condition is, for example, a value condition. A value condition is a condition regarding the relationship between held value and consumption value. A value condition may be, for example, that the held value (e.g., electronic money balance) of the payment means to be used for payment (i.e., the first payment means) is less than the consumption value consumed by the payment (e.g., the payment amount).

The judgment unit 131 judges, for example, whether or not the value condition is satisfied. Then, if it is judged that the value condition is satisfied, the exchange processing unit 133 performs the exchange process. As a result, for example, when a first user pays consumption value with a first payment means, even if the value of the first payment means is insufficient, the shortfall in value is made up by the exchange, and the payment can be made.

Alternatively, the conditions may include, for example, a first predetermined condition regarding the payment method and a second predetermined condition regarding the holding value.

The first condition is, for example, the means condition information described above. Or, the first condition may be, for example, that the payment means is a payment means other than the first payment means (i.e., a second payment means). Or, three or more second payment means exist for one user, and the first condition may be, for example, that the payment means is the one with the lowest priority among the two or more second payment means corresponding to one user.

The second condition typically includes the condition that "the holding value is greater than 0." Alternatively, the second condition may include, for example, the condition that "the holding value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold." The threshold is, for example, the smallest exchange unit, such as "100 yen" or "10 yen," but any positive value is acceptable.

It is also preferable that the second condition includes, for example, a condition regarding a change in the holding value. The condition regarding a change in the holding value may be, for example, a condition that "the holding value has changed." The change is usually an increase. The increase may be, for example, an increase from 0, or an increase from a value less than or equal to a threshold value to a value greater than or equal to the threshold value.

However, the change may also be a decrease. The decrease may be, for example, a decrease from a value greater than the second threshold (> the above threshold) to a value between the second threshold and the above threshold. This allows the exchange processing unit 133 to exchange the held value of the second payment means for the held value of the first payment means before the held value of the second payment means falls below a threshold such as the minimum exchange unit.

The determination unit 131 may, for example, determine for each of two or more users whether or not each of two or more payment means corresponding to that user satisfies a first condition, and determine whether or not the payment means that satisfy the predetermined first condition satisfy a predetermined second condition regarding the holding value corresponding to that payment means. Then, if it is determined that the second condition is satisfied, the exchange processing unit 133 performs an exchange process. This allows the value of one or more second payment means to be aggregated into the first payment means for each of two or more users.

The conditions may be, for example, conditions regarding the relationship between the payment conditions of one user's payment and the payment conditions of another user's profits.

The determination unit 131, for example, determines for each of two or more users whether the payment conditions for the payments of the other users have changed so as to satisfy the profit conditions for the profit of the user. Then, when it is determined that the payment conditions of the other users have changed so as to satisfy the profit conditions of the user, the exchange processing unit 133 may perform an exchange process between the user and the other users.

Specifically, for example, if initially the user's profit condition is "4%" and the other user's payment condition is "3%", then since "payment condition < profit condition", it is determined that the payment condition does not satisfy the profit condition, and the exchange processing unit 133 does not perform the exchange process. If the payment condition of the other user is subsequently increased from "3%" to "5%," then it becomes "payment condition ≧ profit condition", it is determined that the payment condition satisfies the profit condition, and the exchange processing unit 133 performs the exchange process.

In addition to or instead of this, the judgment unit 131 may, for example, judge for each of two or more users whether the profit conditions of the other users have changed so as to satisfy the payment conditions of the user. Then, when it is judged that the profit conditions of the other users have changed so as to satisfy the payment conditions of the user, the exchange processing unit 133 performs an exchange process between the user and the other users.

Specifically, for example, if initially the user's payment terms are "4%" and the other user's profit terms are "5%," then since "payment terms < profit terms", it is determined that the payment terms do not satisfy the profit terms, and the exchange processing unit 133 does not perform the exchange process. If the other user's profit terms are subsequently reduced from "5%" to "4%," then it becomes "payment terms ≧ profit terms", it is determined that the payment terms satisfy the profit terms, and the exchange processing unit 133 performs the exchange process.

This allows the exchange processing unit 133 to exchange value between two users who satisfy the conditions regarding the relationship between the payment conditions and the profit conditions.

The exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires exchange information using one or more pieces of information from the consumption information received by the receiving unit 12 or the user information group stored in the user information storage unit 111. The exchange information is information related to the exchange of value. The exchange information has, for example, a pair of a first user identifier and a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information. The first acquired value information is information specifying the value that a user identified by the first user identifier (i.e., the first user) acquires in relation to the payment means identified by the first payment means identifier.

The first payment means identifier is information that identifies the first payment means. As described above, the first payment means is a payment means that allows value to be exchanged with a second payment means of a user other than the first user (i.e., a second user), and the value of the first payment means increases as a result of the exchange. The first payment means is usually a payment means that a user uses for payment. For example, if the priority order information is information that specifies the order in which the held value is increased or decreased, the first payment means may be said to be the payment means with the highest priority order specified by the priority order information. The first payment means identifier is, for example, the name of the payment means such as "aaPay", but it may also be an ID or the like, and the format is not important.

The user identified by the first user identifier is the user who requests the exchange, and may be referred to as the "first user" below. The value acquired is the increment in value after the exchange relative to the value before the exchange. The information specifying the value is usually information indicating an amount of money, but it may also be information indicating the quantity of points, etc., or information converting the quantity of points, etc. into an amount of money, and the format is not important.

The exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires exchange information, for example, when the receiving unit 12 receives consumption information, etc.

In more detail, for example, the receiving unit 12 receives consumption information paired with a user identifier from the terminal device 2, and the exchange information acquisition unit 132 uses the consumption information received by the receiving unit 12 and the held value acquired by the exchange processing unit 133 to acquire exchange information having a first user identifier, which is the user identifier received paired with the consumption information, a first payment means identifier, which is the payment means identifier held by the consumption information, and first acquired value information, which is the result of subtracting the held value from the consumption value held by the consumption information.

The exchange information acquisition unit 132 may also acquire exchange information, for example, when aggregating value.

Value aggregation is a process of collecting value distributed across two or more payment means for each of two or more users into one payment means. Value aggregation is, for example, a process of transferring value from a second payment means, which is a payment means other than the first payment means among two or more payment means corresponding to one user, to the first payment means through exchange. Note that below, such a process may be referred to as "value aggregation through exchange."

In particular, for example, when there are two or more second payment means, it is preferable that value be transferred from the second payment means having the lowest priority indicated by the above-mentioned priority information among the two or more second payment means to the first payment means by value aggregation through exchange.

The exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires, for example, exchange information for value aggregation through exchange as described above. In detail, for each of two or more pieces of user information stored in the user information storage unit 111, the exchange information acquires exchange information having a first user identifier which is a user identifier possessed by the user information, a first payment means identifier which is a payment means with the highest priority among two or more pieces of payment means information possessed by the user information, and first acquired value information which is held value information paired with the first payment means identifier.

The payment method with the highest priority is, for example, the payment method identified by the payment method identifier constituting the first of two or more pieces of payment method information contained in the user information, but may also be specified by the priority information contained in the user information. For example, if the priority information is composed of two or more payment method identifiers arranged in order of decreasing priority, the payment method with the highest priority is the payment method identified by the first payment method identifier constituting the priority information.

However, the exchange information may be included in an exchange instruction (described later) and transmitted from the terminal device 2, as described in variant example 1. In this case, the exchange information acquisition unit 132 receives the exchange instruction including the exchange information in a pair with the user identifier via the receiving unit 12.

The exchange information may also include, for example, payment terms information. Payment terms information is information that indicates the conditions regarding payment at the time of exchange. The payment terms information may be, for example, "the first fee is less than a threshold or equal to or less than a threshold," but the format is not important. The threshold value included in the payment terms information may be, for example, "3%" or "5 minutes," but the format or numerical value is not important.

The payment terms information may be included in the consumption information and transmitted from the terminal device 2, for example. In other words, the payment terms information may be included in the consumption information received by the receiving unit 12, and the exchange information acquiring unit 132 may acquire exchange information that also includes the payment terms information included in the received consumption information.

Alternatively, for example, a set of payment terms information may be stored in the storage unit 11, and the exchange information acquisition unit 132 may use the consumption information received by the receiving unit 12, the held value acquired by the exchange processing unit 133, and the set of payment terms information stored in the storage unit 11 to acquire exchange information having a first user identifier which is a user identifier received in pair with the consumption information, a first payment means identifier which is a payment means identifier possessed by the consumption information, first acquisition value information which is a result of subtracting the held value from the consumption value possessed by the consumption information, and payment terms information which is paired with the first user identifier.

A payment terms information group is a collection of pairs of user identifiers and payment terms information. A pair of user identifiers and payment terms information may be, for example, a pair of user identifier "A" and payment terms information "~x%". Note that "~x%" means that "the first fee is less than x% or equal to or less than x%". However, the format of the payment terms information is not important.

The exchange information acquisition unit 132 may, for example, acquire payment terms information using user information corresponding to the first user identifier, and acquire exchange information that also includes the acquired payment terms information.

It is preferable that the exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires the exchange information when, for example, the determination unit 131 determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied. However, the exchange information may be acquired, for example, in response to a user instruction, and the timing or trigger of the acquisition is not important.

The information from which the exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires the exchange information does not matter. For example, in response to the receiving unit 12 receiving acquisition request information from the terminal device 2 of the first user, the acquisition request information including the first user identifier, a first payment means identifier that identifies the payment means from which the first user wants to acquire (or increase) value, and first acquired value information that specifies the value that the first user wants to acquire, the exchange information acquisition unit 132 may acquire exchange information having the first user identifier, the first payment means identifier, and the first acquired value information.

Or, for example, in response to the receiving unit 12 receiving exchange request information from the terminal device 2 of the first user, the exchange information acquiring unit 132 may acquire exchange information having the first user identifier, a first payment means identifier different from the second payment means identifier, and first acquired value information identifying the value of the first payment means corresponding to the second exchange value information.

The exchange processing unit 133 performs an exchange process using the exchange information acquired by the exchange information acquisition unit 132 and the user information group stored in the user information storage unit 111. The exchange process is a process of exchanging the value of the second payment means of the first user with the value of the first payment means of the second user. The exchange process usually includes a first exchange process and a second exchange process.

The first exchange process is a process for transferring value of the first payment means from the second user to the first user. The first exchange process is, for example, a process for giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by a first user identifier from a value specified by held value information that is paired with a second user identifier and is paired with a first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information.

The second exchange process is a process for transferring value for the second payment means from the first user to the second user. The second exchange process is, for example, a process for giving a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information in the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by held value information that is paired with the first user identifier contained in the exchange information and is paired with the second payment means identifier.

The second payment means identifier is information that identifies the second payment means. The second payment means is a payment means other than the first payment means among two or more payment means corresponding to one user. The second payment means is, for example, as described above, a payment means that can be exchanged for value with the first payment means of the second user, and whose value decreases as a result of the exchange.

The second payment means may be, for example, a payment means having a lower priority than the first payment means. In more detail, for example, if the priority information is information specifying the order in which the holding value is increased or decreased, the second payment means may be the payment means having the lowest priority specified by the priority information.

The second payment means identifier is, for example, a payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information, among two or more payment means identifiers corresponding to the first user identifier contained in the exchange information. Specifically, the second payment means identifier is, for example, a payment means name such as "bbPay", but it may also be an ID or the like, and the format is not important.

The user identified by the second user identifier is the user who responds to the exchange, and may be referred to as the "second user" below. The value specified by the second acquired value information may be, for example, the same as the value specified by the first acquired value information, or may be greater than the value specified by the first acquired value information.

The exchange processing unit 133 also performs, for example, a fee process. The fee process is a process of subtracting a value corresponding to a first fee from the holding value information paired with the first user identifier, and adding a value corresponding to a second fee to the holding value information paired with the second user identifier.

The first fee is a fee paid by the user requesting the exchange (i.e., the first user). The first fee is, for example, an amount according to the value to be exchanged (e.g., x% of the value to be exchanged), but it may be a fixed amount. The amount according to the value to be exchanged is calculated, for example, using a first increasing function with the value to be exchanged as a parameter, but may also be obtained using a first table having a set of pairs of the value to be exchanged and the amount.

The second fee is a fee received by the user who accepts the exchange (i.e., the second user). The second fee may be, for example, the profit obtained by the second user. The second fee may be, for example, smaller than the first fee, but may also be the same amount as the first fee. In the former case, the difference between the first fee and the second fee may become the profit of the operator of the information system.

The second fee is, for example, an amount according to the value to be exchanged (e.g., y% of the value to be exchanged), but it may be a fixed amount. The amount according to the value to be exchanged is calculated, for example, using a second increasing function with the value to be exchanged as a parameter, but it may also be obtained using a second table having a set of pairs of the value to be exchanged and the amount. Note that the second increasing function and the second table may be the same as the first increasing function and the first table described above.

The held value information to be subtracted is usually the held value information paired with the second payment means identifier among the two or more payment means identifiers corresponding to the first user identifier, but it may be other held value information. Note that the other held value information is usually the held value information paired with the first payment means identifier. However, for example, if the number of payment means identifiers corresponding to the first user identifier is three or more, it may be held value information paired with a payment means identifier that is neither the first payment means identifier nor the second payment means identifier.

The exchange processing unit 133 also selects one second payment means identifier from two or more second payment means identifiers other than the first payment means identifier, for example, using priority information.

The exchange processing unit 133 normally selects the second payment means identifier with the lowest priority. However, for example, if the held value information corresponding to the second payment means identifier with the lowest priority is less than the value specified by the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information, the exchange processing unit 133 may select the second payment means identifier with the second lowest priority.

The exchange processing unit 133 performs the exchange process, for example, when a predetermined condition is satisfied. In this embodiment, the determination as to whether or not the condition is satisfied is performed by the determination unit 131 in the information processing device 1, but may be performed by each terminal device 2, for example, as described in Modification Example 1.

That is, the judgment unit 131 judges whether or not a predetermined condition is met, and the exchange processing unit 133 performs the exchange process if it is determined that the predetermined condition is met.

The predetermined conditions have been described above and will not be repeated here. Also, the operation performed by the exchange processing unit 133 when the judgment unit 131 determines that the predetermined conditions are satisfied has been described above and will not be repeated here.

The user determination means 1331 constituting the exchange processing unit 133 determines a second user who will accept the exchange for a first user who requests an exchange.

The user determination means 1331, for example, acquires from the user information storage unit 111 a second user identifier that pairs with the means condition information satisfied by the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information acquired by the exchange information acquisition unit 132.

The user determination means 1331 may, for example, acquire a second user identifier that pairs with the profit condition information that is satisfied by the payment condition information contained in the exchange information acquired by the exchange information acquisition unit 132.

The first exchange processing means 1332 performs a first exchange process. That is, the first exchange processing means 1332, for example, acquires from the user information storage unit 111 held value information that is paired with the second user identifier acquired by the user determination means 1331 and with the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information acquired by the exchange information acquisition unit 132. Then, the first exchange processing means 1332 gives the value identified by the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information from the value identified by the acquired held value information to the user identified by the first user identifier.

As a result, for example, the value specified by the first acquired value information is subtracted from the held value information that is paired with the pair of the second user identifier and the first payment means identifier, and the value specified by the first acquired value information is added to the held value information that is paired with the pair of the first user identifier and the first payment means identifier.

The second exchange processing means 1333 performs a second exchange process. That is, the second exchange processing means 1333, for example, provides a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information from a value specified by held value information that is paired with a first user identifier contained in the exchange information acquired by the exchange information acquisition unit 132 and is paired with a second payment means identifier that is a payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information, to a user identified by the second user identifier.

As a result, for example, the value specified by the second acquired value information is subtracted from the held value information paired with the pair of the first user identifier and the second payment means identifier, and the value specified by the second acquired value information is added to the held value information paired with the pair of the second user identifier and the second payment means identifier.

In this way, the first exchange processing means 1332 performs the first exchange processing and the second exchange processing means 1333 performs the second exchange processing, thereby realizing an exchange between the value of the first user's second payment means and the value of the second user's first payment means.

The transmitting unit 14 transmits various types of information. The various types of information may be, for example, the results of the exchange processing performed by the exchange processing unit 133.

For example, after the first exchange process is performed, the transmission unit 14 may transmit to the terminal device 2 corresponding to the first user identifier one or more of held value information, which is held value information paired with the pair of the first user identifier and the first payment means identifier and after the value specified by the first acquired value information has been added, or held value information paired with the pair of the first user identifier and the second payment means identifier and after the value specified by the second acquired value information has been subtracted.

Furthermore, after the second exchange process is performed, the transmission unit 14 may transmit, to the terminal device 2 corresponding to the second user identifier, one or more pieces of held value information, for example, held value information paired with the pair of the second user identifier and the first payment means identifier and after the value specified by the first acquisition value information has been subtracted, or held value information paired with the pair of the second user identifier and the second payment means identifier and after the value specified by the second acquisition value information has been added.

However, one or more of the results of the first exchange process or the second exchange process may not need to be transmitted.

The terminal storage unit 21 constituting the terminal device 2 can store various types of information. For example, the various types of information are user identifiers.

In addition, the terminal storage unit 21 may store user information, for example, as described in variant example 1.

The terminal reception unit 22 receives various types of information. The various types of information may be, for example, some or all of the user information.

The device processing unit 23 performs various types of processing, such as the determination and acquisition of consumption information described in the flowchart.

The device processing unit 23 may, for example, determine whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied, as described in variant example 1, and may also acquire exchange information.

The terminal transmission unit 24 transmits various types of information. For example, various types of information are consumption information.

The terminal transmission unit 24 may also transmit an exchange instruction, for example, as described in variant example 1.

The terminal transmission unit 24 transmits information such as consumption information to the information processing device 1, usually in pairs with a user identifier stored in the terminal storage unit 21.

The terminal receiving unit 25 receives various types of information. The various types of information may be, for example, the results of the exchange process.

The terminal output unit 26 outputs various information. The various information may be, for example, information such as the results of the exchange process received by the terminal receiving unit 25. Note that the information that is output does not have to be the same as the information that was received.

The output of the terminal output unit 26 is usually displayed on a display, but it may also be, for example, printed out on a printer, output as sound from a speaker, transmitted to an external device, stored on a recording medium, or passed on the processing results to another processing device or another program, and the output form is not important.

As described in Modification 1, the information processing device 1 may not include the determination unit 131, and each of the two or more terminal devices 2 may further include the determination unit 131. In this case, in each terminal device 2, the determination unit 131 determines whether or not the condition is satisfied, and if it is determined that the condition is satisfied, the terminal transmission unit 24 transmits an exchange instruction to the information processing device 1 in a pair with the user identifier.

In addition, the information processing device 1 may not include the exchange information acquisition unit 132, and each of the two or more terminal devices 2 may further include the exchange information acquisition unit 132. In this case, when it is determined that the conditions are satisfied in each terminal device 2, the exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires the exchange information, and the terminal transmission unit 24 transmits an exchange instruction or the like having the acquired exchange information to the information processing device 1.

The storage unit 11, the user information storage unit 111, and the terminal storage unit 21 are preferably non-volatile recording media such as a hard disk or flash memory, but can also be realized with volatile recording media such as RAM.

The process by which information is stored in the storage unit 11, etc. is not important. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit 11, etc. via a recording medium, information transmitted via a network or a communication line, etc. may be stored in the storage unit 11, etc., or information inputted via an input device may be stored in the storage unit 11, etc. The input device may be, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, or anything else.

The receiving unit 12 and the terminal receiving unit 25 are typically implemented as wired or wireless communication means (e.g., a communication module such as a network interface controller (NIC) or a modem), but may also be implemented as a means for receiving broadcasts (e.g., a broadcast receiving module). The same applies to the exchange instruction receiving unit 121 in variant example 1.

The processing unit 13, judgment unit 131, exchange information acquisition unit 132, exchange processing unit 133, user determination means 1331, first exchange processing means 1332, second exchange processing means 1333, and terminal processing unit 23 can usually be realized by an MPU, memory, etc. The processing procedures of the processing unit 13, etc. are usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, the processing procedures may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuitry).

The transmitter 14 and the terminal transmitter 24 are typically implemented using wired or wireless communication means, but may also be implemented using broadcasting means (e.g., a broadcasting module). The same is true for the exchange instruction transmitter 241 in variant example 1.

The terminal reception unit 22 may or may not be considered to include an input device. The terminal reception unit 22 may be realized by the driver software of the input device, or by the input device and its driver software.

The terminal output unit 26 may or may not be considered to include an output device such as a display or speaker. The terminal output unit 26 may be realized by the driver software of an output device, or by an output device and its driver software.

Next, the operation of the information system will be described using the flowcharts in Figures 2 to 6. Figure 2 is a flowchart that explains the operation of the information processing device 1.

(Step S201) The processing unit 13 determines whether or not the receiving unit 12 has received consumption information, etc. If it is determined that the receiving unit 12 has received consumption information, etc., the process proceeds to step S202, and if it is determined that the receiving unit 12 has not received consumption information, the process proceeds to step S207.

(Step S202) The processing unit 13 obtains from the user information storage unit 111 the holding value corresponding to the pair of the user identifier received in step S201 in combination with the consumption information and the payment method identifier contained in the consumption information received in step S201.

(Step S203) The judgment unit 131 uses the consumption value contained in the consumption information received in step S201 and the holding value acquired in step S202 to judge whether a predetermined condition (e.g., "holding value < consumption value") is satisfied, and acquires the judgment result.

(Step S204) The processing unit 13 determines whether the judgment result obtained in step S203 indicates that the condition is satisfied or not satisfied. If the judgment result obtained indicates that the condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S205, and if the judgment result indicates that the condition is not satisfied, the process returns to step S201.

(Step S205) Using the consumption information etc. received in step S201 and the held value acquired in step S202, the exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, which is a user identifier received in pair with the consumption information, a first payment means identifier, which is a payment means identifier possessed by the consumption information, and first acquired value information, which is the result of subtracting the held value from the consumption value possessed by the consumption information.

(Step S206) The exchange processing unit 133 executes an exchange process using the exchange information acquired in step S205 to exchange the value of a second payment means, which is a payment means other than the first payment means identified by the first payment means identifier, among the two or more payment means corresponding to the first user identified by the first user identifier, with the value of the first payment means of a second user, which is a user other than the first user among the two or more users. Thereafter, the process returns to step S201. The exchange process will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 3 or FIG. 4.

(Step S207) The processing unit 13 judges whether or not to aggregate the value. For example, the storage unit 11 stores timing information indicating the timing for aggregation of the value, and the processing unit 13 may judge to aggregate the value when the current time obtained from the MPU's built-in clock or an NTP server is the timing indicated by the timing information. If it is judged that the value should be aggregated, the process proceeds to step S208, otherwise the process returns to step S201.

(Step S208) The processing unit 13 performs value aggregation through exchange. Then, the process returns to step S201. Value aggregation through exchange will be explained using the flowchart in FIG. 5.

In the flowchart of FIG. 2, processing starts when the information processing device 1 is powered on or a program is started, and ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end processing. However, the trigger for starting or ending processing is not important.

Figure 3 is a flowchart that explains an example of the exchange process.

(Step S301) The user determination means 1331 acquires from the user information storage unit 111 a second user identifier that pairs with the means condition information satisfied by the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information acquired in step S205.

(Step S302) The first exchange processing means 1332 subtracts the value identified by the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information from the value identified by the held value information paired with the pair of the second user identifier acquired in step S301 and the first payment method identifier contained in the exchange information acquired in step S205.

(Step S303) The first exchange processing means 1332 adds the value specified by the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information to the value specified by the held value information paired with the pair of the first user identifier received in step S201 paired with the consumption information and the first payment method identifier contained in the exchange information acquired in step S205.

(Step S304) The second exchange processing means 1333 subtracts a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information from a value specified by held value information that is paired with a pair of a first user identifier received in step S201 paired with the consumption information and a second payment means identifier that identifies a second payment means among two or more payment means other than the first payment means identified by the first payment means identifier.

(Step S305) The second exchange processing means 1333 adds the value specified by the second acquired value information to the value specified by the held value information paired with the pair of the second user identifier acquired in step S301 and the second payment means identifier that identifies the second payment means. Then, it returns to the upper level processing.

Figure 4 is a flowchart explaining another example of the exchange process. The flowchart in Figure 4 is the same as the flowchart in Figure 3 except that the three steps S301, S304, and S305 are replaced with the following three steps S301a, S304a, and S305a.

(Step S301a) The user determination means 1331 acquires from the user information storage unit 111 a second user identifier that pairs with the profit condition information that is satisfied by the payment condition information contained in the exchange information acquired in step S205.

(Step S304a) The second exchange processing means 1333 subtracts the value specified by the second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information, and the first fee, from the value specified by the held value information that is paired with the pair of the first user identifier received in step S201 paired with the consumption information and the second payment means identifier that identifies a second payment means among two or more payment means other than the first payment means identified by the first payment means identifier.

(Step S305a) The second exchange processing means 1333 adds the value specified by the second acquired value information and the second fee to the value specified by the held value information paired with the pair of the second user identifier acquired in step S301a and the second payment means identifier that identifies the second payment means. Then, it returns to the upper level processing.

Note that in the flowchart of FIG. 3, step S301 may not be replaced with step S301a, and the two steps S304 and S305 may be replaced with two steps S304a and S305a.

In addition, in the flowchart of FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, step S301 or step S301a may be replaced with step S301b described below.

(Step S301b) The user determination means 1331 acquires from the user information storage unit 111 a second user identifier that is a user identifier that pairs with the benefit condition information satisfied by the payment condition information contained in the exchange information acquired in step S205, and is also a user identifier that pairs with the benefit condition information satisfied by the payment condition information contained in the exchange information acquired in step S205.

Figure 5 is a flowchart that explains an example of value aggregation through exchange.

(Step S501) The processing unit 13 sets an initial value of 1 to a variable i. The variable i is a variable for sequentially selecting unselected user information from two or more pieces of user information stored in the storage unit 11.

(Step S502) The processing unit 13 determines whether or not there is i-th user information. If there is i-th user information, the process proceeds to step S502. If there is not, the process returns to the upper level.

(Step S503) The exchange processing unit 133 obtains one or more second payment method identifiers that satisfy the first condition (e.g., method condition information, etc.) from among the two or more payment method identifiers contained in the i-th user information.

(Step S504) The processing unit 13 sets the initial value 1 to the variable j. The variable j is a variable for sequentially selecting unselected second payment means identifiers from the one or more second payment means identifiers acquired in step S503.

(Step S505) The processing unit 13 determines whether or not the jth second payment means identifier is present. If the jth second payment means identifier is present, the process proceeds to step S506; if not, the process proceeds to step S511.

(Step S506) The judgment unit 131 judges whether the held value information paired with the jth second payment method identifier satisfies the second condition (e.g., "the held value has increased") and obtains the judgment result.

(Step S507) The processing unit 13 determines whether the judgment result obtained in step S506 indicates that the condition is satisfied or not satisfied. If the judgment result indicates that the condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S508, and if the judgment result indicates that the condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S510.

(Step S508) The exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires exchange information having a first user identifier which is a user identifier possessed by the i-th user information, a first payment means identifier which is a payment means identifier constituting the first of two or more payment means information possessed by the i-th user information (or the first of two or more payment means identifiers constituting the priority information), and first acquired value information which is holding value information paired with the first payment means identifier.

(Step S509) The exchange processing unit 133 executes an exchange process using the exchange information acquired in step S508 to exchange the value of a second payment means, which is a payment means other than the first payment means identified by the first payment means identifier, among the two or more payment means corresponding to the first user identified by the first user identifier, with the value of the first payment means of a second user, which is a user other than the first user among the two or more users. Then, the process returns to step S201. The exchange process has been described using the flowchart of FIG. 3 or FIG. 4.

(Step S510) The processing unit 13 increments the variable j. Then, the process returns to step S505.

(Step S511) The processing unit 13 increments the variable i. Then, the process returns to step S502.

Figure 6 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the terminal device 2.

(Step S601) The device processing unit 23 determines whether or not to consume value. For example, when a user of the terminal device 2 purchases a product or service and pays for the purchased product or service using one of two or more payment methods (usually a first payment method), the user inputs a payment method identifier that identifies the one payment method and amount information indicating the amount via an input device such as a touch panel. The terminal reception unit 22 accepts the input payment method identifier and amount information. The device processing unit 23 may determine to consume value in response to the acceptance of the payment method identifier and amount information in this manner.

(Step S602) The device processing unit 23 acquires consumption information having the accepted payment method identifier and the consumption value corresponding to the accepted amount information.

(Step S603) The terminal transmission unit 24 transmits the consumption information acquired in step S603 to the information processing device 1 in a pair with the user identifier stored in the terminal storage unit 21. Then, the process returns to step S601.

In the flowchart of FIG. 6, processing starts when the terminal device 2 is turned on or a program is started, and ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end processing. However, the trigger for starting or ending processing is not important.

Below, we will explain a specific example of the operation of the information system in this embodiment. Note that the following explanation can be modified in various ways and does not limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

The information system in this specific example includes an information processing device 1 and five or more terminal devices 2. Of the five or more terminal devices 2, one terminal device 2 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as terminal device 2A) is a terminal of user A, another terminal device 2 (terminal device 2B) is a terminal of user B, and another terminal device 2 (terminal device 2C) is a terminal of user C.

The storage unit 11 of the information processing device 1 stores, for example, a payment terms information group as shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a data structure diagram of a payment terms information group. A payment terms information group is composed of a set of pairs of user identifiers and payment terms information. A pair of user identifiers and payment terms information is, for example, a pair of user identifier "A" and payment terms information "up to 5%", or a pair of user identifier "B" and payment terms information "up to 4%". Note that "up to x%" means, as mentioned above, that "the first fee is less than x% or equal to or less than x%".

The storage unit 11 also stores timing information indicating the timing for value aggregation.

The user information storage unit 111 stores five or more pieces of user information, for example, as shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a data structure diagram of user information. The user information has a user identifier, three or more pieces of payment method information, method condition information, benefit condition information, and priority information. The payment method information has a payment method identifier and holding value information.

Each of the two or more pieces of user information is associated with an ID (e.g., "1", "2", etc.). For example, user information corresponding to ID "1" (hereinafter, may be referred to as user information 1) has a user identifier "A", three or more pieces of payment method information "(aaPay, 1800), (bbPay, 600), (Null, Null)...", method condition information "bbPay", benefit condition information "Null", and priority information "Null". Note that "Null" means the absence of the information.

Furthermore, user information 2 corresponding to ID "2" has user identifier "B", three or more payment method information "(aaPay, 800), (bbPay, 1200), (Null, Null)...", method condition information "aaPay", profit condition information "5%~", and priority information "Null". Note that "y%~" means, as mentioned above, that "the second fee is equal to or greater than y%".

Similarly, user information 3 has a user identifier "C", three or more payment method information "(aaPay, 1000), (bbPay, 0), (Null, Null)...", method condition information "aaPay", profit condition information "10%~", and priority information "Null". User information 4 has a user identifier "D", three or more payment method information "(aaPay, 2500), (bbPay, 500), (ccPay, 400)...", method condition information "bbPay, ccPay", profit condition information "2%~", and priority information "(aaPay, ccPay, bbPay)". User information 5 has a user identifier "E", three or more payment method information items "(bbPay, 600), (ccPay, 1800), (ddPay, 200)...", method condition information "(bbPay, ddPay)", profit condition information "2% or more", and priority order information "(ddPay, bbPay, ddPay)".

The terminal storage unit 21 of terminal device 2A stores a user identifier "A." The terminal storage unit 21 of terminal device 2B stores a user identifier "B." The terminal storage unit 21 of terminal device 2C stores a user identifier "C."

(Examples of value exchange)
In the information system configured as above, value is exchanged, for example, as follows.

Now, user A wants to purchase a product that costs 2,000 yen and pay with aaPay. User A inputs the payment method identifier "aaPay" and the amount information "2,000 yen" via a touch panel or the like of terminal device 2A.

In the terminal device 2A, the terminal reception unit 22 receives the input of the payment method identifier "aaPay" and the amount "2000 yen", and the terminal processing unit 23 acquires consumption information "(aaPay, 2000)" having the accepted payment method identifier and the consumption value "2000" corresponding to the accepted amount information. The terminal transmission unit 24 transmits the consumption information thus acquired to the information processing device 1 in a pair with the user identifier "A" stored in the terminal storage unit 21.

In the information processing device 1, the receiving unit 12 receives the above consumption information, etc., and the processing unit 13 obtains the holding value "1800" corresponding to the pair (A, aaPay) of the received user identifier "A" and the payment method identifier "aaPay" contained in the received consumption information from the user information 1 stored in the user information storage unit 111.

The judgment unit 131 uses the consumption value "2000" contained in the received consumption information and the acquired holding value "1800" to judge whether or not the predetermined condition "holding value < consumption value" is satisfied, and obtains the judgment result "YES". Note that "YES" is information indicating that the condition is satisfied.

The processing unit 13 passes the acquired judgment result "YES" to the exchange information acquisition unit 132. In response, the exchange information acquisition unit 132 uses the received consumption information "(aaPay, 2000)" etc. and the acquired held value "1800" to acquire exchange information "(A, aaPay, 200)" which includes the first user identifier "A" which is the user identifier received in pair with the consumption information, the first payment means identifier "aaPay" which is the payment means identifier contained in the consumption information, and the first acquired value information "200" which is the result of subtracting the held value "1800" from the consumption value "2000" contained in the consumption information.

The exchange processing unit 133 uses the exchange information acquired as described above to execute an exchange process in which the value "600" for the second payment means bbPay, which is a payment means other than the first payment means aaPay identified by the first payment means identifier "aaPay" out of the two payment means aaPay and bbPay corresponding to user A, the first user identified by the first user identifier "A", is exchanged for the value for the first payment means of user B, the second user. This exchange process is executed, for example, as follows.

That is, the user determination means 1331 constituting the exchange processing unit 133 obtains from the user information storage unit 111 the second user identifier that pairs with the means condition information "aaPay" that is satisfied by the first payment means identifier "aaPay" contained in the exchange information "(A, aaPay, 200)".

In the example of FIG. 7, since the two pieces of user information 2 and 3 each contain the means condition information "aaPay", the user determination means 1331 acquires the payment condition information "up to 5%" corresponding to the first user identifier "A" from the storage unit 11 and compares it with the profit condition information "5% or more" held by the user information 2 and the profit condition information "10% or more" held by the user information 3. Then, since the payment condition information "up to 5%" satisfies the profit condition information "5% or more", but does not satisfy the profit condition information "10% or more", the exchange processing unit 133 determines the user identifier "B" corresponding to the profit condition information "5% or more" satisfied by the payment condition information "up to 5%" as the second user identifier, and acquires the determined second user identifier "B".

In addition, if there are two or more pieces of profit condition information that are satisfied by the payment condition information "up to 5%", it is preferable to use the priority information corresponding to each of the two or more pieces of profit condition information to obtain a user identifier corresponding to priority information that gives the lowest priority to the payment means corresponding to the means condition information "aaPay". However, it is also possible to randomly select one user identifier from the two or more user identifiers corresponding to the two or more pieces of profit condition information, and obtain the selected user identifier as the second user identifier.

The first exchange processing means 1332 subtracts the value "200 yen" specified by the first acquired value information "200" contained in the acquired exchange information from the value "800 yen" specified by the held value information "800" that is paired with the pair (B, aaPay) of the acquired second user identifier "B" and the first payment means identifier "aaPay" contained in the acquired exchange information "(A, aaPay, 200)", and obtains the subtraction result "600 yen".

The exchange processing unit 133 uses the subtraction result thus obtained to update the holding value information "800" that pairs with the above (B, aaPay) to "600."

Next, the first exchange processing means 1332 adds the value "200 yen" specified by the first acquired value information "200" contained in the acquired exchange information to the value "1800 yen" specified by the held value information "1800" that is paired with the pair (A, aaPay) of the first user identifier "A" received in pair with the consumption information "(aaPay, 2000)" and the first payment means identifier "aaPay" contained in the acquired exchange information "(A, aaPay, 200)", and obtains the addition result "2000 yen".

The exchange processing unit 133 uses the addition result thus obtained to update the holding value information "1800" that pairs with the above (A, aaPay) to "2000."

On the other hand, the second exchange processing means 1333 subtracts the value "200 yen" specified by the second acquired value information "200" that is paired with the second user identifier "B" and corresponds to the first acquired value information "200" from the value "600 yen" specified by the held value information "600" that is paired with the pair (A, bbPay) of the first user identifier "A" received in pair with the consumption information "(aaPay, 2000)" and the second payment means identifier "bbPay" that identifies a second payment means other than the first payment means identified by the first payment means identifier "aaPay" among the three or more payment means (in this example, bbPay, since the payment means of the first user, user A, are aaPay and bbPay). The second exchange processing means 1333 also subtracts the first fee.

In this example, the first commission fee is calculated as 200 x 0.05 = 10 yen using the profit condition information of the second user, User B, which is "5%~" and the first acquisition value information, "200."

As a result, the subtraction result "390" is obtained, and the exchange processing unit 133 uses this subtraction result to update the holding value information "600" that pairs with the above (A, bbPay) to "390".

Next, the second exchange processing means 1333 adds the value "200 yen" specified by the second acquired value information to the value "2200 yen" specified by the held value information "2200" that is paired with the pair (B, bbPay) of the acquired second user identifier "B" and the second payment means identifier "bbPay" that identifies the second payment means, and further adds the second fee.

In this example, the second fee is assumed to be equal to the first fee. As a result, the addition result "2410" is obtained, and the exchange processing unit 133 uses this addition result to update the holding value information "2200" that is paired with the above pair (B, bbPay) to "2410".

By the above exchange process, of the five or more pieces of user information shown in FIG. 8, two pieces of user information 1 and 2 are updated as shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing five or more pieces of user information after the exchange process has been performed. With regard to user information 1, the holding value information paired with the above pair (A, aaPay) has been increased to "2000", which is the same amount as the consumption value "2000 yen", making it possible for user A to make payment with aaPay.

When the above payment is executed, among the five or more pieces of user information shown in FIG. 9, user information 1 is updated as shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing five or more pieces of user information after the payment process has been performed following the payment process. With regard to user information 1, the holding value information paired with the above pair (A, aaPay) is reduced from "2000" to "0" as the payment is executed.

After that, for example, assume that user B purchases a product for 2,860 yen and enters the payment method identifier "bbPay" and amount information "2,860 yen" via a touch panel or the like of terminal device 2B to pay with bbPay. The operation in this case is as follows.

The consumption information "(bbPay, 2860)" is acquired by the terminal device 2B and is sent to the information processing device 1 in a pair with the user identifier "B".

In the information processing device 1, the above consumption information etc. are received, and the held value "2410" corresponding to the pair (B, bbPay) of the received user identifier "A" and the payment method identifier "bbPay" contained in the received consumption information is obtained from the user information 2.

Next, using the consumption value "2860" contained in the consumption information and the acquired holding value "2410", it is determined whether the predetermined condition "holding value < consumption value" is met, and a determination result of "YES" is obtained. In response to this, exchange information "(B, bbPay, 450)" is obtained, which includes the first user identifier "B" which is the user identifier received in pair with the consumption information, the first payment means identifier "bbPay" which is the payment means identifier contained in the consumption information, and first acquired value information "450" which is the result of subtracting the holding value "2410" from the consumption value "2860" contained in the consumption information.

Next, using the exchange information acquired as described above, an exchange process is executed, for example as follows, to exchange the value "600" for the second payment means aaPay, which is a payment means other than the first payment means bbPay identified by the first payment means identifier "bbPay" among the two payment means aaPay and bbPay corresponding to user B, the first user identified by the first user identifier "B", for the value for the first payment means of user A, the second user.

That is, the user determination means 1331 obtains from the user information storage unit 111 the second user identifier that pairs with the means condition information "bbPay" that is satisfied by the first payment means identifier "bbPay" contained in the exchange information "(B, bbPay, 450)".

In the example of FIG. 10, since each of the three pieces of user information 1, 4, and 5 includes the means condition information "bbPay", the user determination means 1331 retrieves the payment condition information "up to 4%" corresponding to the first user identifier "B" from the storage unit 11 and compares it with the profit condition information "Null" held by user information 1, the profit condition information "2% or more" held by user information 4, and the profit condition information "2% or more" held by user information 5. Then, since the payment condition information "up to 4%" satisfies the profit condition information "2% or more" but does not satisfy the profit condition information "Null", the exchange processing unit 133 determines the two user identifiers "D" and "E" corresponding to the profit condition information "2% or more" satisfied by the payment condition information "up to 4%" as candidates for the second user identifier.

Next, the user determination means 1331 acquires two pieces of priority information corresponding to the two candidate user identifiers "D" and "E". Of the two pieces of priority information acquired, the priority information "(aaPay, ccPay, bbPay)" corresponding to the user identifier "D" indicates that bbPay is the lowest, while the priority information "(ddPay, bbPay, ddPay)" corresponding to the user identifier "E" indicates that ddPay is the lowest. Therefore, the user determination means 1331 determines the user identifier "D" corresponding to the priority information indicating that bbPay, which corresponds to the above-mentioned means condition information "bbPay", is the lowest, as the second user identifier, and acquires the determined second user identifier "D".

The first exchange processing means 1332 subtracts the value "450 yen" specified by the first acquired value information "450" contained in the acquired exchange information from the value "500 yen" specified by the held value information "500" that is paired with the pair (D, bbPay) of the acquired second user identifier "D" and the first payment means identifier "bbPay" contained in the acquired exchange information "(B, bbPay, 450)", and obtains the subtraction result "50 yen".

The exchange processing unit 133 uses the subtraction result thus obtained to update the holding value information "500" that is paired with the above pair (D, bbPay) to "450."

Next, the first exchange processing means 1332 adds the value "450 yen" specified by the first acquired value information "450" contained in the acquired exchange information to the value "2410 yen" specified by the held value information "2410" that is paired with the pair (B, bbPay) of the first user identifier "B" received in pair with the consumption information "(bbPay, 2860)" and the first payment means identifier "bbPay" contained in the acquired exchange information "(B, bbPay, 450)", and obtains the addition result "2860 yen".

The exchange processing unit 133 uses the addition result thus obtained to update the holding value information "2800" that is paired with the above pair (B, bbPay) to "2860."

On the other hand, the second exchange processing means 1333 subtracts the value "450 yen" specified by the second acquired value information "450" that is paired with the second user identifier "B" and corresponds to the first acquired value information "450" from the value "600 yen" specified by the held value information "600" that is paired with the pair (B, aaPay) of the first user identifier "B" received in pair with the consumption information "(bbPay, 2860)" and the second payment means identifier "aaPay" that identifies a second payment means other than the first payment means identified by the first payment means identifier "bbPay" among the three or more payment means (in this example, the payment means of the first user, user B, are aaPay and bbPay, so aaPay), and further subtracts the first fee.

In this example, the first commission fee is calculated using the profit condition information of the second user, User D, which is "2%~", and the first acquisition value information, "450", as, for example, 450 x 0.02 = 9 yen.

As a result, the subtraction result "141" is obtained, and the exchange processing unit 133 uses this subtraction result to update the holding value information "600" that pairs with the above (B, aaPay) to "141".

Next, the second exchange processing means 1333 adds the value "450 yen" specified by the second acquired value information to the value "2410 yen" specified by the held value information "2410" that is paired with the pair (D, aaPay) of the acquired second user identifier "D" and the second payment means identifier "aaPay" that identifies the second payment means, and further adds the second fee.

In this example, the second fee is equal to the first fee, so the addition result "2959" is obtained, and the exchange processing unit 133 uses this addition result to update the holding value information "2500" that is paired with the above pair (D, aaPay) to "2959".

By the above exchange process, two pieces of user information 21 and 4 out of the five or more pieces of user information shown in FIG. 10 are updated as shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing five or more pieces of user information after a further exchange process has been performed following the exchange process and payment process. With regard to user information 2, the holding value information paired with the above pair (B, bbPay) has been increased to "2860", which is the same amount as the consumption value of "2860 yen", making it possible for user B to make payment with bbPay.

When the above payment is executed, the holding value information paired with the above pair (B, bbPay) for user information 2 out of the five or more pieces of user information shown in FIG. 11 is reduced from "2860" to "0."

(Examples of value aggregation through exchange)
Value aggregation through exchange is performed, for example, as follows. In this example, the first condition is means condition information, and the second condition is "value has increased." The current contents of the user information storage unit 111 are user information 1 to 5 shown in FIG. 8.

Now, suppose that the holding value of bbPay of user C increases from "0" to "100", for example, by point allocation. In response to this, in the information processing device 1, among the three or more pieces of holding value information contained in the user information 3 in the user information storage unit 111, the holding value information paired with the payment method identifier "bbPay" increases from "0" to "100".

With regard to user information 3, the exchange processing unit 133 acquires the second payment means identifier "aaPay" that satisfies the means condition information "aaPay", which is the first condition, from among the three or more payment means identifiers contained in the user information 3, and the judgment unit 131 judges whether the holding value information paired with the second payment means identifier "aaPay" satisfies the second condition and acquires the judgment result periodically or irregularly in accordance with the timing information.

As described above, in response to the increase in the holding value information from "0" to "100", the judgment result of the judgment unit 131 regarding the user information 3 changes from "NO" to "YES". Then, in response to the change in the judgment result from "NO" to "YES", the exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires exchange information "(C, bbPay, 100)" which includes the first user identifier "C" which is the user identifier possessed by the user information 3, the first payment means identifier "bbPay" which is the payment means identifier other than the second payment means identifier among the three payment means information possessed by the user information 3, and the first acquired value information "100" which is the holding value information paired with the first payment means identifier.

The exchange processing unit 133 executes an exchange process using the acquired exchange information to exchange the value of the second payment means aaPay, which is a payment means other than the first payment means bbPay identified by the first payment means identifier "bbPay", out of the two payment means aaPay and bbPay corresponding to user C, who is a first user identified by the first user identifier "C", with the value of the first payment means of a second user, who is a user other than the first user among two or more users.

More specifically, the user determination means 1331 constituting the exchange processing unit 133 determines a user whose means condition information includes the second payment means identifier "aaPay" as the second user. Since user B is the only such user among the five users, user B is determined to be the second user.

The subsequent operations of the first exchange processing means 1332 and the second exchange processing means 1333 are the same as those described above, and will not be described further.

In this embodiment, the information processing device 1 determines whether the conditions are met for each of the two or more users, and performs the exchange when it is determined that the conditions are met. However, for example, as in variant example 1 below, each of the two or more terminal devices 2 may determine whether the conditions are met, and an exchange instruction may be sent from a terminal device 2 that is determined to meet the conditions to the information processing device 1.

(Variation 1)
12 is a block diagram of an information system in Modification 1. This information system includes an information processing device 1 and two or more terminal devices 2.

The information processing device 1 includes a storage unit 11, a receiving unit 12, a processing unit 13, and a transmitting unit 14. The storage unit 11 includes a user information storage unit 111. The receiving unit 12 includes an exchange instruction receiving unit 121. The processing unit 13 includes an exchange information acquisition unit 132, and an exchange processing unit 133. The exchange processing unit 133 includes a user determination means 1331, a first exchange processing means 1332, and a second exchange processing means 1333.

The terminal device 2 includes a terminal storage unit 21, a terminal reception unit 22, a terminal processing unit 23, a terminal transmission unit 24, a terminal reception unit 25, and a terminal output unit 26. The terminal processing unit 23 includes a determination unit 131. The terminal transmission unit 24 includes an exchange instruction transmission unit 241.

That is, in this modified example 1, the information processing device 1 does not include a judgment unit 131, but further includes an exchange instruction receiving unit 121, and each of the two or more terminal devices 2 further includes a judgment unit 131 and an exchange instruction sending unit 241.

In each terminal device 2, the judgment unit 131 judges whether the condition is met, and if it is judged that the condition is met, the exchange instruction sending unit 241 sends an exchange instruction paired with the user identifier to the information processing device 1.

The information processing device 1 may not include the exchange information acquisition unit 132, and each of the two or more terminal devices 2 may further include the exchange information acquisition unit 132. In this case, when it is determined that the conditions are satisfied in each terminal device 2, the exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires the exchange information, and the terminal transmission unit 24 transmits an exchange instruction having the acquired exchange information to the information processing device 1 in a pair with the terminal identifier.

Figure 13 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the information processing device 1 in Modification 1. This flowchart is the same as the flowchart shown in Figure 2, except that step S201 is replaced with step S201a below, and four steps S202 to S205 are deleted.

(Step S1201) The processing unit 13 determines whether the replacement instruction receiving unit 121 has received a replacement instruction or the like. If it is determined that the replacement instruction receiving unit 121 has received a replacement instruction or the like, the process proceeds to step S206, and if it is determined that the replacement instruction receiving unit 121 has not received a replacement instruction or the like, the process proceeds to step S207.

Figure 14 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the terminal device 2 in Modification 1. This flowchart is the same as the flowchart shown in Figure 6, except that step S603 is replaced with step S603a below, and the three steps S203 to S205 shown in Figure 2 are added between steps S602 and S603a.

(Step S603a) The exchange instruction sending unit 241 sends an exchange instruction having the exchange information acquired in step S204 to the information processing device 1 in a pair with the user identifier stored in the terminal storage unit 21. Then, the process returns to step S601.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the user information storage unit 111 stores two or more pieces of user information having a user identifier that identifies a user, a payment means identifier that identifies a payment means, and one or more pieces of held value information that specify the value held by the user for the payment means, and the information processing device 1 acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies the value acquired by the user identified by the first user identifier, and performs a first exchange process that is a process of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to the user identified by the first user identifier from the value specified by the held value information that is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and paired with the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a second exchange process that is a process of giving a value specified by the second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies the value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information to the user identified by the second user identifier from the value specified by the held value information that is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information.

In this way, by managing the held value information in association with a pair of a user identifier and a payment means identifier, it is possible to exchange the value of the second payment means of a first user who can use the first payment means with the value of the first payment means of a second user who can use the second payment means. As a result, for example, even if the value of the first payment means is insufficient when a first user pays consumption value with the first payment means, the shortfall in value is made up through the exchange, and payment can be made. In addition, the value of the second payment means can be aggregated into the first payment means for each of two or more users.

In the above configuration, the user information has means condition information, which is a condition regarding exchangeable payment means, and the information processing device 1 acquires a second user identifier that is paired with the means condition information satisfied by the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, performs a first exchange process in which a value specified by the first acquired value information is given to the user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with the acquired second user identifier and paired with the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and performs a second exchange process in which a value specified by the second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information is given to the user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and paired with a second payment means identifier that is a payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information.

In this way, by managing the payment method condition information in association with the user identifier, the payment methods eligible for exchange can be precisely restricted.

In addition, the information processing device 1 performs fee processing to subtract a value corresponding to the first fee from the holding value information paired with the first user identifier, and to add a value corresponding to the second fee to the holding value information paired with the second user identifier. In this way, by providing benefits to users who agree to exchanges based on the fee paid by the user who requests the exchange, it is possible to promote exchanges.

In the above configuration, the user information has benefit condition information that is a condition regarding the benefit at the time of the exchange, and the exchange information has payment condition information that is a condition regarding the payment at the time of the exchange, and the information processing device 1 acquires a second user identifier that is paired with the benefit condition information satisfied by the payment condition information possessed by the exchange information, performs a first exchange process in which a value specified by the first acquired value information is given to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by held value information that is paired with the acquired second user identifier and paired with a first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and performs a second exchange process in which a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information is given to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by held value information that is paired with a second payment means identifier that is a payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information.

In this way, by managing profit condition information and payment condition information in association with user identifiers, exchanges can be promoted accurately.

Furthermore, in the above configuration, the user information of one user has three or more payment means information and has priority information that specifies the priority of the payment means held by each of the three or more payment means information, and the information processing device 1 uses the priority information to select one second payment means identifier from two or more second payment means identifiers other than the first payment means identifier.

In this way, by managing priority information in association with a user identifier, the value of each of two or more payment methods can be accurately aggregated into one payment method for each of two or more users.

In addition, when predetermined conditions are met, the information processing device 1 performs the first exchange process and the second exchange process, thereby enabling an accurate exchange.

In this embodiment, the determination of whether the predetermined conditions are met is typically performed by the information processing device 1, but may also be performed by each of two or more terminal devices 2, as in variant example 1.

In other words, in variant example 1, the terminal device 2 determines whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied, and if it determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied, it can cause the information processing device 1 to execute an appropriate exchange process by sending an exchange instruction to the information processing device 1.

In addition, the information processing device 1 receives consumption information, which is information regarding the consumption of value held by the user and has a payment method identifier and a consumption value, which is the value to be consumed.When the information processing device 1 receives the consumption information, it obtains the held value, which is the value held by the user and corresponds to the payment method identifier held by the consumption information, and if the held value is less than the consumption value held by the consumption information, it performs an exchange process.Even if the value of the payment method that the user wishes to use is less than the value to be consumed, the shortfall is made up by the exchange, making it possible to consume the value.

In addition, the information processing device 1 performs an exchange process for one or more payment methods corresponding to a user that satisfies a predetermined first condition, when the payment method satisfies a predetermined second condition regarding the holding value corresponding to the payment method, thereby making it possible to transfer value between two or more users while restricting the payment methods that are the subject of the exchange.

In addition, in the above configuration, the second condition includes a condition regarding a change in the holding value, so that the information processing device 1 can transfer value at the right time.

The processing in this embodiment may be realized by software. This software may then be distributed by software download or the like. This software may also be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed.

The software for realizing the information processing device 1 in this embodiment is, for example, a program as follows. In other words, this program includes a computer that can access a user information storage unit 111 in which two or more pieces of user information are stored, the user information having a user identifier that identifies a user, a payment means identifier that identifies a payment means, and one or more pieces of held value information that have held value information that specifies the value held by the user for the payment means, an exchange information acquisition unit 132 that acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies the value acquired by the user identified by the first user identifier, and a second user identifier other than the first user identifier that is paired with the first payment means ... It is a program for causing the exchange processing unit 133 to function as an exchange processing unit that performs a first exchange process, which is a process of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by the held value information, and a second exchange process, which is a process of giving a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by held value information that is paired with the first user identifier contained in the exchange information and is paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information.

In addition, in the information processing device 1 realized by the above program, the exchange processing unit 133 may perform the first exchange process and the second exchange process when predetermined conditions are met.

The software that realizes the terminal device 2 in this embodiment is, for example, the following program. In other words, this program causes a computer to function as a judgment unit 131 that judges whether or not a predetermined condition is met, and a terminal transmission unit 24 that transmits an exchange instruction to the information processing device 1 when the judgment unit 131 judges that the predetermined condition is met.

In this embodiment, the exchange processing unit 133 exchanges the value of the first user's second payment means with the value of the second user's first payment means by performing two exchange processes, the first and the second, between two users, the first and the second. However, for example, as in variant example 2 described below, the exchange processing unit 133 may transfer the value of the second user's first payment means to the first user, transfer the value of the first user's second payment means to the third user, and transfer the value of the third user's third payment means to the second user by performing three exchange processes, the first to the third, between three users, the first to the third.

(Variation 2)
In this second modification, three or more pieces of user information are stored in the user information storage unit 111. The stored user information may be the same as the user information described in the embodiment. That is, the user information has a user identifier that identifies the user, and one or more pieces of payment means information. The payment means information has a payment means identifier that identifies the payment means, and held value information that specifies the value held by the user for that payment means.

The exchange information acquisition unit 132 performs the same operation as that described in the embodiment. That is, the exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies the value acquired by the user identified by the first user identifier.

The exchange processing unit 133 performs a first exchange process, a second exchange process, and a third exchange process. The first exchange process is a process that provides a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by a first user identifier, from a value specified by the held value information that is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier contained in the exchange information acquired by the exchange information acquisition unit 132 and is paired with a first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information.

The second exchange processing unit is a process that gives a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with a third user identifier other than the first user identifier and the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information, from a value specified by second held value information that is paired with the first user identifier and with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information, to a user identified by a third user identifier.

The third exchange process is a process of giving a value specified by third acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the second acquired value information from a value specified by third held value information that is paired with the third user identifier and specifies a third payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier and the second payment means identifier, to a user identified by the second user identifier.

Specifically, for example, assume that User A, a first user, holds aaPay worth 1,000 yen, which is the first payment method, and bbPay worth 500 yen, which is the second payment method, and User B, one of two or more second users, holds aaPay worth 500 yen and ccPay worth 1,000 yen, which is the third payment method, and User C, another second user, holds bbPay worth 500 yen and ccPay worth 500 yen.

In this case, if the exchange information acquisition unit 132 acquires exchange information "A, aaPay, 500 yen" having a first user identifier "A", a first payment means identifier "aaPay", and first acquisition value information "500 yen", the exchange information acquisition unit 132 performs a first exchange process to transfer the value of user B's aaPay of 500 yen to user A, a second exchange process to transfer the value of user A's bbPay of 500 yen to user C, and a third exchange process to transfer the value of user C's ccPay of 500 yen to user B.

As a result, for user A, the value of aaPay will increase from 1,000 yen to 1,500 yen, while the value of bbPay will decrease from 500 yen to 0 yen. For user B, the value of aaPay will decrease from 500 yen to 0 yen, while the value of ccPay will increase from 1,000 yen to 1,500 yen. For user C, the value of bbPay will increase from 500 yen to 1,000 yen, while the value of ccPay will decrease from 500 yen to 0 yen.

This allows for a value exchange between three users in which the value of three payment methods is transferred.

Similarly, value exchange can be realized in which the value of N payment methods is transferred between N users (N is an integer equal to or greater than 4).

It can be said that, based on the embodiment and variant example 2, a value exchange is realized in which the value of N payment methods is transferred between N users (N is an integer equal to or greater than 2).

The software for realizing the information processing device 1 in the modified example 2 is, for example, the following program. That is, this program includes a computer that can access a user information storage unit 111 in which three or more pieces of user information are stored, the user information having a user identifier that identifies a user, a payment means identifier that identifies a payment means, and one or more pieces of payment means information having held value information that specifies the value held by the user for the payment means, an exchange information acquisition unit 132 that acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies the value acquired by the user identified by the first user identifier, a first exchange process that is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier held in the exchange information and that is a process of giving the value specified by the first acquired value information to the user identified by the first user identifier from the value specified by the held value information that is paired with the first payment means identifier held in the exchange information, This is a program for causing the exchange processing unit 133 to function as a second exchange processing unit that performs a second exchange processing in which a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with a third user identifier other than the first user identifier and the second user identifier and that specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information is given to a user identified by the third user identifier from a value specified by second held value information that is paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a third exchange processing in which a value specified by third acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and that specifies a value corresponding to the second acquired value information is given to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by third held value information that is paired with the third user identifier and a third payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier and the second payment means identifier.

Figure 15 is an external view of a computer system 900 that executes a program in this embodiment to realize an information processing device 1 or a terminal device 2. This embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon. In Figure 15, the computer system 900 includes a computer 901 including a disk drive 905, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, and a display 904. Note that the entire system including the keyboard 902, the mouse 903, and the display 904 may be referred to as a computer.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a computer system 900. In FIG. 16, in addition to a disk drive 905, the computer 901 includes an MPU 911, a ROM 912 for storing programs such as a boot-up program, a RAM 913 connected to the MPU 911 for temporarily storing instructions for application programs and providing temporary storage space, a storage 914 for storing application programs, system programs, and data, a bus 915 for interconnecting the MPU 911, the ROM 912, etc., and a network card 916 for providing a connection to a network such as an external network or an internal network. The storage 914 is, for example, a hard disk, an SSD, or a flash memory.

The program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing device 1, etc., may be stored on a disk 921, such as a DVD or CD-ROM, inserted into the disk drive 905, and transferred to the storage 914. Alternatively, the program may be sent to the computer 901 via a network and stored in the storage 914. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 when executed. The program may be loaded directly from the disk 921 or the network. The program may also be read into the computer system 900 via another removable recording medium (e.g., a DVD or a memory card) instead of the disk 921.

The program in 901 showing details of the computer, which causes the information processing device 1 and the like to execute functions, may not necessarily include, for example, an operating system (OS) that causes a disk 92 such as a DVD or CD-ROM to execute functions, or a third-party program. The program may include only an instruction portion that calls appropriate functions or modules in a controlled manner to achieve the desired results. How the computer system 900 operates is well known, and a detailed description will be omitted.

The above-mentioned computer system 900 is a server or a desktop PC, but the terminal device 2 may be realized as a mobile terminal such as a tablet terminal, a smartphone, or a notebook PC. In this case, for example, the keyboard 902 and mouse 903 may be replaced with a touch panel, the disk drive 905 with a memory card slot, and the disk 921 with a memory card. However, the above is an example, and the hardware configuration of the computer that realizes the information processing device 1, etc. is not important.

In the above program, the transmission step of transmitting information and the reception step of receiving information do not include processing performed by hardware, such as processing performed by a modem or interface card in the transmission step (processing that is performed only by hardware).

The program may be executed by a single computer or multiple computers. That is, one computer may perform centralized processing, or multiple computers may perform distributed processing.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, it goes without saying that two or more communication means (receiving unit 12, transmitting unit 14, etc.) present in one device may be realized physically by one medium.

In addition, in the above embodiments, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing in a single device (system), or may be realized by distributed processing in multiple devices.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included within the scope of the present invention.

As described above, the information processing device of the present invention has the effect of providing a mechanism for exchanging the value of a first user's second payment means with the value of a second user's first payment means, and is useful as an information processing device, etc.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Information processing device 2 Terminal device 11 Storage unit 12 Reception unit 13 Processing unit 14 Transmission unit 21 Terminal storage unit 22 Terminal reception unit 23 Terminal processing unit 24 Terminal transmission unit 25 Terminal reception unit 26 Terminal output unit 111 User information storage unit 121 Exchange instruction reception unit 131 Determination unit 132 Exchange information acquisition unit 133 Exchange processing unit 241 Exchange instruction transmission unit 1331 User determination means 1332 First exchange processing means 1333 Second exchange processing means

Claims (11)

a user information storage unit in which two or more pieces of user information are stored, the user information having a user identifier for identifying a user, a payment means identifier for identifying a payment means, and one or more pieces of payment means information having held value information specifying the value held by the user for the payment means;
an exchange information acquisition unit that acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies a value acquired by a user identified by the first user identifier;
an exchange processing unit that performs a first exchange process which is a process of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by held value information which is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and is paired with a first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a second exchange process which is a process of giving a value specified by second acquired value information which is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by held value information which is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and is paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information ,
The exchange processing unit includes:
An information processing device that performs fee processing to subtract a value corresponding to a first fee from holding value information paired with the first user identifier and add a value corresponding to a second fee to holding value information paired with the second user identifier . The user information is
having means condition information which is a condition regarding exchangeable payment means;
The exchange processing unit includes:
a user determination means for acquiring a second user identifier that is paired with payment means condition information that is satisfied by the first payment means identifier included in the exchanged information;
a first exchange processing means for performing the first exchange processing to give a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by held value information that is paired with a second user identifier acquired by the user determination means and is paired with a first payment means identifier included in the exchange information;
and a second exchange processing means for performing the second exchange processing, which is a process of giving a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier, from a value specified by held value information that is paired with a first user identifier contained in the exchange information and is paired with a second payment means identifier that is a payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information. The user information is
The information includes profit condition information that is a condition regarding the profit at the time of exchange,
The exchange information is
The payment terms information is a condition regarding the payment at the time of exchange.
The exchange processing unit includes:
A user determination means for acquiring a second user identifier that is paired with the benefit condition information that is satisfied by the payment condition information contained in the exchange information;
a first exchange processing means for performing the first exchange processing to give a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by held value information that is paired with a second user identifier acquired by the user determination means and is paired with a first payment means identifier included in the exchange information;
and a second exchange processing means for performing the second exchange processing, which is a process of giving a value specified by second acquired value information that is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier, from a value specified by held value information that is paired with a first user identifier contained in the exchange information and is paired with a second payment means identifier that is a payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information. The user information of one user has three or more pieces of payment method information, and has priority order information that specifies the priority order of the payment methods included in each of the three or more pieces of payment method information;
The exchange processing unit includes:
The information processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising: selecting one second payment means identifier from two or more second payment means identifiers other than the first payment means identifier using the priority order information. The exchange processing unit includes:
The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the first exchange process and the second exchange process are performed when a predetermined condition is satisfied. a user information storage unit in which two or more pieces of user information are stored, the user information having a user identifier for identifying a user, a payment means identifier for identifying a payment means, and one or more pieces of payment means information having held value information specifying the value held by the user for the payment means;
an exchange information acquisition unit that acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies a value acquired by a user identified by the first user identifier;
an exchange processing unit that performs a first exchange process which is a process of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by held value information which is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and is paired with a first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a second exchange process which is a process of giving a value specified by second acquired value information which is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by held value information which is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and is paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information,
The method further includes a receiving unit for receiving consumption information, which is information regarding consumption of a value held by a user, and which includes a payment method identifier and a consumption value, which is a value to be consumed;
The exchange processing unit includes:
When the receiving unit receives consumption information, the information processing device obtains a held value, which corresponds to the payment method identifier contained in the consumption information and is the value held by the user, and performs the first exchange process and the second exchange process if the held value is less than the consumption value contained in the consumption information. The exchange processing unit includes:
6. An information processing device as described in claim 5, which performs an exchange process for a payment means that satisfies a predetermined first condition, among one or more payment means corresponding to a user, when the payment means satisfies a predetermined second condition regarding the holding value corresponding to the payment means. An information processing method implemented by a user information storage unit, an exchange information acquisition unit, and an exchange processing unit, in which two or more pieces of user information are stored, the user information having a user identifier for identifying a user, a payment means identifier for identifying a payment means, and one or more pieces of payment means information having held value information specifying a value held by the user for the payment means, the method comprising:
an exchange information acquisition step in which the exchange information acquisition unit acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies a value acquired by a user identified by the first user identifier;
the exchange processing unit performs a first exchange processing, which is a processing of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier, from a value specified by held value information which is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier contained in the exchange information and which is paired with a first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information; and a second exchange processing, which is a processing of giving a value specified by second acquired value information which is paired with the second user identifier and which specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information, from a value specified by held value information which is paired with the first user identifier contained in the exchange information and which is paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information, to a user identified by the second user identifier,
In the exchange processing step,
An information processing method that performs fee processing to subtract a value corresponding to a first fee from holding value information paired with the first user identifier and add a value corresponding to a second fee to holding value information paired with the second user identifier. An information processing method implemented by a user information storage unit storing two or more pieces of user information having a user identifier for identifying a user, a payment means identifier for identifying a payment means, and one or more pieces of payment means information having held value information specifying a value held by the user for the payment means, an exchange information acquisition unit, an exchange processing unit, and a receiving unit,
an exchange information acquisition step in which the exchange information acquisition unit acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies a value acquired by a user identified by the first user identifier;
the exchange processing unit performs a first exchange processing, which is a processing of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier, from a value specified by held value information which is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier contained in the exchange information and is paired with a first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information; and a second exchange processing, which is a processing of giving a value specified by second acquired value information which is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information contained in the exchange information, from a value specified by held value information which is paired with the first user identifier contained in the exchange information and is paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier contained in the exchange information, to a user identified by the second user identifier,
The method further includes a receiving step of receiving consumption information, which is information regarding consumption of value held by a user, the consumption information including a payment method identifier and a consumption value that is a value to be consumed, by the receiving unit;
In the exchange processing step,
An information processing method in which, when the receiving unit receives consumption information, a held value which corresponds to the payment method identifier contained in the consumption information and is the value held by the user is obtained, and if the held value is less than the consumption value contained in the consumption information, the first exchange process and the second exchange process are performed. a computer that can access a user information storage unit in which two or more pieces of user information are stored, the user information having a user identifier that identifies a user, a payment means identifier that identifies a payment means, and one or more pieces of payment means information having held value information that specifies the value held by the user for the payment means;
an exchange information acquisition unit that acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies a value acquired by a user identified by the first user identifier;
a program for causing the exchange processing unit to function as an exchange processing unit that performs a first exchange processing which is a processing of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by held value information which is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and is paired with a first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a second exchange processing which is a processing of giving a value specified by second acquired value information which is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by held value information which is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and is paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information,
The exchange processing unit includes:
A program for causing the computer to function as a fee processing device that subtracts a value corresponding to a first fee from holding value information that pairs with the first user identifier and adds a value corresponding to a second fee to holding value information that pairs with the second user identifier . a computer that can access a user information storage unit in which two or more pieces of user information are stored, the user information having a user identifier that identifies a user, a payment means identifier that identifies a payment means, and one or more pieces of payment means information having held value information that specifies the value held by the user for the payment means;
an exchange information acquisition unit that acquires exchange information having a first user identifier, a first payment means identifier, and first acquired value information that specifies a value acquired by a user identified by the first user identifier;
and functioning as an exchange processing unit which performs a first exchange processing which is a processing of giving a value specified by the first acquired value information to a user identified by the first user identifier from a value specified by held value information which is paired with a second user identifier other than the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and is paired with a first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information, and a second exchange processing which is a processing of giving a value specified by second acquired value information which is paired with the second user identifier and specifies a value corresponding to the first acquired value information possessed by the exchange information to a user identified by the second user identifier from a value specified by held value information which is paired with the first user identifier possessed by the exchange information and is paired with a second payment means identifier other than the first payment means identifier possessed by the exchange information,
a receiving unit that receives consumption information, which is information regarding consumption of a value held by a user, and which includes a payment method identifier and a consumption value, which is a value to be consumed;
The exchange processing unit includes:
A program for causing the computer to function as follows: when the receiving unit receives consumption information, the program obtains a held value, which corresponds to the payment method identifier contained in the consumption information and is the value held by the user, and if the held value is less than the consumption value contained in the consumption information, performs the first exchange process and the second exchange process.

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