FI94379B - Electronic payment system - Google Patents

Description

94379

Electronic payment system - Elektroniskt betalningssystem

The present invention relates to an electronic payment system comprising a plurality of electronic devices carrying information, each comprising at least one memory for storing information in which available electronic cash is stored, and at least one communication device for consuming and transferring electronic cash contained in the information device.

10 Current known payment methods are coins, banknotes, checks, bankers' drafts or other documents entitling the holder to a payment. In many countries, bank or post office transfer systems as well as debit and credit card methods are also known as payment methods. Prepaid cards for automatic financial devices are also well known. The most advanced and flexible means of payment is a smart card (IC card) containing cash in electronic form, which comprises an integrated circuit comprising a central processing unit (microprocessor), program memory (ROM), working memory (RAM) and application memory (e.g. EEPROM). . Simpler electronic cards, the so-called memory cards with application memory only 20 are also used.

On the basis of the electronic wallet contained in the smart card or the corresponding consumer's payment instrument, payment systems have been formed, the so-called rahakukkarojärjes-systems. The wallet is the subject of standardization (CEN TC 224, WG10 "Inter-25 sector Electronic Purse / Part 1: Concepts and Structures").

The basic feature of a wallet is receiving (downloading) electronic money, depositing it and paying with it (handing over cash). For example, a wallet may consist of two entities: an electronic cash deposit portion and basic information about that deposit portion.

The deposit portion can be implemented in the smart card, for example, by a counter file containing a counter, the value of which can typically be read and which is updated by addition and subtraction commands. The counter file can be a file with a cyclic tie-35 support structure and counter commands defined as described, for example, in CEN prEN 726-2, 726-4, cyclic fixed length elementary file.

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The basic data portion of the deposit portion can be implemented on a smart card with a file containing linear or variable length linear records (linear variable length elementary file) or a binary file (binary elementary file), as described in the above-mentioned standard.

5 Basic information includes, for example, the unit of electronic cash contained in the deposit share, the value of the unit, the name of the currency and the expiry date.

The wallet does not tell who is the holder of the electronic cash in it, but the idea is that the holder of the physical payment instrument, smart card or the like 10 is at the same time the holder of the electronic cash contained therein - similar to the holder of banknotes and coins in a wallet.

*

Smart card-based payment systems can be divided into two categories, closed and open. A closed electronic cash system is a system with a limited number of service providers (typically one) and a limited number of industries (typically one) and in which typically one of the service providers is an electronic cash issuer. The open electronic cash system, on the other hand, is universal, independent of service providers and services, where the number of service providers and industries is not limited and where the issuer of the electron-20 cash is not a service provider.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the operation of the above-mentioned closed electronic cash system with one service provider. In Figure 1, a thinner arrow indicates the movement and direction of movement of money and a thicker arrow 25 indicates the movement and direction of movement of electronic cash. Figure 1 shows • an example of the principles of a closed system and thus the steps described below can also be performed in a different order than shown in the figure. In a closed electronic cash system, the service provider is at the same time the operator of the electronic cash. The service provider supplies 1 distribution network-30 electronic cash, for example in the form of smart cards, which the distribution network 2 resells to consumers, whereby the consumer pays 3 money for the electronic cash he buys for the distribution network. In this case, the distribution network pays 4 for the business cards it sells to the service provider. In return for his money, the consumer receives electronic cash, with which he can pay 5 service providers for the services he receives. Figure 2 shows a diagram of the operation of an open electronic cash system comprising several service providers, respectively. In Figure 2, a thin arrow indicates the movement and direction of movement of money, a thick arrow indicates the movement and direction of movement of electronic cash. Figure 2

II

3 94379 shows an example of the principles of an open system, and thus the steps described below can also be performed in a different order than shown in the figure. In an open electronic cash system, the electronic cash operator is separate from the service provider. The operator delivers 10 5-size electronic cash of the distribution network, for example in the form of smart cards, which the distribution network resells 11 to consumers, whereby the consumer pays 12 money for the electronic cash he has purchased for the distribution network. In this case, the distribution network pays 13 for the business cards it sells to the operator. In return for his money, the consumer receives electronic cash with which he can pay 14 service providers for 10 of the services he receives. On the basis of payments made with the consumer's electronic cash, the service provider delivers the electronic cash received to 15 operators, in which case the service provider receives a credit from 16 corresponding operators. * Such systems are in use and the technology of smart cards used in them 15 exists. Examples of closed systems using smart cards are the widespread use of payphone systems in France and Germany, etc. In addition, open systems using smart cards include, for example, open money-and-wallet systems, which are used in Finland and Denmark, for example.

20 In open wallet systems, the payment device is controlled by that service provider in the same way as a conventional cash register. When the consumer makes a payment corresponding to the service he has received with the 14 electronic cash, the corresponding amount of the electronic cash is transferred to the payment device of the service provider. The holder of the payment instrument now owns that amount. By settling the amount of 15 electronic funds to the operator, the operator credits the 16 service providers, as shown in Figure 2.

A special situation arises from a payment system in which the payment devices and the cash to be paid for are not in the control of the payee, but the payment devices 30 are in the hands of the consumers. To date, it has not been possible to combine open wallet systems with consumer-specific payment devices, but state-of-the-art systems using consumer-specific payment devices have been closed. The problem with the use of consumer-specific payment devices in an open payment system is that the cash paid to the consumer-specific payment device has not been returned to the cash circulation to the operator who would reimburse the service provider.

As an example of a system using consumer-specific payment devices, parking systems based on car-specific payment devices are discussed below.

4 94379 The use of car-specific payment instruments offers many advantages over traditional parking space-specific solutions. These are the well-known parking meter-specific parking meters, i.e. the so-called pole meters and parking area meters, ie the so-called ticket machines. Disadvantages of these include vandalism of equipment, more difficult street maintenance, costs for meter maintenance and refurbishment, costly expansion of paid parking and costs to upgrade new rates.

10 These disadvantages can be avoided by using car-specific means of payment, which can be divided into two main categories: electronic devices and payment slips.

Of the above, an electronic device is usually either preloaded to a certain value or the device is brought in by a detachable medium, for example a memory or a smart-15 account for electronic cash. A preloaded device operates in such a way that when it is armed in the parking lot, it automatically reduces the value loaded into it and when the value loaded in the device runs out, the meter is unusable. In devices that utilize a memory or smart card, the card is typically left in the device during parking, at which point the device reduces the electronic cash on the card. The card can be of 20 unlimited rechargeable, rechargeable or non-rechargeable types.

Current systems based on car-specific electronic payment devices include, for example, a system based on an electronic vehicle-specific payment device but a closed electronic cash system, whereby in a large area with several parking providers, a motorist has to obtain such a system from any parking provider. Such a solution is, of course, both cumbersome and expensive for the motorist.

30

In addition, a payment device is known which does not use a separate payment instrument (smart card * or the like) and which is not rechargeable, but gradually consumes preloaded units entitling it to a certain length of parking, and when the device is empty it becomes unusable. Such a device is disposable because it 35 is not rechargeable. In addition, devices are known which do not have a separate payment instrument but which can be downloaded by means of a special device and in which the payment power can be used for the same type of service by several service providers. Charging such a payment device requires its return to the seller, who <1 5 94379 gives / sells the new device to the consumer. Although cash can be used for more than one service provider, it can only be used for one service (e.g. parking, but not in addition to e.g. paying bills). Correspondingly, the disadvantage of such a device is that if it is stolen, the holder of the device also loses the same parking time in addition to the value of the device.

The car-specific parking ticket system is completely different from the above-mentioned electronic car-specific parking payment instruments. This is based on toll stands, which, depending on the price, entitle you to a certain length of parking. The Mak-10 fuse box works in such a way that, for example, the date and time are scratched off the label, in which case it entitles to parking for a certain length of time from the time scratched out. The measure is therefore irreversible and one of its risks is clearly that it will be unusable if the wrong information is accidentally scratched out. In addition, the known payment ticket systems are service provider-specific.

15

In many cities, in addition to the city, street parking services are provided by several private service providers or another city or business unit in the city. These may include, for example, a port facility, a central hospital, private parking companies and city-owned companies. Such an environment, such as a kau-20 punk with multiple parking service providers, is referred to herein as an internal multi-service provider environment.

The same applies to wider geographical areas, such as a county, state, or even an entire country or countries. When using car-specific meters in different cities, consumers also have to be prepared for incompatible labels, cards with electronic cash or even devices.

Such an environment, which may include multiple internal multi-service provider environments, is referred to herein as an external multi-service provider environment.

30 The internal multi-service provider environment is characterized by external multi-service. compared to the snow-making environment, the fact that it has a single identifier that is clearly identifiable to the consumer, such as a city. It is easy for the consumer to think that he is in a particular city and to pay for his parking there, but it is more difficult to detect that there may be several recipients of a parking charge within a city and that he was required to identify them. In an external multi-service provider environment, there are several such clear identifiers (cities).

6 94379 In such a multi-provider environment, the systems described above have a common weakness. Each is based on prepaid parking so that, depending on the system, either the parking ticket, the payment device loaded in the value or the payment card inserted in the device are service provider-specific. Purchased electronic 5 cash can only be used to pay one service provider. From the consumer's point of view, this would mean that in order to stop in the city, he would have to obtain in advance either various incompatible tickets, cards or even equipment in order to be able to park in any parking space in the city. The consumer has to tie the money to each service provider separately. Consumers are, of course, opposed to such a solution. This limits the use of said ice systems to areas with a single service provider parking monopoly.

One possibility to implement an open payment system using consumer-specific payment devices is to use a payment device that registers the executed payment transactions and to have the consumer, by some means, bring his payment device to the system operator who reads the payment transactions stored on the device. Such a solution, in which a consumer-specific payment device should be made available to the operator for reading so that the operator can read the payment transactions made from the device and reimburse different service providers, 20 is artificial, as it is difficult in practice to force the consumer to bring his device to such a reading point. Only a solution to implement an open wallet system with consumer payment devices is satisfactory, in which the consumer electronic payment instrument can be used to register used electronic cash back to the operator (which, on the basis of this registration 25, reimburses service providers) so that the consumer operates normally without any special obligations.

Enabling the use of electronic cash in an open wallet system in consumer-specific payment devices as an automatic back-up solution solves the above-mentioned problems of payment systems based on consumer-specific payment devices. With the procedures presented by the invention, it is possible to do this.

The object of the invention is to provide a system by which a consumer can, for example, use the electronic cash he has purchased in all parking spaces in several cities, regardless of the service provider, with a car-specific payment device, possibly without even knowing who the recipient of the parking fee is. The consumer does not have to take his payment device, for example, to places reserved for reading payment transaction data stored in the device, but the system according to the invention is implemented so that the amounts paid for each service provider's services return from the consumer-specific payment device to the system. The main advantage of the invention is the possible use of open, general-purpose electronic cash in the multi-service provider environments described in a consumer-specific payment device. The invention avoids the consumer from acquiring several incompatible prepaid means of payment or the like, but can use the same means in the above-mentioned internal and / or external multi-service provider environment.

The present invention relates to a method of a payment system based on a consumer-specific payment device by which, in a multi-provider environment, a consumer can make a payment with open electronic cash to his consumer-specific payment device so that each provider receives his share of payments. The invention can also be used to collect payments made from payment devices that are not consumer-specific but do not have a communication channel to the electronic cash operator. An example of this is a public transport payment system in which the payment device is in the vehicle, e.g. a bus, and 20 journeys are paid e.g. by pushing the payment instrument into a payment device on the bus which has no direct connection to the operator.

The system according to the invention can be implemented, as is now realized, by providing at least one, preferably more than one, electronic wallet, hereinafter referred to as a return wallet, which, like a wallet, comprises an electronic cash storage portion and basic information about that storage portion, but further contains from the owner of the content, and when paying with electronic cash in the system, the payment is transferred to the return wallet of the system owned by the payee. Preferably, the pa-30 return wallet is arranged in the portable payment instrument of the system. Here, the electronic purse according to the invention is referred to as a return purse to indicate that the electronic cash consumed by it is returned to the system operator. A purse is also referred to as a consumer purse to indicate that its contents are consumed electronic cash.

The invention is characterized in that the information-carrying device has a memory for storing the consumed electronic cash with information referring to its owner according to to whom the payment belongs.

35 8 94379

The invention can be applied, for example, in a car-specific parking fee system, which will also be used in the future as an application example of the invention.

The principles of the invention can be applied to both internal and external multi-service driver environments. The invention also enables a system to be used in both internal and external multi-service provider environments simultaneously. Thanks to the invention, it is thus possible to create a system in which an external multi-service system (e.g. cities of the country) includes several internal multi-service provider environments (e.g. port facilities, central hospitals, private parking service providers) within these.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 schematically shows the flow of electronic cash and money in a closed payment system, Figure 2 schematically shows the flow of electronic cash and money in an open payment system where the payment device is controlled by the payee and Figure 3 schematically shows Fig. 4 schematically shows the transfer of electronic cash to an electronic consumer purse in the system according to the invention, Fig. 5 schematically shows the return of electronic cash to the electronic cash operator of the system according to the invention, Fig. 6 schematically shows another application of electronic cash to the operator in the system according to the invention, Fig. 7 schematically shows an electronic cash register n 94 to 379379 Fig. 8 schematically shows the transfer of electronic cash to electronic consumer purses per service provider per service in the second embodiment according to Figs. 6 and 7 in the system according to the invention, 5 Fig. 9 shows the owner and counter file one implementation, Fig. 10 shows a flow chart of the transfer of electronic cash to an electronic wallet of a device carrying information in a system according to the invention using consumer-specific payment devices, Fig. 11 shows an implementation of an owner and counter file in another embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 12 shows a common owner file

The invention relates in particular to an electronic cash payment method and system in which an electronic card with its own logic or the like is used as a means of payment. Usually, these cards are called smart cards or smart cards. The English designations are Smart Card, IC Card and Chip Card. The card can be used as a cash payment instrument because it contains up-to-date cash information of the holder that can be maintained in the event of a payment or receipt of payment.

The invention is based on the realization of providing in an electronic payment system means for storing used electronic cash from service provider-separable. These means are referred to herein as return purses and can be innumerable in the electronic payment system according to the invention, preferably return or consumption purses are traced to the system's payment instruments. they may be present in data transmission devices, e.g. payment devices. Each return wallet is service provider-specific, ie each return wallet stores only electronic cash or information about it that belongs to a specific service provider.

35 A return wallet arranged in an electronic payment system, such as a consumer-specific payment instrument, is an electronic cash storage medium further developed from a wallet, which can be used to solve the problems with consumer-specific payment devices in the previous paragraphs 10 94379. The differences between the return wallet and the wallet known and standardized from the prior art are listed below.

a) The electronic cash in the return wallet of a consumer-specific payment instrument is "spent" money, i.e. the amount has been used by the consumer to pay the service, etc. received to the service provider in question.

b) The owner of the electronic cash in the return wallet of the consumer payment instrument is explicitly defined. The owner is typically not the same as the owner of the physical storage medium. The owner of the electronic cash in question is the provider of the service paid for by the consumer.

(c) The electronic cash in the return wallet of a consumer payment instrument is not available to the consumer and may not even be visible. The consumer-specific payment instrument is used as a refund channel for payments made by him to consumer-specific payment devices to the electronic cash operator.

15

In the system according to the invention, the amounts belonging to the service providers, paid to the consumer-specific payment devices, still have to be received by the electronic cash operator for the clearing performed by the operator. When the return wallet is arranged in the electronic payment instrument, this transfer of cash to the operator is naturally effected when the consumer uses his electronic payment instrument in a payment instrument charging or payment device that communicates with the operator's equipment frequently enough. In such a use situation, where the electronic cash is loaded into a payment instrument or the electronic payment instrument is used to pay to a payment device communicating with the operator, the consumer's payment instrument may. In connection with such a download or payment, the amounts contained in the return purses in the payment instrument or the transfer of this amount information to the said download or payment device, broken down by service provider, may be carried out as an automatic background function. By communicating with the operator's equipment, the charging or payment device forwards the sum-30 mat or sum data of one or more return purses to the operator. In this way, the operator is able to reimburse each service provider for the use of these services on the basis of the refund amounts or information collected. The movement of electronic cash and money in the system according to the invention is shown in Figure 3. In Figure 3, a thin arrow indicates the movement and direction of movement of money, a medium-thick arrow indicates movement and direction of electronic cash, and a thickest arrow indicates movement and direction of consumption of electronic cash. Figure 3 shows an example of the principles of an open system using consumer-specific payment devices, and thus the steps described below can also be performed in a different order than that shown in the figure. In an open electronic cash system using consumer-specific payment devices, the electronic cash operator is separate from the service provider. The operator delivers electronic cash to 20 distribution networks, for example in the form of smart cards, which the 5 distribution networks resell to 21 consumers, whereby the consumer pays 22 money for the electronic cash he buys for the distribution network. In this case, the distribution network pays 23 for the smart cards and electronic cash it sells to the operator, respectively. In return for his money, the consumer receives electronic cash with which he can pay for the services he has received from 24 service providers. According to the invention, payments made for services received from the consumer's service provider, i.e. used electronic cash, are transferred in the system to a return wallet "owned" by the service provider, which in the case of Figure 3 is transferred to a consumer payment instrument, e.g. a smart card. The next time the consumer uses his payment instrument in the distribution network, the used electronic cash 15 in the return wallet is transferred to the corresponding return wallet or other similar location in the distribution network 26 per service provider. The electronic cash used or information about it from the distribution network is transferred per 27 service providers to the electronic cash operator, who reimburses 28 each service provider on the basis of the used electronic cash received through the distribution network.

20

It is good for the consumer's payment instrument to be such that it is natural for the consumer to use it elsewhere than in consumer-specific payment devices. One such means of payment is, for example, a rechargeable smart card, which the consumer uses like a wallet, i.e. recharges more electronic cash on his card when the previous la-.25 has started to run out or has run out.

For example, the return wallet may be implemented from two different files, referred to herein as an owner file in which information about the owner of the return wallet is stored, and a counter file in which information about the funds belonging to said owner is stored.

The counter file contains the "used" electronic cash paid for the service received. The counter file is similar in structure to the wallet deposit portion of the prior art, e.g., a file with a cyclic record structure, 35 the contents of which can be changed with the INCREASE COUNTER or DECREASE COUNTER commands.

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The owner file contains information necessary for the unambiguous identification of the "owner" of the counter file, for example the LY number or the like and the identification information of the corresponding return counter file, e.g. the file extension.

In the system according to the invention, the electronic card may advantageously have several return purses. In this case, the return wallets can be implemented either with several counter file / owner file pairs or more efficiently in terms of memory capacity and usability with several counter files and a common owner file with a record with two fields, one with the return wallet 10 owner information, the field identifier based on which the counter file is combined with the owner information. This is illustrated in Figure 12, where reference numeral 40 refers to an owner file record, number 40a refers to one field in the record containing a service time identifier, number 40b refers to another field in the record containing counter-15 file extension, and number 42 refers to recovery counter file records with previously defined counter file records. information.

The payment instrument containing return wallets according to the invention typically has a normal wallet, the electronic cash contained in which can be used by the consumer for payment not only to conventional but also to consumer-specific payment devices. Return payments may not be used when paying with a regular payment device. Instead, when payment is made to consumer-specific payment devices, the electronic cash in the wallet is transferred, in the amount of the payment to be made, to the return wallet "owned" by the service provider in question. The return wallet can be applied in a variety of ways, some of which are discussed below.

One mode of operation is shown in Figures 4 and 5. In this mode of operation, the consumer payment device 30 transfers the amount payable from the consumer payment instrument wallet 32 to the consumer payment service provider's return wallet 33 33, as shown in Figure 4, where a thin arrow indicates electronic cash transfer from the payment instrument 32 to the payment device 30 and a thick arrow indicates the corresponding electronic cash transfer (reference 25 in Figure 3) used from the payment device to the provider's return wallet 33 in Figure 4 in the consumer's payment instrument 31. Information 35 on who the amount belongs to, i.e. to which provider's return wallet the transfer takes place, be either fixed to the consumer-specific payment device or can be selected on the basis of the information entered by the consumer into the payment device.

943 79 13

When a consumer uses his payment instrument in a payment device communicating with a recharger or operator, the contents or information of the return wallets 33 in the payment instrument 31 are transferred (reference 26 in Figure 3) to that device 34 (corresponding 5 return wallets 35). to the cash operator further, broken down by service provider, similar to those specified in the payment instrument, as illustrated in Figure 5. This can be accomplished by providing such a payment or communication device communicating with an operator with similar server-specific return wallets 35 or other similar service provider-specific means for importing and / or storing information similar to that in said return wallets. Based on this information, the operator can reimburse service providers (reference 28 in Figure 3) according to the services used.

15 Another alternative mode of operation is shown with reference to Figures 6-8 and Figure 5. In this mode of operation, an estimated amount of electronic cash corresponding to the consumer's estimate is transferred to the consumer's payment instrument from the consumer's payment instrument wallet 32 to the consumer's payment device wallet 36 when the consumer uses the services of the service provider. In this case, the consumer enters the payment device-20 sa information about the services he uses and the device withdraws an amount of electronic cash corresponding to the services from the consumer's payment instrument wallet 32 and transfers this electronic cash device to his own wallet 36. This situation is illustrated in Figure 6. The consumer-specific payment device 30 then transfers a subtotal of electronic cash from its wallet 36 to the return wallet 37 of the service provider providing that service, as illustrated in Figure 7. This can happen, for example, at regular intervals. If the estimated amount chosen by the consumer turns out to be less than the amount of cash corresponding to the service received or used, the consumer may, by his own measures, stop paying for that service, thus ending the transfer of electronic 30 cash from the wallet 36 to that return wallet 37. In this case, the unused electronic cash remains in the wallet 36 of the payment device 30 by the difference between the estimated payment and the electronic cash corresponding to the actual consumption, and the balance of said return wallet 37 has increased by the amount of electronic cash corresponding to the actual consumption. If the consumer's estimate 35 corresponds to or is lower than the actual consumption, no electronic cash remains in the device's wallet 36 and the estimate paid for the entire service is transferred to the return wallet 37 of that service provider.

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The next time the consumer uses his payment instrument 31 in the consumer-specific payment device 30, the payment device transfers (reference 25 in Figure 3) the amount paid to said return wallet 37 to the return wallet 33 of the corresponding service provider of the consumer payment instrument, as illustrated in Figure 8. Thereafter, the information 5 is returned to the operator in the same way as in the case of the first mode of operation, as shown in Fig. 5, as described above in that connection.

The advantage of the second use described above is that the consumer pays for the service he uses according to actual consumption, even if the initial payment 10 is based on an estimate.

An example of such an estimate-based payment method is parking, where the consumer estimates the parking time he needs, pays it with his payment instrument to a motor vehicle-specific payment device, takes the payment instrument with him and leaves 15 payment devices in the vehicle to show the remaining parking time. When returning to his vehicle, the consumer can stop his motor vehicle payment device, which has transferred the amount corresponding to the actual parking time from the device's wallet to the service provider's (eg city) return wallet and the difference between the estimated and actual consumption of electronic cash in the next parking time.

Alternatively, this use can be implemented in such a way that the consumer-specific payment device transfers the electronic cash directly to the service provider's return wallet without first transferring it to its own wallet. In this case, the payment device • does not necessarily need a wallet at all. In such an implementation, the payment instrument has to be left in the payment device, in which case the device periodically transfers electronic cash from the payment instrument wallet to the payment device return wallet, or if the payment instrument does not have to be left in the payment device that the full estimate, and not the amount corresponding to actual consumption, is consumed.

The return wallets according to the invention can also be used in a system comprising payment devices which are not necessarily consumer-specific but which have no necessary communication channel for transferring electronic cash to the operator other than an interface to the payment instrument used by the system (e.g. various ATMs) and in an environment where such payment devices the collection of electronic cash is entrusted to an entity that operates payment devices such as those described by several service providers. In this case, return purses can be traced at least to the electronic payment instrument and, alternatively, to the payment device, respectively, as described above for the various uses.

In order to utilize open electronic cash in such devices, the only way to get the used electronic cash back to the electronic cash operator is to use an instrument such as a consumer-specific payment instrument to which the device transfers the paid electronic cash to it. If the collection of electronic cash from such payment devices takes place on a service provider-by-service provider basis, the use of a return wallet is not necessary.

However, by using return wallets in such a system, it is possible to manage 15 a situation in which an external party collects electronic cash paid for payment devices such as those described by several service providers. In this case, a single financial instrument, such as a consumer payment instrument, may have return purses from several service providers. In other words, a single financial instrument can collect electronic cash paid to payment devices of several different service providers, broken down by service-20 provider. Thus, the collector may not even need to know who the service provider of which payment device is.

In car-based parking, the second alternative use described above can be applied in an external multi-service environment as follows: In such a parking payment system, many internal multi-service environments, e.g., cities, can use the same electronic payment instrument as described above by adding information about the service provider. The information required in the electronic payment instrument, i.e. the smart card, may then be, for example: - an electronic wallet, which may consist of two files, an electronic cash storage file and an electronic cash feature file, 35 a storage file for parking parameters, and - return wallets, which may consist of return counters and owner the number of recovery counter files.

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Correspondingly, the information required in a car-specific payment device of the same system may then be, for example: - an electronic wallet, which may consist of two files, an electronic cash storage file and an electronic cash feature file, and - return wallets, which may consist of a return counter owner file and the required amount.

The electronic wallet 10 of both the smart card and the vehicle-specific payment device may be in accordance with the prior art. The above-mentioned parking parameter storage file contains multi-city parking parameter information broken down by city. The data of one city include e.g. tax information for each parking fee zone in the city. The owner file of the return counters, both on the smart card and in the vehicle-specific payment device, consists of records specific to the service provider-15. One record consists of two fields, one containing an identifier uniquely identifying the service provider and the other a identifier of the return counter file owned by that service provider, which uniquely identifies that file within the smart card / payment device. For example, the service provider time identifier may consist of either a fully or partially three-sided, one-20 conceptual city identifier. The return counter file ID can be the file ID file ID.

The information described above can be applied in a vehicle-specific parking payment system so that initially when a motorist has loaded electronic cash on his electronic payment line (preferably his smart card), he pays an estimated amount transferred from the smart card's electronic wallet to a consumer-specific payment device. has been presented. The estimated amount is based on the motorist's estimated required parking time and the parking time-related fee (for example, 30 kiksimk / h). The estimated amount is thus obtained by multiplying that rate by the selected time. The tax rate used is determined by the city code and parking fee zone selected by the motorist. The parking fee zone is indicated to the motorist, for example, by the parking fee zone number of the traffic sign. The city ID selected by the motorist identifies the service provider (here the city) whose return wallet 35 "owned" is determined based on the owner file of the return counters of the vehicle-specific payment device as follows. The owner file of the payment device's return counters is searched for the record 40 whose service provider identifier corresponds to the consumer-selected city code 41. The second field 40b 174 of this record 40 shows the identifier of the return counter file owned by this service provider, from which the return counter file corresponding to the assigned identifier is shown. 9.

5 In this way, the vehicle-specific payment device is able to transfer over time the electronic cash payment according to the parking fee from the payment device's wallet to the return wallet of the service provider in question, as shown in Figure 7. This can take place, for example, once a minute, when the original rate expressed in mk / h is converted to mk / min or e.g. rpm. Py-10 bagging can end either at the end of the estimated parking time or at the motorist returning to his vehicle and stopping parking. The next time the driver inserts his smart card into the vehicle-specific payment device, the device automatically transfers the amount corresponding to the used parking time from the device's service provider-specific return purses to the corresponding service provider-specific return wallets of the smart card as shown in Figure 8.

The corresponding return purses for the vehicle-specific payment device and the consumer-specific smart card are found as follows. The payment device reads the service provider identifier P 20 and the corresponding return counter file identifier F ^ of the first record of the return counter owner file 52 of the payment device. Next, the payment device searches the 53 smart card return counter owner file for the record with the same service provider identifier and reads 55 its return counter counters.

Now, the payment device transfers the "used" electronic cash contained in the payment device return counter file F1 to the return counter file Fj of the "used" electronic card.

After doing so, the payment device 58, 51 moves to the next record in the owner file of the payment counter return counters and processes the associated "used", service provider-specific electronic cash as described above. This is done until all records in the payment file return counters owner file have been processed. If the smart card does not find the return wallet of a service provider who owns the return wallet 30 in the payment device, the transfer will not be performed and that return wallet of the payment device and the "used" electronic cash in it will remain the same. The above is shown in Figure 10.

When using an electronic payment instrument (smart card) either to pay in a standard payment device or to load electronic cash into a payment instrument (card) in a charging device, that device may transfer the electronic cash used for parking to its own storage medium per service provider. The cash paid for parking from this device is passed on to the electronic cash register operator, who is thus able to credit the internal multi-service provider environment (e.g. city) in question according to the electronic cash actually used for parking.

5 In this way, a motorist can park with one payment instrument and one electronic cash in all internal multi-service provider environments (cities) using the system and pay only for the parking time he uses.

In parking based on a car-specific payment device, the second alternative use of the invention described hereinbefore 10 can also be applied in an internal multi-service provider environment.

In such a parking fee system, there may be many parking service providers within the city that use electronic cash as described above. The difference with the case of the external multi-service environment described above is that the motorist does not explicitly choose the service provider (city code) himself, to whom the electronic cash of his payment is credited. Instead, from the information he enters / makes the choices he makes, the payment device infers the correct 20 service providers based on the parking parameter information and return purses.

This can be done, for example, in such a way that the parking parameters of the city selected by the motorist include the parameters of the parking fee zones used in the city. These zone-specific parameters include, . 25 above, the tariff information for that zone but also the service provider for that zone. Such an internal service provider may be a private parking company, a central hospital, a port facility, etc. Thus, each zone may have a different "owner". If no owner ID has been activated for a zone, the service provider for that zone is the city itself. Thus, the zone information 41 selected by the motorist 30 identifies the service provider whose "return" return cost-Karo is determined based on the owner file of the return counters of the vehicle-specific payment device as follows. The owner file of the payment device return counters is searched for the record 40 whose service provider identifier corresponds to the combination 44 of the city ID 41 selected by the consumer and the owner ID 35 43 of the selected parking fee zone. The second counter 40b of this record 40 indicates the return counter file owned by this service provider. This is illustrated in Figure 11 of the diagram.

19 94379

In other respects, the first application of the second alternative use corresponds to the first application.

In this way, the motorist can park in the internal multi-service provider environment 5 (city) in all parking spaces utilizing the system with the same payment instrument and the same electronic cash without even having to explicitly know which service provider is involved in each case.

The embodiments of the second alternative use of the invention described above may also operate simultaneously, in parallel. Such a case is, for example, a parking fee system used by several internal multi-service provider environments (cities), where all or only some of them have one or more service providers within the city. In this case, the motorist can park in all parking spaces of several cities using the system with the same electronic cash register and payment instrument.

The third alternative use of the invention described earlier herein can be applied, for example, by having several vending machines operated by different service providers operated by a single company. The operator of the company holds the so-called financial instrument 20 (eg financial card). A financial instrument is, for example, a smart card that does not have an electronic wallet suitable for payment or that is otherwise separable from a regular consumer payment instrument. The financial instrument has its own return wallet for each vending service provider, which consists of an owner file and return counters as described above. The machine has a return wallet for receiving electronic cash, which is owned by the service provider who owns the machine. When the financial instrument is entered into the ATM, the machine automatically identifies it as a type of financial instrument, in which case it searches the return medium corresponding to the return wallet it contains and transfers the used electronic cash treasury 30 card in its own return wallet to the corresponding return wallet. In other respects, the procedure is similar, as in the case of another alternative use of the invention.

In portable electronic data carriers such as smart cards or the like, most of the data used is stored in the application memory of the integrated circuit. Before using a smart card, it must be formatted, in which case the operating system program code, encryption algorithm, keys and operating system parameters are loaded (stored) into it. In addition, the smart card is identified, where applications are created and user data can be entered into it. The electronic consumer purse according to the invention is created on the smart card in these last two steps, although before this the formation of such a purse has been made possible by taking into account e.g. Extent of application memory when manufacturing an integrated circuit. At the same time, owner information can be defined in the consumer wallet, or owner-5 information can be entered, added or changed at a later stage, e.g. in a distribution network when the card is used at distribution points or in a payment device connected to the network. In this case, it is easy to add more service providers to the system at a later stage, when the new service provider receives 10 of its own return wallets for the cards already in use when the card is used at a distribution point or in a payment device connected to the network.

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Claims (14)

94379 An electronic payment system comprising a plurality of electronic devices (31) carrying data to be transferred, each comprising at least one memory for storing information in which available electronic cash is stored, and at least one device (31) for transmitting data (30). ), characterized in that the information-carrying device (31) has a memory for storing the consumed electronic cash with information referring to its owner according to to whom the payment belongs. 10 A system according to claim 1, characterized in that the communication device (30) has a memory for storing the consumed electronic cash stored in the information carrying device (31) with the information referring to its owner in the communication device (30). 15 A system according to claim 1, characterized in that an electronic wallet (32) is arranged in the data-carrying device (31) for storing available electronic cash. A system according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that an electronic wallet (36) is tracked in the communication device (30) for storing available electronic cash. A system according to claim 1, characterized in that an electronic consumer purse (33) is tracked on the information carrying device (31) for storing consumed electronic cash and its owner information. A system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an electronic consumer purse (37) is arranged in the communication device (30) for storing the consumed electronic cash 30 and its owner information. Ice system according to Claim 1, characterized in that the data transmission device (30) is movable. System according to Claim 1 or 7, characterized in that the data transmission device (30) is under the control of the holder of the data-carrying device (31). 94379 A system according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that there are a plurality of said electronic consumer purses and for the electronic consumer purses (33, 37) a counter file (42) is provided for storing the amount of electronic cash consumed and an owner file for identifying the owner of the contents of said counter file. to store the necessary information and to store the identifier of said counter file. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that each electronic consumer purse (33,37) comprises said counter file (42). 10 A system according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that each electronic consumer purse (33, 37) comprises said owner file. A system according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that each owner file comprises a field (40) for each owner, the field (40) having a record (40a) for storing information necessary to identify the owner of the contents of the counter file and a record for storing the counter file identifier. A system according to claim 6, characterized in that it further comprises portable electronic devices carrying information to be transferred, having an electronic consumer purse for storing the contents of the electronic consumer purse of the data transmission device according to who owns the consumed electronic cash. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises electronic chargers (34) for charging electronic cash and data to portable electronic devices (31) and said electronic chargers (34) have electronic wallets for electronic devices (31). to store the contents of the electronic consumer wallet 30 according to who owns the consumed electronic cash. I: 94379