JPH08181798A - Charge collection device using prepaid card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To realize safe and sure charge collection for both sales side and user side by providing a kind of prepaid cards widely used actually a prepaid card exclusively used for telephone call with a constitution so that it is usable as a medium for charge collection. CONSTITUTION: When a prepaid card 10 is inserted to a slot, a card reader/ writer 3 reads a residual amount. The entry of an operation panel 6 is accepted after the confirmation of the residual amount and information is displayed on a display panel 7 according to the entry. A predetermined cost of the service selected according to the service selection operation from the operation panel 6 and the residual amount of the prepaid card 10 are compared, and when the residual amount of the prepaid card 10 is the same as or in excess of the cost, the selected service means is accessed. Then an added value substitute collection line 13 is connected till the monetary amount matching the cost is reached and the card reader/writer 3 rewrites the amount of subtracting the monetary amount matching the cost from the residual amount to the prepaid card 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology for collecting a purchase fee and an information use fee for various products by using a prepaid card which is widely used nationwide.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various cards used for so-called cashless have been widely used. A typical example is a credit card. As a general rule, this card is issued to those who have passed the credit check, and when these people use the card at the member store, the card issuing company pays the member store the amount subtracted from the fee ,
It is a system that deducts the billing amount from the designated bank account of the card user.

[0003]

The above credit card has restrictions on the card user in terms of credit investigation. Therefore, even if they actually have the ability to pay, the card issuance may be denied in the credit survey, which is an obstacle to the dramatic improvement of the card utilization rate. In addition, the member stores that contract with the card issuing company, that is, the stores that can use a specific card are not limited, and there are many stores that cannot use the card. This is because the credit card is based on the contract between the card issuing company, the card user, and the member store, and the fee is collected after the card is used.

On the other hand, there are prepaid cards issued independently at various stores and associations, and as these names suggest, the cards are prepaid and purchased, so the card issuing company cannot collect the fee. There is no. However, since this type of card is not versatile, it often has a very limited locality, and it is often rather complicated for the user. Furthermore, if many prepaid cards of their own are used, the card user may lose the card before he or she has completely used it, which may result in loss to the card user.

By the way, as the prepaid card which is now popular, the prepaid card dedicated to the telephone has the maximum usage amount, and the telephone can be used as a general-purpose prepaid card and is equipped with a slot of the prepaid card. By making it possible to collect fees from, it is convenient for card users to avoid having to constantly bring multiple types of prepaid cards. Also, unlike the case of using a credit card, cash can be immediately collected on the information provider side and the sales side used for card use, and safe transactions can be carried out.

The present inventor uses such a widespread type of prepaid card, in reality, a telephone-only prepaid card as a medium for collecting charges, and it is safe and reliable for both the selling side and the user side. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a fee collection device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided with a prepaid card slot and is connectable to a value-added surrogate collection line of a public line and one or more service providing means. It was a toll collection device and decided to adopt the following means. That is, if any prepaid card is inserted into the slot, a card reading / writing device for reading the balance is provided, the input of the operation panel is accepted by checking the balance, and the information is displayed on the display panel according to the input from the operation panel. , According to the service selection operation from the above operation panel,
The predetermined consideration of the selected service is compared with the balance of the prepaid card, and when the balance of the prepaid card is equal to or exceeds the consideration, the selected service providing means is accessed while the consideration is changed. The card is a means for connecting the value-added surrogate collection line up to a commensurate amount of money, and for rewriting the prepaid card to the amount deducted from the balance of the prepaid card.

On the other hand, the charge collecting device is provided with a writing device for writing the provided service when the provided service is data, and a slot for inserting a writing medium into the writing device. Was selectively adopted.

[0009]

In the card reading / writing device, the information magnetically recorded on the prepaid card inserted in the slot is read out, and the data corresponding to the amount obtained by subtracting the information usage fee is written. On the operation panel, the user who inserts the prepaid card specifies the service he or she desires,
It is a means for performing various inputs such as confirming the intention of providing. This input is performed according to the information displayed on the display panel. The value-added surrogate collection line is a means that has a function of collecting a predetermined amount of money for the provided service as a line usage fee. Use multiple units of connection time divided by the hourly charge for charge collection. It goes without saying that these functions are controlled by the CPU. Further, the writing device is means for the user to copy to the medium when the type of service is a data format such as data selected from a database.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a charge collecting device of the device of the present invention, and illustrates a case where information to be bought and sold is information. In the figure, 1 is a charge collection device, 2 is a CPU that controls the whole as an internal configuration thereof, and performs various calculation functions, 3 is a card information read / write device equipped with a card slot (not shown) of a prepaid card, and 4 is a card information read / write device. A sales processing device, 5 is sales data, 6 is an operation panel for a card user to perform a fee payment operation, and 7 is a display panel for displaying fees and operation status. 8 is C
It is a charge collection circuit that is controlled by PU2 and collects a charge from a card inserted in a slot. 9 is a device for issuing a fee collection document which is installed as necessary. 10
Is a prepaid card, and 11 is a fee collection form. Also,
The charge collection circuit 8 can be connected to the value-added surrogate collection line 13 via the public line network 12.

A sales data management center 14 collectively manages sales data, and collectively manages data uploaded from a plurality of fee collecting devices 1 via the public line network 12. However, in the present invention, the technique of how to centrally process the sales data is not directly related, so the sales data management center 14 should be understood as an additional configuration. A writing device 15 has a configuration for inserting the flexible disk 16 into a slot and writing the downloaded pay information to the disk 16 when the pay information is permitted to be recorded in a storage medium.

Next, a procedure for using information and purchasing products by using the above apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the fee collection device 1 is in a standby state and a prepaid card can be inserted, the prepaid card is inserted into the slot of the card information reading / writing device 3. The card information read / write device 3 reads the data currently written in the prepaid card and transfers the data to the CPU 2. If the prepaid card has a balance, the CPU 2 displays the balance and selectable services on the display panel 7, and accepts an input from the operation panel 6. Here, the service is a concept including both requesting download of pay information from a database (not shown) separately installed as data, and applying for product purchase. Of course, the initial display screen of the display panel 7 may be a screen for using pay information or selecting one of two products for purchase. When the input from the operation panel 6 is accepted, the user selects and determines the selectable service displayed on the display panel 7. Then, the fee collection device 1 compares the determined price of the service with the balance of the inserted prepaid card, and if the balance exceeds the price of the selected service, performs the designated service. In this case, if the specified service is a download request for pay information, the fee collection device 1 accesses the database via the public line network 12, receives the necessary information, and then displays it on the display panel 7, and further writes it. Flexible disk 1 in device 15
When 6 is inserted, the downloaded data is written in this medium. On the other hand, if the designated service is a product purchase application, the product code and the delivery address of the product are uploaded to the sales data management center 14 as sales information. Then, the sales data management center 14 analyzes the sales information and delivers the designated product to the designated address, whereby the service ends.

When the provision of the above service is completed, the procedure proceeds to a means for collecting a charge from the prepaid card. This means is achieved by the charge collection circuit 8 first calling the value-added surrogate collection line 13 through the public line network 13 and connecting the line for a time commensurate with the charge to be collected. In other words, the value-added surrogate line is a value-added charge set in advance per unit time in addition to the normal telephone charge, and the central office collects the value-added charge along with the telephone charge, and provides the information later. It is a line that pays a fee to the person who pays the fee, and how long the line is connected can be easily calculated by dividing the charge by the value-added charge per unit time. In this way, when the charge collection is completed by connecting the value-added surrogate collection line 13, the card reading / writing device 3 rewrites the balance of the prepaid card to the amount obtained by subtracting the usage charge, and ejects the prepaid card from the slot. At the same time, the fee collection form may be issued from the fee collection form issuing device 9 as required.

The order of the service providing process and the charge collecting process is such that the service is provided first in the above embodiment, but the charge collecting process may be performed prior to the process for providing the service. Is. Which is preceded as a processing procedure is an optional matter.

In the above embodiment, after confirming that the charge has been collected from the prepaid card, the card is discharged from the slot. However, if the usage fee becomes high, the connection time of the value-added surrogate collection line becomes long, and there is a problem that only the waiting time for that becomes long for the user. That is, the longer the time required to collect the fee, the more time the user will lose. As means for solving this, as shown in FIG. 3, the charge collection device 1 is provided with a counter memory 17 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. The CPU 2 calculates the charge corresponding to the service requested by the user, and when the user confirms the calculated value, the CPU 2 immediately controls the card reading / writing device 3 to use the charge from the balance of the prepaid card inserted in the slot. Rewrite the amount minus. Alternatively, add the usage amount. At the same time, the usage fee calculated by the CPU 2 is written in the counter memory 17. In the counter memory 17, the total card usage amount of the fee collection device 1 itself is added every time it is used and accumulated. Then, the accumulated amount of money is automatically connected to the value-added agent collection line 13 once a day at a predetermined time after the business hours are closed or at an arbitrarily set time, for example. The total amount may be settled once. In this way, the user is freed from the waiting time related to the fee collection, and the usage can be promoted.

[0016]

Since the present invention employs the above-mentioned configuration, it is not limited to providing information only with a prepaid card,
Products can be purchased easily. In particular, if the type of prepaid card is a prepaid card for public telephones, which is currently widespread, the device of the present invention can be used for general purposes, and its application is very wide. Also, if the card user can use the telephone card in such a general purpose, it is possible to avoid waste of money, while the information provider is sure to collect the fee, so it will be collected after the fact. The labor can be omitted.

In the case where the service is provided in the data format, by providing the device with a reading device, the user can copy the data to the medium, which is convenient for subsequent use. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a device of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Charge collecting device 2 CPU 3 Card information reading / writing device 4 Sales processing device 5 Sales data 6 Operation panel 7 Display panel 8 Charge collecting circuit 9 Issuing device 10 Prepaid card 11 Charge collecting form 12 Public line network 13 Value-added surrogate line 14 Sales Data management center 15 Writing device 16 Pay information disk 17 Counter memory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A charge collection device having a slot for a prepaid card and being connectable to a value-added surrogate collection line of a public line and one or more service providing means, wherein an arbitrary prepaid card is provided in the slot. It is equipped with a card read / write device that reads this balance when inserted, and accepts input on the operation panel by checking the balance,
Information is displayed on the display panel according to the input from the operation panel, and in accordance with the service selection operation from the operation panel, the predetermined consideration of the selected service and the balance of the prepaid card are compared, and the balance of the prepaid card is compared. Is equal to or exceeds the above consideration, the selected service providing means is accessed, while the value-added surrogate collection line is connected up to the amount commensurate with the consideration, and the card read / write device uses the prepaid card. A charge collection device using a prepaid card, which is characterized by rewriting the amount of money corresponding to the above consideration for the card to the amount subtracted from the balance. 2. The charge collecting device is provided with a writing device for writing the provided service when the provided service is data, and a slot for inserting a writing medium into the writing device. A fee collecting device using the prepaid card according to item 1.