JP2003296802A - Multi-prepaid card and service providing system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-prepaid card and a service providing system using the same appropriate for a service providing company which provides a plurality of services. <P>SOLUTION: A prepaid card 20 is recorded with a plurality of service information 22a-22n and amount information 23a-23n corresponding to such service information together with management information 21 as a plurality of services selected out of a plurality of services 31a-31d by operation of a card vending machine 30 due to a user and respective amounts or numbers of times of utilization. The information of the card vending machine 20 is transferred to a service providing company 40 via a network 50. The service providing company 40 is capable of changing a unit service price 32 or the like based upon the transferred information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a prepaid card, and more particularly to a multi-prepaid card having a plurality of functions with one card and a service providing system using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to solve the inconvenience of possessing cash or the inconvenience of payment by cash, most transactions have recently been made with a prepaid card called plastic money. For example, transportation charges such as trains and buses, payment at employee cafeterias, calling charges for public phones, etc. can be completed (payment) by passing a prepaid card through a card reader, so work efficiency should be improved. Is possible. In these prepaid cards, the amount paid in advance is magnetically recorded, for example, and the amount used is deducted each time the user uses the card. The user has 0
It can be used until.

However, even if a prepaid card for the same train is used, if a train of a plurality of companies is used, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of cards for company A, company B, ... is there. In addition, it is necessary to prepare multiple prepaid cards for each service (or product) such as bus, subway, telephone, refueling (gasoline), etc. not only for trains, but also to provide the same service It must be prepared for each service provider and used appropriately. Therefore, it is inconvenient to bring many prepaid cards when going out.

Prior art relating to such a prepaid card and a service using or usable the prepaid card is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-59890, “Prepaid Card System” and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-203544.
"Prepaid card" in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-212558
"Dining Room System" in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-147981
"Unmanned Reservation Management System" in Japanese Patent Publication and JP-A-2000-
It is disclosed in "Vending Machine and POS System" of Japanese Patent No. 259924.

For example, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-203544.
The prepaid card disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication discloses a prepaid card that possesses a plurality of the above-mentioned cards, reduces the inconvenience of properly using each of them, and can be processed by a conventional card processing device. That is, a plurality of service data including prepaid fee information for using different services are provided so that the card reading direction is different for each service.
Stored on a prepaid card. This prepaid card can be used to receive two different service offerings, for example a 50-degree telephone and a 300 liter refueling.

[0006]

However, with the above-described conventional prepaid card, it is possible to issue a prepaid card that can be commonly used for a plurality of different services at one store or stores of the same series, but it can be used. Services are limited. For example, in a sports club or the like, a plurality of services having different unit prices such as a pool, a gym, a sauna, and a drink are provided, and a user (customer) can freely select the plurality of services and set a fee for each service to be used. You may want to. In such a facility, when issuing a prepaid card in consideration of the convenience of the user side and / or the facility side, the above-described conventional prepaid card cannot sufficiently satisfy both the user and the facility.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and is effective for a user (user) and a service providing company in a service providing company that provides a plurality of services that may have different unit prices. Prepaid card and service providing system using the same.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the multi-prepaid card and the service providing system using the same according to the present invention adopt the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In a multi-prepaid card that is used in place of cash when receiving a plurality of services provided by a service provider by prepaying a predetermined fee, the plurality of services provided by the service provider and the A multi-prepaid card in which the user arbitrarily selects and sets the amount of money or the number of times of service use for each service.

(2) A plurality of service information and money amount information are recorded correspondingly together with the management information (1)
Multi prepaid card.

(3) In a service providing system that enables a user to use a plurality of services provided by a service providing company by using a multi-prepaid card, the user selects from a plurality of services provided by the service providing company. A service providing system including a card vending machine that issues a multi-prepaid card for one or more services and the amount of money or the number of times the service has been used.

(4) The service providing system according to the above (3), wherein the card vending machine comprises a service selecting means for selecting the plurality of services provided by the service providing company, an amount selecting means, and a total amount displaying means.

(5) The service providing system according to (4), wherein the money amount selection means of the card vending machine is each service unit price and the number of times of service use.

(6) The card vending machine is connected to the service providing company via an Internet network, and the above (3),
The service providing system according to (4) or (5).

(7) The service providing company allows the unit price of each service to be changed based on the management information using the information transferred from the prepaid card vending machine (3), (4), ( The service providing system of 5) or (6).

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The configuration and operation of a preferred embodiment of a multi-prepaid card and a service providing system using the same according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a preferred embodiment of a service providing system using a multi-prepaid card according to the present invention. The service providing system 10 includes a multi-prepaid card 20, a card vending machine 30, a service providing company 40, and an internet network (network such as the internet) 50.

Here, the multi-prepaid card (hereinafter,
20 is a prepaid card that can be used for a plurality of services. The card vending machine 30 is a vending machine that issues the prepaid card 20 by arbitrarily combining a plurality of types of services selected by the user as described later and paying the amount (prepayment). The service providing company 40 provides a plurality of services, such as a sports club, and provides various services to the user (or user) who holds the prepaid card 20. The net 50 is a card vending machine 30
And a network such as the Internet that connects the service providing companies 40 to each other.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the format of the prepaid card 20. FIG. 2A shows a format of a general prepaid card 20A, which is composed of management information 21, service information 22 and amount information 23.
These pieces of information 21 to 23 are magnetically recorded on a magnetic film provided on the surface of a plastic card, for example. On the other hand, FIG. 2B shows the format of the multi-prepaid card 20B according to the present invention. In this specific example, the management information 21, the first service information 22a, the first amount information 23a, the second service information 22b, and the second amount information 23b are included. It should be noted that more service information 22c, 22d, ..., 22n and amount information 23c, 23 corresponding to each of these services according to the user's selection.
, 23n may be included.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a specific example of the card vending machine 30. This card vending machine 30 has a usage service 31,
Service unit price 32, number of uses 33, total price display 3
4, a card issuing button 35 and a cash inserting section (not shown). The utilization service 31 is a type of service provided by the service providing company 40 to the user, and in the specific example of FIG. 3, four types of pool 31a, gym 31b, sauna 31c, and drink 31d are prepared. The user makes a selection by pressing the corresponding button (selection means). Unit price 32 is type 3 of service 31
It is a unit price defined corresponding to 1a to 31d, that is, a service usage fee per time. For example, the pool 31a has 50
0 yen, gym 31b is 600 yen, sauna 31c is 300
Yen and drink 31d are 100 yen.

The number of times of use 33 corresponds to each service 31.
Buttons provided corresponding to a to 31d, in this specific example, one-time ticket 33a, five-time ticket 33b, ten-time ticket 3
Buttons for 3c and 20th ticket 33d are prepared.
The total amount display section 34 displays the service 31 selected by the user.
According to a to 31d and the number of times 33a to 33d, calculation is performed by a CPU (central processing unit) (not shown) provided in the card vending machine 30 and display is performed by a liquid crystal display or a display device such as a light emitting diode. For example, if the user is pool 3
When 1a is selected 5 times, gym 31b is selected 5 times, sauna 31c is selected 5 times, and 10 drinks 31d are selected, 8000 yen is displayed in the total amount display portion 34 as shown in FIG.
Therefore, the user inserts a predetermined amount of money into the cash insertion unit,
When the card issue button 35 is pressed, the multi-prepaid card 20 of the service and the number of times of use selected by the user is issued.

Although the card vending machine 30 shown in FIG. 3 is provided with an independent number-of-uses selection button for each of the services 31a to 31d, these number-of-uses buttons may be common to all services. In that case, the number of times of use can be finely selected as once, twice, three times, ....
On the contrary, if there is an independent number-of-uses selection button for each of the services 31a to 31d, omit the service selection button,
Needless to say, it may be a display column for services. The unit price 32 is preferably displayed on a liquid crystal display device or the like, and can be arbitrarily or appropriately changed by the service providing company 40 as described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, the card vending machine 30 is connected to a service company 40, specifically, a terminal or the like of the service company 40 via an internet 50. Therefore, the information of the multi-prepaid card 20 purchased by the user operating the card vending machine 30 can be immediately transmitted to the service company 40. FIG. 4 shows management data in the service providing company 40. FIG. 4 (A) shows the same-day sales total 60 of the card vending machine 30. In the illustrated example, the service 6
1, card sales amount 62, service provision amount 63 and difference 64 between card sales amount 62 and service provision amount 63
Etc. are included. These pieces of information are provided as services 31a to 3a.
The data is totaled and managed for each 1d.

On the other hand, FIG. 4B shows the service providing company 4
It is a specific example of the cumulative management information 70 in 0. This cumulative management information 70 includes a service 71, a cumulative purchase (sale) amount 72, and a cumulative number of times of use 73 for each of the services 31a to 31d.
And the number of unused times 74 and the like are included.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In the service providing system 10 shown in FIG. 1, the user purchases the prepaid card 20 by using the card vending machine 30 as a means for paying the price of the services 31a to 31d provided by the service providing company 40. At the time of purchase, the user operates the input buttons of the card vending machine 30 to select the services 31a to 31d to purchase. Referring to FIG. 3, the user selects the pool 31a from the service selection buttons 31a to 31d. Next, the number-of-uses button 33a to 33d is selected. At this time, for example, if the ten-time ticket 33c is selected, the service unit price is 500 yen, so the total amount display unit 34 displays 500.
0 yen is displayed. Next, use gym 31 as a service.
When b is selected and the five-time ticket 33b is selected as the number of times of use, 8,000 yen is displayed on the total price display portion 34.

Next, the user finishes the service selection, presses the card issue button 35, and inserts the amount displayed on the total amount display section 34 into the cash insertion section of the card vending machine 30. The card vending machine 30 issues the prepaid card 20 in which the information as shown in FIG. 2B is recorded and provides it to the user. According to the above operation example, the information recorded on the provided prepaid card 20 is as shown in FIG. 2B, the first service information 22a is the pool 31a, the first amount information 2
3a is 5000 yen. Similarly, the second service information 2
2b is the gym 31b, and the second amount information 23b is 3000 yen.

On the other hand, the card vending machine 30 sends the purchase information (the selected service and the amount paid for each service) to the service providing company 40 via the network 50 when the prepaid card 20 is sold. Notice.

In the above specific example, the first service information 22
As a, it means that the service for the usage fee of 5000 yen for 10 times of the pool has been reserved. Similarly, as the second service information 22b, a usage charge of 3000 yen for 5 gyms is reserved.

Therefore, the service providing company 40 can obtain demand information (reservation information) for each service when the prepaid card 20 is sold from the card vending machine 30. The service providing company 40 includes the same-day sales total table 60 shown in FIG. 4A and the cumulative management table 70 shown in FIG. 4B. The information of the prepaid card 20 sold by the card vending machine 30 is reflected in the card sales amount 62 for each service in the daily sales summary table 60. On the other hand, the difference 64 from the actual amount of money provided 63 for each service 61 on the day
Is a positive indicator of future improvement, and a negative indicator is that the service is not supported by the user. Further, the cumulative management table 70 further shows future fund trends of the business of the service providing company 40.

The service providing company 40 makes a business decision based on these management information and makes individual service 31a ...
The price (unit price) 32 for each 31d is changed as appropriate, and the net network 5
Service 31 sold by card vending machine 30 via 0
The unit price 32 for each of a to 31d is freely set.

The configuration and operation of the preferred embodiment of the multi-prepaid card and the service providing system using the same according to the present invention have been described above in detail. However, such an embodiment is merely an example of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any way. Those skilled in the art can easily understand that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the service providing system of the present invention can be applied to not only the above-mentioned sports club but also a dining room (restaurant) that provides a relatively limited menu.

[0032]

As will be understood from the above description, according to the present invention, the following remarkable practical effects can be obtained. First, the user can freely select the number of times of use for each service that he needs. Secondly, the service providing company can grasp the demand supply and demand balance for each service provided. Thirdly, as a result of the above-described second effect, the service providing company finely determines the business policy for each service (for example, changing the price of a service that does not grow, or setting price for a limited time). It is possible to

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a preferred embodiment of a service providing system using a multi-prepaid card according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the format of a prepaid card,
(A) is a general prepaid card format, and (B) is a multi-prepaid card format of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an example of the card vending machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is management information of a service providing company.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Service providing system 20 Multi Prepaid Card 21 Management information 22 Service information 23 Price information 30 card vending machine 31 Service 32 Service unit price 33 times of use 34 Total amount display 35 Card issue button 60 Sales on the same day 70 Cumulative management information

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G07F 5/18 G07F 7/08 M 9/00 G06K 19/00 QU F term (reference) 3E044 AA20 BA01 BA02 CA02 DA03 DB02 DB05 DC01 DE01 DE02 DE07 EA03 EB01 5B035 AA06 BB02 BB11 BC02 5B058 CA31 KA01 KA06 KA11 YA06 YA07

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A multi-prepaid card used in place of cash when receiving a plurality of services provided by a service provider by prepaying a predetermined fee, and a plurality of services provided by the service provider and the services. A multi-prepaid card characterized in that the user arbitrarily selects and sets the amount of money or the number of times of service use for each. 2. The multi-prepaid card according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of service information and money amount information are recorded correspondingly together with the management information. 3. A service providing system which enables a user to use a plurality of services provided by a service providing company by using a multi-prepaid card, wherein the user selects one of a plurality of services provided by the service providing company. A service providing system comprising a card vending machine that issues a multi-prepaid card having the above service and the amount of money or the number of times of service use. 4. The card vending machine according to claim 3, further comprising a service selecting means, an amount selecting means, and a total amount displaying means for selecting the plurality of services provided by the service providing company. Service provision system. 5. The amount selection means of the card vending machine,
The service providing system according to claim 4, wherein each service unit price and the number of times the service is used. 6. The service providing system according to claim 3, wherein the card vending machine is connected to the service providing company via an internet network. 7. The service providing company can change the unit price of each service based on management information using information transferred from the prepaid card vending machine. The service providing system according to 5 or 6.