JP2006221351A - Balance inquiry device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a balance inquiry device or the like, capable of improving the processing efficiency for balance inquiry of electronic money. <P>SOLUTION: A current position management part 23 acquires current position information showing a current position. A shop position storage part 20 stores shop position information in association with electronic money kind information. A balance storage part 19 stores balance information of electronic money by electronic money kinds. A control part 21 determines, in response to an input operation for instructing a balance inquiry of electronic money, whether or not the current position information acquired by the current position management part 23 is matched to any one of shop position information stored in the shop position storage part 20, reads, when it is determined to be matched, electronic money kind information corresponding to the shop position information that is matched to the current position information from the shop position storage part 20, reads the balance information corresponding to the read electronic money kind information from the balance storage part 19, and displays the read balance information on a display part 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a balance inquiry device and the like for making a balance inquiry of electronic money deposited in advance.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic money settlement technique has been realized in which electronic money data having a monetary value is stored in a storage area of a terminal and a transaction is settled using the electronic money stored in the terminal.
For example, there is also an authentication system for preventing unauthorized use when a user performs shopping using electronic money stored in a mobile station (Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 01/088790 Pamphlet

However, in the system as described above, when making a balance inquiry or the like at the terminal, the terminal has to connect to the server via the network and receive authentication regarding the availability of electronic money. It was inefficient.
In addition, the electronic money that can be used may differ depending on the store. In this case, the user needs to select the electronic money according to the store and perform a balance inquiry or the like, which is complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a balance inquiry device and the like that can improve the processing efficiency relating to the balance inquiry of electronic money.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a balance inquiry device and the like that can improve the convenience in inquiry about the balance of electronic money.

In order to achieve the above object, the balance inquiry device of the present invention provides:
Current position acquisition means for acquiring current position information indicating the current position;
Store location storage means for storing store location information indicating the location of the store and electronic money type information indicating the type of electronic money that can be used at the store in association with each store;
Electronic money storage means for storing electronic money balance information for each electronic money type;
In response to an input operation for instructing a balance inquiry of electronic money, it is determined whether the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit is the same as any of the store position information stored in the store position storage unit. A determination means;
If it is determined that the current position information is the same as any of the store position information stored in the store position storage means, the electronic money type information corresponding to the store position information that is the same as the current position information is Means for reading from the store location storage means;
Means for reading balance information corresponding to the read electronic money type information from the electronic money storage means;
Means for displaying the read balance information;
By solving the above-described problems, the above-described problems are solved.

In the balance inquiry device according to the present invention described above, when electronic money is used at a store, the same store location information as the current location information acquired by the current location acquisition means, and the electronic money used. Means for determining whether at least one of electronic money type information is stored in the store location storage means;
If at least one of the same store location information as the current location information and the electronic money type information of the used electronic money is not stored in the store location storage means, the same store location as the current location information Means for associating information with electronic money type information of the used electronic money and registering it in the store location storage means;
May be provided.

  In the balance inquiry device according to the present invention described above, the current position information and the store position information may be information on latitude and longitude.

Furthermore, in the balance inquiry apparatus according to the present invention described above, the determination means includes:
It is determined whether the distance between the position indicated by the current position information and the position indicated by the store position information is within a predetermined range. If the distance is within the predetermined range, the current position information and the store position information are the same. May be considered.

  Further, even if a program for causing a computer to perform processing corresponding to the configuration of the balance inquiry device according to the present invention described above, the balance according to the present invention described above can be executed by causing the computer to read and execute the program. The same operation and effect as the inquiry device can be obtained, and the above-mentioned problems can be solved.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the processing efficiency regarding the balance inquiry of electronic money can be improved.

Hereinafter, a portable terminal (balance inquiry device) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of an electronic money system including a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. This electronic money system includes a mobile terminal 1, a store terminal 3, and an electronic money server 4, and the mobile terminal 1 and the electronic money server 4 are configured to be connectable via a network 10. The network 10 includes, for example, the Internet, a dedicated line, a public line network, a mobile communication network, a wireless communication network, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile terminal 1. The portable terminal 1 includes a wireless unit 11, a voice input / output unit 12, an input unit 13, a display unit 14, a GPS radio wave receiving unit 15, a non-contact wireless interface 16, a current location storage unit 18, a balance storage unit 19, and a store location storage unit. 20, a control unit 21, a browser 22, a current position management unit 23, and an electronic money management unit 24.

The radio unit 11 is connected to an antenna, demodulates and decodes a signal received by the antenna, generates an audio signal, and supplies the audio signal to the audio input / output unit 12. In addition, data other than voice in the received signal is supplied to the browser 22 and the control unit 21. In addition, the radio unit 11 modulates the audio signal supplied from the audio input / output unit 12 and transmits it by an antenna.
The audio input / output unit 12 is connected to a microphone, a speaker, and the like, supplies an audio signal obtained by encoding audio input from the microphone to the radio unit 11, and outputs the audio signal supplied from the radio unit 11 to the speaker. To do.
The input unit 13 includes a plurality of keys, detects key operations, and notifies the control unit 21 of input contents.
The display unit 14 includes an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and the like, and displays various screens in accordance with instructions from the control unit 21 and the like.
The GPS radio wave receiving unit 15 is connected to the antenna, receives a GPS signal from the artificial satellite 6 from the antenna, and generates current position information indicating the current position of the mobile terminal 1 by latitude and longitude.
The contactless wireless interface 16 is an interface for performing contactless wireless communication with the store terminal 3 installed in, for example, a convenience store or other stores.

The current position storage unit 18, the balance storage unit 19, and the store position storage unit 20 include a RAM (Randam Acess Memory) and the like.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, current position information indicating the current position of the mobile terminal 1 is stored in the current position storage unit 18. The current position information indicates the current position by, for example, latitude and longitude.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, balance information indicating the balance of electronic money that can be used by the mobile terminal 1 is stored in the balance storage unit 19 in association with electronic money type information.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the store position storage unit 20 associates store position information indicating a store position with electronic money type information indicating a type of electronic money that can be used in the store. Remembered. Store position information shows the position of a store by latitude and longitude, for example.

  The control unit 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The browser 22, the current position management unit 23, and the electronic money management unit 24 connected to the control unit 21 are stored in the ROM or the like. This is realized by executing the operating program.

  The control unit 21 controls the entire mobile terminal 1 and performs various processes in cooperation with each unit such as the browser 22, the current position management unit 23, and the electronic money management unit 24. Of these various processes, as a process related to electronic money, for example, when detecting an input operation for instructing an electronic money balance inquiry, the control unit 21 stores the current position of the mobile terminal 1 and the store position storage unit 20. When it is determined that the location of any registered store is the same, the type of electronic money that can be used in that store is specified, and the balance inquiry that displays the balance of electronic money corresponding to the specified type Process. Further, for example, when detecting an input operation for instructing electronic money settlement, the control unit 21 performs data communication regarding electronic money transactions with the store terminal 3 or the electronic money server 4 and corresponds to the electronic money type to be used. Electronic money settlement for updating balance information, determining whether the location of the store and the type of electronic money used are registered in the store location information storage unit 20, and registering information if not registered Process.

The browser 22 cooperates with the control unit 21 to perform transmission / reception of data according to a predetermined protocol such as HTTP, display of a web page based on received data, and the like.
The current position management unit 23 stores the current position information acquired by the GPS radio wave reception unit 15 in the current position storage unit 18 in cooperation with the control unit 21.
The electronic money management unit 24 cooperates with the control unit 21 to perform various processes related to electronic money, such as electronic money transactions, balance inquiry, and store information registration.

  The store terminal 3 includes a computer including a control unit, a storage unit, a communication unit, an input unit, a display unit, and the like. The control unit executes an operation program stored in the storage unit, thereby performing infrared communication with the mobile terminal 1. Data is transmitted and received by a non-contact wireless communication method such as, and transaction processing related to electronic money settlement is performed. The content of the transaction process is arbitrary. For example, in response to a transaction request from the mobile terminal 1, the store ID stored in the storage unit is read, and the store ID is input from the input unit as transaction amount data. And the like, and the electronic money data corresponding to the transaction amount is received from the portable terminal 1 and stored in the storage unit.

  The electronic money server 4 includes a computer that includes a control unit, a storage unit, a communication control unit, and the like. The control unit includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and performs processing related to electronic money transactions by reading and executing an operation program or the like stored in advance in the storage unit. In particular, when the control unit receives transaction information including transaction amount and store ID data from the mobile terminal 1, for example, the control unit accumulates and stores received data in the storage unit, and also stores electronic money type data corresponding to the received store ID. Is read from the electronic money type table stored in the storage unit and transmitted to the portable terminal 1. The storage unit is composed of a hard disk device or the like, and stores an operation program executed by the control unit and various data necessary for processing. In addition, for each store where electronic money settlement is possible, the storage unit uses a store ID assigned to identify the store when the store makes an application as an electronic money handling store, and the store uses the store ID. A new entry associated with a possible electronic money type is stored in the electronic money type table. The communication control unit controls data communication with the mobile terminal 1 or the like via the network 10.

Next, the processing content of the balance inquiry processing by the portable terminal 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in S101, when the control unit 21 detects an input operation for instructing a balance inquiry of electronic money, for example, “balance check” is selected from a predetermined menu selection screen, the current position management unit 23 Get your current location information. Specifically, for example, the current position management unit 23 requests the GPS radio wave reception unit 15 for current position information, and in response to this, the GPS radio wave reception unit 15 receives the GPS signal and converts the received GPS signal into the received GPS signal. Based on this, current position information is generated and passed to the current position management unit 23. The current position management unit 23 stores the supplied current position information in the current position storage unit 18 and passes it to the control unit 21.

  In S102, the control unit 21 searches the store information storage unit 20 for the same store location information as the current location information from the store information storage unit 20 using the current location information acquired in the processing of S101 described above as a key. Do. Here, if the distance between the position indicated by the current position information and the position indicated by the shop position information is within a predetermined range (within an allowable error range), the current position information and the shop position information are regarded as the same. The store position information indicating a position within a predetermined range based on the position indicated by the current position information as a key is searched. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when searching for a store located in a square of about 60 meters square centered on the current position, the latitude and longitude indicated by the current position information are represented by north latitude a degree b minute c second d, east longitude Assuming e degree f minute g second h, "latitude is north latitude a degree b minute (c-1) second d to north latitude a degree b minute (c + 1) second d, and longitude is east longitude e degree f minute ( “g-1) second h to east longitude e degree f minute (g + 1) second h” may be set as a search condition (here, for simplicity, both latitude and longitude are 1 second = about 30 meters) ) The search range can be arbitrarily set.

In S103, the control unit 21 determines whether there is store location information that is the same as the current location information, that is, whether the store information corresponding to the search condition is detected by the search processing in S102, and the result of the determination processing is Yes. If so, it is determined that there is store position information identical to the current position information, and the process proceeds to S104. If the result of the determination process is No, the process proceeds to S108.
In S <b> 104, the electronic money type information associated with the store location information is extracted from the store location storage unit 20 by the electronic money management unit 24.
In S105, the electronic money management unit 24 extracts the electronic money type information stored in the balance storage unit 19, that is, the electronic money type information indicating the type of electronic money held by the mobile terminal 1.
In S106, it is determined whether the electronic money type information extracted in the process of S104 described above matches the electronic money type information extracted in the process of S105. If the result of the determination process in S106 is Yes, that is, if the electronic money type information is the same, the process proceeds to S107, and if the result of the determination process is No, the process proceeds to S110.

  In S107, for each matching electronic money type, the corresponding balance information is read from the balance storage unit 19 and displayed. Here, when there are a plurality of matching electronic money types, for example, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the balance for one electronic money type is displayed on the screen and “Do you want to display another? ”Or the like (not shown) is displayed, and when an input operation for displaying the balance corresponding to another electronic money type is performed, the balance corresponding to the other electronic money type is further displayed. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8B, balances may be displayed at once for all matching electronic money types.

By the way, if the result of the determination process in S103 described above is No, that is, if there is no store information corresponding to the search condition, in S108, the control unit 21 displays a warning message such as “electronic money member store absent”. .
In S109, it is determined whether there is an input operation for requesting continuation of the present process. If the result of the determination process is Yes, that is, if there is an operation for requesting continuation of this process, the process returns to S101. On the other hand, when the determination result is No, that is, when there is no operation for requesting continuation of the process, the balance inquiry process ends.
If the result of the determination process in S106 described above is No, the control unit 21 performs a process of displaying a warning message such as “unavailable electronic money” on the screen in S110. Then, when the process of S110 ends, the balance inquiry process ends.

  The above processing is balance inquiry processing executed by the mobile terminal 1.

Next, processing contents of the electronic money settlement process by the mobile terminal 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in S201, when the control unit 21 of the mobile terminal 1 detects an input operation for instructing electronic money payment, for example, “electronic money payment” is selected from a predetermined processing menu screen, it is installed in the store. The transaction processing which transmits / receives the data regarding electronic money transaction between the store terminals 3 currently performed is performed. Specifically, for example, the control unit 21 may transmit a transaction request to the store terminal 3, and may receive data such as a store ID and a transaction amount from the store terminal 3.

In S202, the control unit 21 acquires transaction information including data such as a store ID and a transaction amount, and transmits the transaction information to the electronic money server 4 for notification. Then, the electronic money server 4 that has received the transaction information stores the received data, searches the store location information that stores and saves the electronic money type data corresponding to the received store ID, and transmits it to the mobile terminal 1. To do.
In S <b> 203, the control unit 21 acquires electronic money type information indicating the type of electronic money that can be used at the store transmitted from the electronic money server 4.
In S204, the electronic money management unit 24 specifies balance information corresponding to the acquired electronic money type information from the balance information stored in the balance storage unit 19, and the value of the balance information is calculated from the balance to the transaction amount. Update is performed by subtracting.

In S <b> 205, the control unit 21 acquires current position information from the GPS radio wave receiving unit 15 by the current position management unit 23.
In S <b> 206, the control unit 21 determines whether the current location information acquired by the electronic money management unit 24 is the same as any of the store location information stored in the store location storage unit 20. Here, a process similar to the determination process for determining whether the current position information and the store position information in the balance inquiry process described above are the same may be performed, or another determination method may be used. If the result of the determination process is Yes, the process proceeds to S207. If the result of the determination process is No, the process proceeds to S208.
In S207, the control unit 21 refers to the store location storage unit 20, and is used this time with any of the electronic money type information registered in association with the store location information determined to be the same as the current location information (balance). It is determined whether the electronic money type information of the updated electronic money is the same. If the result of the determination process is Yes, the electronic money process ends.

Here, if the result of the determination processing in S206 described above is No, the control unit 21 stores the store position information in which the data value of the current position information is set, the electronic money type information of the electronic money used this time, Are registered in the store position storage unit 20 in association with each other.
If the result of the determination process in S207 described above is No, the control unit 21 uses the store position information that has been determined to be the same as the current position information as a result of the determination process in S206 described above and this time. The electronic money type information of electronic money is associated and registered in the store location storage unit 20.

  The above processing is the electronic money settlement processing executed by the mobile terminal 1.

As described above in detail, the present invention acquires the current position when the mobile terminal makes an electronic money balance inquiry, and the same as the acquired current position from the store position registered in the mobile terminal. By identifying the thing, that is, the distance between the current position and the shop position within a predetermined range, the balance registered in association with the identified shop position is displayed. Further, when one of the used electronic money type and the store position is unregistered when the electronic money transaction is performed, these are registered in association with each other.
This eliminates the need to make an inquiry about the balance inquiry to the server via the communication network, and the electronic money balance inquiry can be made with only the mobile terminal, thereby shortening the processing time, reducing the packet charge and traffic volume. To improve the efficiency of processing related to electronic money balance inquiry. In addition, since the user can easily check each balance corresponding to the electronic money type that can be used at the store before entering the store or in the store, the convenience of the electronic money balance inquiry can be improved.

The present invention can be variously modified and applied.
For example, the balance corresponding to one electronic money type is displayed on the balance display screen, or each balance corresponding to a plurality of electronic money types is displayed. When an input operation for pressing the “charge” button provided on the screen or the like is detected in the selected state, the control unit 21 transmits a charge request for the electronic money type to the electronic money server 4. Also good. At that time, in response to the charge request, the electronic money server 4 performs user authentication, input of the charge amount, etc., transmits the electronic money data of the requested amount to the portable terminal 1 and is set in advance. A request for transferring an amount corresponding to the charge amount from a user account to a predetermined account may be transmitted to a predetermined computer. Thereby, when the balance confirmed by the user is less than the purchase amount, processing such as charging can be performed smoothly.

  Moreover, the acquisition timing of the current position information is arbitrary, and the current position management unit 23 may sequentially acquire and update, for example, every predetermined time. In the balance inquiry process and the electronic money settlement process, in the step where the current position information is required, the current position information may be read from the current position storage unit 18 and used for the process.

  In addition, the method for determining whether or not the distance between the position indicated by the current position information and the position indicated by the store position information is within a predetermined range is not limited to the above description. For example, in the store position storage unit 20 For each registered store location information, a linear distance between the location indicated by the current location information and the location indicated by the store location information is calculated, and if this distance is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the current location information and the store location It may be determined that the information is the same.

It should be noted that a control program for causing a standard computer to perform the various types of processing shown in FIGS. 6 and 9 is created, and the control program is read by the computer and executed, thereby executing the above-described implementation. It is also possible for such a computer to perform functions corresponding to the configuration in the example. Further, such a control program is stored in a computer-readable recording medium (FD, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.), and the program is read from the storage medium and executed to correspond to the configuration in this embodiment. It is also possible to cause such a computer to perform the function to perform. Further, a program related to a disk device included in a server device on a network such as the Internet may be stored and downloaded to a computer, for example, in response to a request.
Further, when the OS realizes the above functions by sharing the OS or jointly with the OS and the application, only the part other than the OS may be stored in the storage medium, or may be downloaded to the computer.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the electronic money system containing the portable terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the data memorize | stored in a present position memory | storage part. It is a figure for demonstrating the data memorize | stored in a balance memory | storage part. It is a figure for demonstrating the data memorize | stored in a shop position memory | storage part. It is a flowchart of a balance inquiry process. It is a figure for demonstrating the process which searches the same shop location information as present location information. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of balance information. It is a flowchart of an electronic money settlement process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Portable terminal, 3 ... Store terminal, 4 ... Electronic money server, 10 ... Network, 11 ... Wireless part, 12 ... Voice input / output part, 13 ... Input part , 14 ... Display unit, 15 ... GPS radio wave reception unit, 16 ... Non-contact wireless interface, 18 ... Current position storage unit, 19 ... Balance storage unit, 20 ... Store location store , 21 ... control unit, 22 ... browser, 23 ... current position management unit, 24 ... electronic money management unit

Claims (5)

Current position acquisition means for acquiring current position information indicating the current position;
Store location storage means for storing store location information indicating the location of the store and electronic money type information indicating the type of electronic money that can be used at the store in association with each store;
Electronic money storage means for storing electronic money balance information for each electronic money type;
Determining means for determining whether the current position information acquired by the current position acquiring means is the same as any one of the store position information stored in the store position storing means in response to an instruction for balance inquiry of electronic money; ,
When it is determined that the current position information is the same as any of the store position information stored in the store position storage means, the electronic money type information corresponding to the store position information that is the same as the current position information is Means for reading from the store location storage means;
Means for reading balance information corresponding to the read electronic money type information from the electronic money storage means;
Means for displaying the read balance information;
A balance inquiry device comprising: When electronic money is used at a store, at least one of the store location information identical to the current location information acquired by the current location acquisition means and the electronic money type information of the used electronic money is the store Means for determining whether the position is stored in the position storage means;
If at least one of the same store location information as the current location information and the electronic money type information of the used electronic money is not stored in the store location storage means, the same store location as the current location information Means for associating information with electronic money type information of the used electronic money and registering it in the store location storage means;
The balance inquiry device according to claim 1, further comprising: The current position information and the store position information are information related to latitude and longitude.
The balance inquiry device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The determination means includes
It is determined whether the distance between the position indicated by the current position information and the position indicated by the store position information is within a predetermined range. If the distance is within the predetermined range, the current position information and the store position information are the same. Considered
The balance inquiry device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein Computer
Current position acquisition means for acquiring current position information indicating the current position;
Store location storage means for storing store location information indicating the location of the store and electronic money type information indicating the type of electronic money that can be used at the store in association with each store,
Electronic money storage means for storing electronic money balance information for each electronic money type;
A discriminating means for discriminating whether the current position information acquired by the current position acquiring means is the same as any one of the store position information stored in the store position storing means in response to an instruction for balance inquiry of electronic money;
When it is determined that the current position information is the same as any of the store position information stored in the store position storage means, the electronic money type information corresponding to the store position information that is the same as the current position information is Means for reading from the store location storage means;
Means for reading balance information corresponding to the read electronic money type information from the electronic money storage means;
Means for displaying the read balance information;
Program to function as.

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