KR20160119010A - Method of sharing points and system using the method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and system for sharing bonus points, which enable bonus points, including bonus points accumulated by payment of a user and also bonus points accumulated by payment of other users, for whom a sharing relationship has been set, to be used. A method for sharing bonus points by using a bonus point management server according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: loading bonus point information of a first user from a database in order to accumulate first bonus points generated by the first user; accumulating at least some of the first bonus points as bonus points dedicated to the first user; accumulating at least some of the first bonus points as sharing bonus points of a parent user belonging to sharing users of the first user; and accumulating at least some of the first bonus points as sharing points of a child user belonging to the sharing users of the first user.

Description

METHOD OF SHARING POINTS AND SYSTEM USING THE METHOD [0002]

An embodiment according to the concept of the present invention relates to a point sharing method, and more particularly, to a point sharing method in which a point accumulated by a payment of a specific user can be shared with other users having a shared relationship established by the user, Gt;

Businesses related to commerce such as card companies and internet shopping malls are required to earn points (mileage, reserves, etc.) and to utilize earned points when customers purchase goods through payment or the like in order to attract and maintain customers .

The way to earn points is advantageous for avoiding customer acquisition and departure, so it is commonly used by commercial-related companies.

However, the point-to-point approach is limited to only those customers who are eligible, so it is possible to maintain and manage existing customers, but it does not seem to be effective in attracting new customers.

Therefore, effective ways to attract new customers while maintaining existing customers are required.

1. Published Patent Publication: Publication No. 10-2013-0082670 (Published on July 22, 2013) 2. Open Patent Publication: Publication No. 10-2000-0059068 (published on May 10, 2000)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a point sharing method and system that can use not only points accumulated by a user's payment but also points accumulated by settlement of other users having a shared relationship established.

A point sharing method using a point management server according to an embodiment of the present invention includes loading point information of the first user from a database to accumulate a first point generated by a first user; Accumulating at least a portion of the first points as a dedicated point of the first user; Accumulating at least a portion of the first points as a share point of a parent user among shared users of the first user; Accumulating at least a portion of the first points as shared points of each of the child users among the shared users of the first user; Loading the shared point of the dedicated point, the shared point of the parent user, and the shared point of each of the child users from the database when the first user requests the point use; Comparing the point to be used by the first user with the dedicated point; If the point to be used by the first user is less than or equal to the dedicated point, performing a first step of subtracting the dedicated point by the point to be used, or if the point to be used by the first user is greater than the dedicated point, Performing a second step of subtracting all of the points from the shared points of the parent user and the child users from the shared points corresponding to the difference between the used points and the deducted dedicated points among the shared points of the parent user and each of the child users; And subtracting the shared point of the parent user and the shared point of each of the child users having the shared point corresponding to the exclusive point subtracted in the first step or the shared point subtracted in the second step.

A point sharing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a database for storing identification information and point information of each of a plurality of users; A sharing management module configured to set and manage a point-sharing relation for each of the plurality of users; A point management module for managing point accumulation and subtraction of each of the plurality of users; And an identification module for identifying the first user using the identification information and loading the point information of the first user from the database when a first point is generated by the first user among the plurality of users And the point management module accumulates at least a portion of the first points as a dedicated point of the first user and at least a portion of the first points is acquired as a shared point of the parent user among the shared users of the first user, And at least a portion of the first points is accumulated as a share point of each of the child users among the shared users of the first user and when the first user requests to use the point, A share point of the parent user, and a share point of each of the child users And comparing the point to be used by the first user with the dedicated point; and if the point to be used by the first user is less than or equal to the dedicated point, And if the point to be used by the first user is larger than the dedicated point, subtracts all of the dedicated points from the shared point of the parent user and the shared point among the shared points of the parent user and the child user, A second step of performing a second step of subtracting a share point corresponding to a difference between the first point and the second point, Point and the share point of each of the child users .

The point sharing method according to the embodiment of the present invention can use not only the points accumulated by the user's payment but also the points accumulated by the settlement of other users having the shared relationship established so that a new customer can be attracted, It is possible to further induce the purchase of goods.

In addition, the point sharing method according to the embodiment of the present invention has an effect of providing efficient point management since a dedicated point and a shared point of a user are separated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to more fully understand the drawings recited in the detailed description of the present invention, a detailed description of each drawing is provided.
1 is a schematic block diagram of a point sharing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic block diagram of the point management server shown in FIG.
Fig. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the database shown in Fig.
4 to 6 show point sharing methods according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
7 illustrates a point sharing method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a flowchart showing the point sharing method shown in FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing the point sharing method shown in FIG.

It is to be understood that the specific structural or functional description of embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the inventive concept But may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

The embodiments according to the concept of the present invention can make various changes and can take various forms, so that the embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the embodiments according to the concepts of the present invention to the particular forms disclosed, but includes all modifications, equivalents, or alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by the terms. The terms may be named for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another, for example, without departing from the scope of the right according to the concept of the present invention, the first element may be referred to as a second element, The component may also be referred to as a first component.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. Other expressions that describe the relationship between components, such as "between" and "between" or "neighboring to" and "directly adjacent to" should be interpreted as well.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like are used to specify that there are features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts or combinations thereof described herein, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning of the context in the relevant art and, unless explicitly defined herein, are to be interpreted as ideal or overly formal Do not.

A module in this specification may mean hardware capable of performing the functions and operations according to the respective names described in this specification or may include computer program codes capable of performing specific functions and operations May mean an electronic recording medium, such as a processor, having computer program code embodied therein or capable of performing a particular function and operation.

In other words, a module may mean a functional and / or structural combination of hardware for carrying out the technical idea of the present invention and / or software for driving the hardware.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings attached hereto.

1 is a schematic block diagram of a point sharing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the point-sharing system 10 includes a point management server 100, a database 150, a user terminal 200, a network 400, and a payment server 500.

When the point management server 100 receives a point accumulation and / or point use (deduction) request from at least one of the user terminal 200, the seller terminal 300, and the payment server 500, The user can load the point accumulation and / or information of the user to be used for the point, and manage the user's point according to the request.

The user terminal 200 can access the point management server 100 and the payment server 500 through the network 400, respectively.

The user terminal 200 may be a personal computer, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a tablet PC, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a mobile internet device (MID) ). ≪ / RTI >

According to an embodiment, the point-sharing system 10 may further include a seller terminal 300. [

The seller terminal 300 can transmit the information of the buyer generated according to the settlement of the buyer (for example, card settlement, etc.) to the settlement server 500 through the network 400. [

The seller terminal 300 may be a POS (point of sale) terminal, but is not limited thereto.

The payment server 500 may process the payment request received from the user terminal 200 and / or the seller terminal 300, and may transmit the generated point information to the point management server 100 according to the processing result. The point information may include information on points to be accumulated and / or points to be deducted.

According to an embodiment, the point-sharing system 10 may further include an authentication server 600.

The authentication server 600 can authenticate each of the plurality of users to establish a sharing relationship between the plurality of users. For example, when a first user sets a second user as a parent user and a third user as a child user, the authentication server 600 determines at least one of the first user, the second user, An operation for authenticating any one user can be performed. The authentication operation may be variously implemented according to the embodiment.

Although the point management server 100, the payment server 400, and the authentication server 500 are illustrated as separate servers in FIG. 1, each of the servers 100, 400, and 500, Can be implemented as modules in one server, respectively.

2 is a schematic block diagram of the point management server shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the point management server 100 includes an identification module 110, a sharing management module 120, and a point management module 130.

The identification module 110 identifies user information received from at least one of the user terminal 200, the seller terminal 300, and the payment server 500, and stores the user's point information identified from the database 150 Can be loaded. For example, the user information may include an ID and a password of a specific user, but is not limited thereto.

The point information may include a dedicated point and a shared point. The dedicated point means a point that can be deducted by the use of the user and the shared point can mean a point that can be deducted not only by the user but also by the use of any one of the other shared users have. The accumulation and use of the exclusive point and the shared point will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG.

The sharing management module 120 can set and manage a sharing relationship between a plurality of users.

For example, when a first user sets a second user as a parent user and a third user as a child user, the sharing management module 120 sends the sharing relationship setting request to the second user May be set as the parent user of the first user, and the third user may be set as the child user of the first user.

According to an embodiment, when the second user is selected as the parent user by the first user and the third user is selected as the child user, the sharing management module 120 uses the authentication server 600 The parent user and the child user can be authenticated, and the point-sharing relationship with the first user can be established according to the authentication result.

The sharing management module 120 may store or transmit the point sharing relationship of the first user to the database 150.

The point management module 130 may perform an operation of accumulating or deducting points using the point information of the identified user loaded from the database 150. [

In accordance with an embodiment, the point management module 130 may utilize the shared relationship of the identified user obtained from the sharing management module 120 or the database 150 to obtain or deduct points for each of the shared users Further operation can be performed.

In FIG. 2, the database 150 is illustrated as being implemented outside the point management server 100, but the database 150 may be included in the point management server 100 according to an embodiment.

Fig. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the database shown in Fig.

Since the database 150 shown in FIG. 3 is only one embodiment for convenience of explanation, the configuration of the database 150 can be variously implemented within the technical scope of the present invention.

1 to 3, the database 150 may include a user information field 152, a dedicated point field 154, and a shared point field 156.

The user information field 152 may include information (e.g., an ID and a password, etc.) for a specific user. According to the embodiment, the user information field 152 may further include information on the sharing relationship of the specific user.

The user information field 152 may store information on a sharing relationship to the specific user transmitted from the sharing management module 120, and the information on the sharing relationship may be updated.

The dedicated point field 154 may store information on the exclusive point of the specific user.

The share point field 156 may store information about the share point of the specific user.

The dedicated point field 154 and the shared point field 156 may store the changed dedicated point and the shared point, respectively, when the dedicated point and the shared point are changed by the point management module 130.

4 to 6 show point sharing methods according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, a first user U1 may set a parent user P and a plurality of child users C1, C2, and C3 as shared users.

When 500 points are generated by the first user U1, the point management module 130 can accumulate the generated 500 points as a dedicated point of the first user U1, and the accumulated 500 points are accumulated in the first user U1 U1 in the dedicated point field 154-2.

The point management module 130 may use the generated 500 points as information on the sharing relationship of the first user U1 loaded from the sharing management module 120 or the database 150 to the shared users P , C1, C2, and C3), and each shared point that is earned may be stored as a shared point field 156-1, 156-C, of each of the shared users P, C1, 5, 156-6, and 156-7, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, when 400 points are generated by the parent user P, the point management module 130 can accumulate the generated 400 points as exclusive points of the parent user P, 500 points may be stored in the dedicated point field 154-1 of the parent user (P).

The point management module 130 may use the generated 400 points as the shared users U1 and U2 using information on the sharing relationship of the parent user P loaded from the sharing management module 120 or the database 150, U2, and U3), and each shared point that is earned may be stored as shared point fields 156-2, 156-3, and 156-N of the shared users U1, U2, and U3, respectively. 4, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6, when 300 points are generated by the first child user C1, the point management module 130 can accumulate the generated 300 points as exclusive points of the first child user C1 And the accumulated 300 points may be stored in the dedicated point field 154-5 of the first-child user U1.

The point management module 130 uses the information on the sharing relationship of the first child user C1 loaded from the sharing management module 120 or the database 150 to transmit the generated 300 points to the first user U1, and the shared point to be accumulated may be stored in the shared point field 156-2 of the first user U1.

That is, a point stored as a dedicated point may refer to a point created by the user himself, and a point stored as a shared point may refer to a point created by the user's shared users.

In FIGS. 4 to 6, the same amount of points as the generated points are shown as being accumulated as dedicated points and shared points, but the amount of points to be accumulated may vary depending on the implementation method. For example, only at least a portion of the generated points may be accumulated as dedicated points, and at least another portion of the generated points may be accumulated as shared points. Depending on the embodiment, the amount of shared points accumulated in the parent user and the amount of shared points accumulated in the child user may be different.

In addition, although FIGS. 4 to 6 illustrate a case where the generated points are accumulated as a shared point only to users (for example, a parent user and a child user) within a one-village range, according to an embodiment, Points can be earned. For example, a point generated by a parent user P may be earned as a share point of a first child user to a fifth child user (C1-C5), and a point generated by the first child user (C1) As a share point of the user P, the second child user C2, and the third child user C3.

7 illustrates a point sharing method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment in which points accumulated by the embodiment of FIGS. 4 to 6 are subtracted.

If the parent user P desires to use 600 points, the point management module 130 first deducts the exclusive points (400 points) accumulated in the dedicated point field 154-1 of the parent user P, The remaining 200 points of the shared points (500 points) accumulated in the share point field 156-1 of the user P may be deducted. Therefore, all dedicated points accumulated in the dedicated point field 154-1 of the parent user P are exhausted (0 point), and the number of shared points accumulated in the shared point field 156-1 becomes 300 points.

The point management module 130 determines whether or not the shared point field 156-2 of the users U1, U2, and U3 having the shared point corresponding to the deduced dedicated point is deleted as the exclusive point of the parent user P is deducted , 156-3, and 156-4 may be subtracted by 400 points.

The point management module 130 determines whether or not the shared point fields 156-5 and 156-6 of the other users C1, C2, and C3 having the deducted sharing point , And 156-7 may be subtracted by 200 points.

That is, when at least a portion of dedicated points accumulated in a certain user is deducted, at least some of the shared points corresponding to the exclusive points may be deducted from other users.

Also, if any one of a plurality of users having the same share point deducts at least a part of the share points, at least a part of the share points accumulated in other users can be equally deducted.

7 shows a scheme in which a dedicated point is first subtracted when using a point of a parent user P and a method in which shared points of other shared users C1, C2, and C3 are subtracted together. However, The deduction order and the point subtraction method can be implemented variously. For example, a limit or a ratio of the shared point deduction may be set, or the usage of the shared point of one user may not be affected by other users.

8 is a flowchart showing the point sharing method shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 and 8, when a point to be accumulated is created by a user action (e.g., card settlement) (S800) and a point accumulation request is input to the point management server 100, The server 100 may load the point information of the user from the database 150 (S820).

The point management server 100 may accumulate at least a part of the generated points as the exclusive points of the user (S840).

The point management server 100 may accumulate at least a part of the created points as a share point of the parent user among the users' shared users (S860). The at least some points accumulated as the shared point of the parent user may be different from the at least some points accumulated as the exclusive point of the user.

The point management server 100 may accumulate at least a portion of the generated points as a share point of the child user among the shared users (S880). According to an embodiment, the child user may include a plurality of child users. Wherein the at least some points accumulated as the shared point of the child user are different from the at least some points accumulated as the dedicated point of the user and the at least some points accumulated as the shared point of the parent user .

9 is a flowchart showing the point sharing method shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7 and 9, when the user requests the point use (S900), the point management server 100 may load the point information of the user from the database 150. FIG.

The point management server 100 may compare the point to be used by the user with the exclusive point of the user (S910).

If the point to be used is less than or equal to the exclusive point (YES in S910), the point management server 100 may deduct the exclusive point by the point to be used (S920).

If the point to be used is larger than the dedicated point (NO in S910), the point management server 100 subtracts all of the exclusive points (S930). If the difference between the point to be used and the deduced exclusive point Can be subtracted from the share point (S940).

In step S950, the point management server 100 may deduct the share points of the shared points corresponding to the exclusive points deducted in step S920 and the shared users having the shared points subtracted in step S940.

That is, if the dedicated point is subtracted by the user having the dedicated point, each of the shared points accumulated in each of the shared users corresponding to the exclusive point can be deducted.

That is, when the share point is used by any one of the share users, a share point commonly stored in each of the share users is calculated by subtracting each of the share points accumulated in each of the share users .

Although the present invention has been described in the context of a method in which a dedicated point is first deducted and then a shared point is deducted and a shared point of each shared user having a deducted shared point is all subtracted, The deduction of shared points can be implemented in a variety of ways.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the true scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical idea of the appended claims.

10: Point Sharing System
100: Point management server
110: Identification module
120: Sharing management module
130: Point management module
150: Database
200: User terminal
300: Merchant terminal
400: Network
500: Payment server
600: Authentication server

Claims (2)

A point sharing method using a point management server,
Loading point information of the first user from a database to accumulate a first point generated by the first user;
Accumulating at least a portion of the first points as a dedicated point of the first user;
Accumulating at least a portion of the first points as a share point of a parent user among shared users of the first user;
Accumulating at least a portion of the first points as shared points of each of the child users among the shared users of the first user;
Loading the shared point of the dedicated point, the shared point of the parent user, and the shared point of each of the child users from the database when the first user requests the point use;
Comparing the point to be used by the first user with the dedicated point;
If the point to be used by the first user is less than or equal to the dedicated point, performing a first step of subtracting the dedicated point by the point to be used, or if the point to be used by the first user is greater than the dedicated point, Performing a second step of subtracting all of the points from the shared points of the parent user and the child users from the shared points corresponding to the difference between the used points and the deducted dedicated points among the shared points of the parent user and each of the child users; And
And a step of subtracting a share point of the parent user and a share point of each of the child users having a share point corresponding to the exclusive point subtracted in the first step or a share point subtracted in the second step Point sharing method using server. A database for storing identification information and point information of each of a plurality of users;
A sharing management module configured to set and manage a point-sharing relation for each of the plurality of users;
A point management module for managing point accumulation and subtraction of each of the plurality of users; And
And an identification module that identifies the first user using the identification information and loads the point information of the first user from the database when a first point is created by the first user among the plurality of users ,
The point management module includes:
Accumulating at least a part of the first points as a dedicated point of the first user,
Accumulating at least a part of the first points as a share point of a parent user among shared users of the first user,
Accumulating at least a portion of the first points as shared points of each of the child users among the shared users of the first user,
And when the first user requests to use the point, loads the shared point of the dedicated point, the shared point of the parent user, and the shared point of each of the child users from the database,
Comparing the point to be used by the first user with the dedicated point,
If the point to be used by the first user is less than or equal to the dedicated point, performing a first step of subtracting the dedicated point by the point to be used, or if the point to be used by the first user is greater than the dedicated point, Performing a second step of subtracting all the points from the shared points of the parent user and the child users from the shared points corresponding to the difference between the used points and the deducted dedicated points,
Wherein the share point of the parent user and the share point of each of the child users are deducted from the share point corresponding to the exclusive point subtracted in the first step or the share point subtracted in the second step.

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