JP2023054232A - Payment Method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a customer-friendly technology which provides customers with high degree of freedom to choose a payment destination in payment using biometric authentication.

SOLUTION: A biometric information authentication payment system provided in the invention includes a biometric information obtaining device which obtains biometric information on a customer, a reception unit which receives a payment system of a payment destination, a transmission unit which transmits the biometric information and a payment amount to the payment system, an authentication unit which performs authentication processing using the transmitted biometric information, and a payment unit which makes payment for the payment amount when a result of the authentication is successful and when receiving designation of the payment destination.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

COPYRIGHT: (C)2023,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to payment technology using biometric authentication.

When paying by credit card at a store, present your credit card and enter your PIN (Perso
nal Identification Number (personal identification number) code entry is required, which is troublesome. As a technique for avoiding this, there is a technique of performing settlement using biometric authentication such as face authentication. For example, Patent Literature 1 states, "A system of a credit card company sends a house card to a member store, not to the customer, based on a house card issuance request from a customer introduced by the member store. On the other hand, the terminal of the affiliated store recognizes the customer's visit by at least one means of confirming the visit, such as face pass by the clerk, conversation between the customer and the clerk including secret words, customer's mobile terminal ID authentication, customer's biometric authentication, etc. Regular customer visit notification means for receiving confirmation and notifying the store, and on the condition that the customer's visit is notified by this regular customer visit notification means, the customer's payment is requested using the house card stored on the store side. (Summary excerpt).” Technology is disclosed.

JP 2012-215918 A

With the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, users can make smart payments without presenting their house cards. However, the card to be used is limited to one type of house card of the store newly issued on the spot. In other words, it is not possible to pay with a credit card held by the customer. Furthermore, these days, customers have multiple types of credit cards, and use them properly according to the store, the purchased item, and various situations. In addition, on the store side, we have partnered with multiple credit card companies to respond to customer requests. However, Patent Document 1
This situation is not taken into account at all. Therefore, the customer has a low degree of freedom in choosing a payment destination.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a customer-friendly technology that allows a customer a high degree of freedom in selecting a payment destination in payment using biometric authentication.

The present invention is a payment method for a customer to purchase a product, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring facial information of the customer; a registration step of registering the product determined to be owned by the customer; a calculation step of calculating a payment amount by summing the amounts of all the products, a first transmission step of transmitting the biometric information of the customer together with the payment amount to a contracted payment system, which is a payment system of a plurality of card companies; Alternatively, a receiving step of receiving settlement permission transmitted from a plurality of said contracted settlement systems, and a settlement of accepting designation of a settlement destination from among one or more approved settlement systems which are contracted settlement systems that have transmitted said settlement permission. and a second transmission step of transmitting a payment request to the approved payment system that accepts the designation as the payment destination.

Further, the settlement method according to the present invention comprises a second acquisition step of acquiring authentication information different from the biometric information and a third transmission step of transmitting the authentication information when the settlement amount is equal to or greater than a first threshold. , may further include.

Further, the settlement method according to the present invention further acquires second authentication information different from the biometric information and the authentication information when the settlement amount is equal to or greater than a second threshold larger than the first threshold. and a fourth transmitting step of transmitting the second authentication information.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a customer-friendly technology that allows a customer a high degree of freedom in selecting a payment destination in payment using biometric authentication. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is explanatory drawing explaining the system configuration|structure of the biometrics information authentication settlement system of 1st embodiment. (A) of the first embodiment, (B) and (C) of the fifth embodiment, and (D) of the sixth embodiment, each of which is an explanatory diagram explaining an example of an account database. is. (A) is an explanatory diagram for explaining the connection relationship of each configuration of the first embodiment, and (B) is a modified example of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the relationship between a credit card company, a card member, and a member store; 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a cash register system according to a first embodiment; FIG. (A) is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a designation reception screen of the first embodiment, and (B) is an explanatory diagram for explaining a modification thereof. 9 is a flowchart of pre-selected payment processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a post-selection settlement process according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a flowchart of biometric information acquisition processing according to the first embodiment; 4 is a flowchart of authentication processing according to the first embodiment; (A) is an explanatory diagram for explaining an arrangement mode of a biometric information acquisition device of a modified example of the first embodiment, and (B) and (C) are explanatory diagrams for explaining examples of acquired face images. . It is an explanatory view explaining the system configuration of the biometric information authentication payment system of the second embodiment. 10 is a flow chart of pre-selected payment processing in the cash register system of the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a post-selection settlement process in the cash register system of the second embodiment; FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an overview of biometric information authentication settlement processing according to the third embodiment; (A) is an example of a card ID of the third embodiment, (B) is an example of an identification number database of the third embodiment, and (C) is an authentication database of a modified example of the embodiment of the present invention. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams each explaining an example; FIG. 10 is a flow chart of pre-selected payment processing in the cash register system of the third embodiment. 10 is a flow chart of a post-selection settlement process in the cash register system of the third embodiment. FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram for explaining authentication information acquisition processing by a register processing unit according to the fourth embodiment; It is an explanatory view explaining an outline of a biometrics information authentication settlement system of a fifth embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining changes over time of biometric information; It is an explanatory view explaining the system configuration of the biometric information authentication payment system of the sixth embodiment. FIG. 16 is a flowchart of biometric information update processing according to the sixth embodiment; FIG. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the outline of the seventh embodiment; It is a flow chart of settlement processing of pre-selection of the modification of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of post-selection settlement processing according to a modification of the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of preselection settlement processing according to another modification of the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of post-selection settlement processing according to another modification of the embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, in the present specification, components having the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals unless otherwise specified, and repeated descriptions will be omitted.

<<First Embodiment>>
In the first embodiment of the present invention, the customer's biometric information is used to identify the account of a settlement system such as a credit card company. That is, at the time of payment for shopping at a store, the customer's biometric information is transmitted to the payment system, and based on the biometric information, it is determined whether or not the payment can be made, and if possible, the payment is made. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, a case in which a face image is used as a customer's biometric information will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the system configuration of a biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment. As shown in this figure, the biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment includes a cash register system 200 and a payment system 300 . The cash register system 200 and the settlement system 300 are connected via a network 400 such as the Internet, for example.

[Registration system]
The cash register system 200 is placed in a store or the like, and functions as an interface for settlement of goods purchased by the customer 101 in the store. In the present embodiment, the payment amount of the customer 101 and the biometric information of the customer 101 are transmitted to the payment system 300 to request payment to the payment system 300 . When the payment is made, for example, a receipt or the like is issued to notify the customer 101 of the completion of the payment. The cash register system 200 includes, for example, a cash register processing unit 210 and a POS (Point Of
Sale) Terminal 220 , biometric information acquisition device 230 , and communication device 240 .

The POS terminal 220 reads the barcode of the product 221 and transmits it to the cash register processing unit 210 .

The biometric information acquisition device 230 acquires a face image as biometric information of the customer 101 and transmits the facial image to the cash register processing unit 210 . In this embodiment, for example, a camera or the like is used as the biometric information acquisition device 230 .

The cash register processing unit 210 adds the amount of the product 221 of the customer 101 to calculate the total amount and presents it to the customer 101 . Then, the card selected by the customer 101 is used for settlement. In this embodiment, the biometric information and the total amount (settlement amount) are transmitted to the settlement system 300 . Also, upon receipt of a payment completion notice from the payment system 300, the client is notified. In this embodiment,
For example, a receipt or the like is issued.

In order to realize this, the register processing unit 210 of the present embodiment includes a reception unit 211 and a transmission unit 2.
12 , a presentation unit 213 , and an aggregation unit 214 .

For each product code transmitted from the POS terminal 220, the counting unit 214 reads and adds the amount of money managed in association with the product code. The amount of money is added for each customer 101 from the time when the reading start instruction is received until the time when the reading end instruction is received. again,
The product code and the price are stored in advance in association with each other.

The accepting unit 211 accepts designation of the payment destination payment system 300 from the customer 101 . Specifically, it accepts the designation of the card company used for payment by the customer 101 from among the settlement companies with which the store has a contract and with which the customer 101 has a card. In the present embodiment, there are a method of receiving selection and designation before authentication (hereinafter referred to as pre-selection) and a method of receiving selection and designation after authentication (hereinafter referred to as post-selection).

In the case of pre-selection, the reception unit 211 selects payment systems (
Accepts the designation of the payment destination from within the contract payment system) 300. In this case, for example, the reception unit 211 generates a designation reception screen for receiving designation of the contract settlement system 300, presents it to the customer 101, and receives designation from the customer 101. FIG.

In the case of the post-selection, the designation of the settlement destination is accepted from among the settlement systems (approved settlement systems) 300 that have responded that the authentication was successful among the contracted settlement systems 300 . In this case, for example, the reception unit 211 presents only the information specifying the approved payment system 300 on the designation reception screen, and receives the designation of the customer 101 from among them.

The transmission unit 212 transmits the payment amount and biometric information to a predetermined payment system 300 .

In the case of pre-selection, the transmission unit 212 transmits the payment amount and biometric information to the payment system 300 whose specification is received from the customer 101 by the reception unit 211 .

On the other hand, in the case of post-selection, the transmission unit 212 transmits the biometric information and the settlement amount to all the contracted settlement systems 300 . After that, the customer 101 transmits a settlement request to the specified settlement system 300 via the reception unit 211 .

For example, some settlement companies set an upper limit on the cumulative settlement amount for each predetermined aggregation period. In addition, this maximum amount may vary depending on the individual customer 101 . Therefore, even if the authentication of biometric information is successful, the payment may not be permitted if the upper limit of the payment amount is exceeded. Therefore, in this embodiment, the settlement amount is transmitted even before authentication.

If there is no such restriction, at the time of post-selection, the transmitting unit 212 transmits only the biometric information to all the contracted settlement systems 300 before authentication, and if the authentication succeeds, the settlement specified by the customer 101 is transmitted. The system 300 may be configured to transmit a payment request together with the payment amount.

Presentation unit 213 presents the authentication result and the settlement result to customer 101 . When payment is completed, print out a receipt, etc.

The communication device 240 performs short-range communication with, for example, a portable terminal 250 owned by the customer 101 . For example, an NFC (Near Field Communication) device 242
, a short-range wireless communication device 243 and the like.

[Payment system]
The payment system 300 is located in a credit card business (payment company; card company), and performs payment in response to a payment request sent from the cash register system 200 of the contracted store,
Completion or response such as settlement failure is performed. The settlement system 300 of this embodiment includes a customer 1
It comprises an account database (DB) 310 in which accounts for every 01 are registered, a settlement processing unit 320 and an authentication unit 330 .

In the account DB 310, as shown in FIG.
01 biometric information (face image in this embodiment) 312 is registered. The account information 311 includes an account ID 313, a personal identification number 314, customer information 315, settlement amount information 316, and the like. In this embodiment, the account ID 313 is, for example, the card ID (card number) of a credit card.
including. The personal identification number 314 is, for example, authentication information such as a credit card personal identification number.
The customer information 315 includes personal information such as bank account information, age, sex, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the customer 101 . The settlement amount information 316 includes, for example, the settlement amount and the maximum amount at that time for each date and for each store that requested the settlement.

The authentication unit 330 authenticates biometric information transmitted from the cash register system 200 via the payment processing unit 320 . In this embodiment, the biometric information transmitted from the cashier system 200 is collated in order with the biometric information 312 registered in the account DB 310, and if there is matching biometric information, the authentication is successful. At this time, information specifying the record having the matched biometric information 312, for example, the account ID 313 of the record is specified. If they do not match, the authentication is unsuccessful.

The settlement processing unit 320 receives a settlement request from the cash register system 200 and returns the result to the settlement request sender. In order to realize this, the settlement processing unit 320 of this embodiment includes a permitting unit 322 and a settlement unit 323 .

If the authentication unit 330 succeeds in authentication, the permission unit 322 determines whether or not the payment is possible. Specifically, the authentication unit 330 compares the upper limit amount of the specified account ID 313 with the settlement amount, and if the settlement amount is within the upper limit amount, transmits information permitting the settlement to the cash register system 200 of the transmission source. do. In other cases, information indicating that payment is impossible is transmitted.

The settlement unit 323 settles the settlement amount of the customer 101 according to the settlement request. In the case of pre-selection, if the permitting unit 322 permits, settlement is made. In the case of post-selection, payment is made when a payment request is received. In this embodiment, for example, the payment amount is added to the payment amount information 316 of the account ID 313 specified by the authentication unit 330 . In addition to the settlement amount, information specifying the cashier system 200 of the transmission source, the date, etc. are also added.

Note that FIG. 1 illustrates a case where there is one cash register system 200 and one payment system 300, but the number of both is not limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, it may be plural. Also, the cash register system 200 and the payment system 300 may be directly connected without going through a network.

[Biometric information authentication payment system]
FIG. 3A is a diagram for explaining the connection relationship between the cash register system 200 and the settlement system 300 of this embodiment.

A cash register system 200 exists for each store in each region. Here, as an example, a store system A201, a store system B202, a store system C203, and a store system D204 are shown. Of these, store system A 201, store system B 202, store system C 203
are connected to settlement system A 301 and settlement system B 302 via network 400, respectively.
, is connected to the settlement system C303.

At this time, multiple cash register systems 200 may be connected to the same payment system 300 . Also, one cash register system 200 is connected to a plurality of payment systems 300,
A customer may be allowed to select any payment system 300 as a payment method at the time of payment. The latter has the same meaning as, for example, the method of selecting a credit card for payment and using it for payment.

Moreover, like the store system D204, the settlement system D
304, may be installed as a local system directly connected to the payment system E305. In the case of the local system, when registering as a member in the payment system D304 or E305, the price may be pooled in advance by prepayment or the like, and the price may be paid in the local system for each product purchase. In the case of a local system, since the network 400 is not involved, a system capable of reducing risks such as unauthorized use of credit cards can be constructed.

[Mechanism of credit card payment]
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between a credit card business (settlement company), a card member who is a customer 101, and a member store which is a store in a general credit card settlement.

A credit card company 390 includes a plurality of international brands 391, an issuer 392 that issues cards using the international brands, and an acquirer 393 that develops and manages member stores.

International brands 391 include, for example, issuers 392 such as banks, and acquirers 39
3 and make a brand participation contract. Under this agreement, Issuer 392 and Acquirer 3
93 can issue international brand 391 cards.

A customer 101 holds a credit card as a card member by exchanging a membership agreement with an issuer 392 .

Also, the member store 290 can accept credit card payments at the store by making a member store contract with the issuer 392 .

The settlement when the member store 290 concludes a member store contract with the issuer 392 is as follows. A customer 101 uses a credit card to purchase products at a member store 290 . Customer 1
When merchant 290 notifies issuer 392 that 01 has purchased, issuer 39
2 makes payment to a member store 290 on behalf of the customer 101 who is a card member. Then, the customer 101 repays the issuer 392 by a method such as a lump-sum payment or payment in installments. This completes the purchase and payment of the product using the credit card.

The same applies when the merchant 290 enters into a merchant contract with the acquirer 393 . Namely, the member store 290 notifies the acquirer 393 that the customer 101 has made a purchase with a credit card. In response, the acquirer 393 makes payment to the member store 290 on behalf of the customer 101 who is a card member. Then, the customer 101 repays the price by a method such as lump-sum payment or payment in installments. In this case, since the customer 101 has entered into a card membership contract with the issuer 392 , the payment from the customer 101 is made to the issuer 392 . The issuer 392 makes payment to the acquirer 393 . This completes the purchase and payment of the product using the credit card.

In this embodiment, the functions of the payment system 300 are implemented by an international brand 391, an issuer 392, and an acquirer 393, as appropriate. Also, the cash register system 200 is provided in a member store 290 .

[Hardware configuration]
Next, the hardware configuration of the cash register system 200 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the cash register system 200 of this embodiment.

The cash register system 200 includes a CPU 260, a bus 261, a flash memory 262,
SD-RAM 263, GPS 264, first display 265, external memory interface (IF) 266, network IF 268, register key 269, second display 271, camera 272, card reader 274, bar A code reader 275 , NFCIF 276 , short-range wireless communication IF 277 , and wireless LAN IF 278 are provided.

A bus 261 extends from the CPU 260 , and hardware controlled by the CPU 260 and acquiring information is connected to the bus 261 . An external memory 267 is connected to the external memory IF 266 , and the CPU 260 accesses the external memory 267 via the external memory IF 266 .

Each of the functions described above is realized by the CPU 260 expanding the programs stored in the external memory 267 and the flash memory 262 into the SD-RAM 263 and executing them.

A second display 271 is a display with a touch panel for the customer 101 .
The second display 271 is installed facing the customer 101 side, and displays the aggregated results (total amount, settlement amount) at the time of product purchase, and selectable settlement companies (settlement system 300). do. It also accepts selection by the customer 101 from the display.

The card reader 274 reads information attached to credit cards, debit cards, and the like.

The camera 272 is the biometric information acquisition device 230 described above, and photographs the face of the customer 101,
Get a face image.

Note that the camera 272 may be a general camera for photographing the customer's face, that is, a camera that photographs a color image in the visible light band. The camera 272 is, for example, a camera that captures an infrared light band, or a TOF method that captures both the visible light band and the infrared light band while projecting infrared light and acquires the distance to the subject in pixel units. Various methods may be used, such as a camera of

In particular, in the case of an infrared band camera, in order to match the positional relationship between the customer 101 and the camera and the lighting conditions at the time of shooting, the face image for verification registered in the payment system 300 is also captured. It is desirable to perform this near the registration processing unit 210 . By taking a picture at a store, for example, a self-portrait posted on a general SNS is obtained, and the biometric information acquisition device 230
You can prevent spoofed purchases by posting on

Also, when using a TOF camera that acquires the distance to the subject in units of pixels, the uneven shape of the face can be used as biometric authentication information. Therefore, for example, spoofing using a photograph of the customer 101 can be prevented.

Also, when using a camera in the infrared band, information such as the pattern of subcutaneous capillaries on the face, which can only be captured by a store camera, is used. Therefore, information that is more difficult to reproduce can be used for authentication, and security can be further improved.

Furthermore, the biometric information acquired by the camera 272 is not limited to faces. For example, it may be the customer's full body image, limbs, or torso. Also, as the authentication method, a method of judging based on the ratio of sizes of constituent parts of the face may be used. That is, any biological information that can be recognized by photographing with a camera may be used.

As hardware for realizing the biometric information acquisition device 230, in addition to the camera 272, for example, a device for acquiring other biometric information such as the fingerprint sensor 273 may be provided.
In addition, a device for acquiring biometric information such as palm prints and irises may be provided. In the case of , an active authentication operation by the customer may be required, such as presenting a fingerprint or palmprint to a scanner, or looking into a measuring device in the case of iris authentication.

The bar code reader 275 is the POS terminal 220 described above, reads the bar code attached to the product 221, and acquires the data required to identify the price of the product 221. FIG.

The NFC IF 276, the short-range wireless communication IF 277, and the wireless LAN IF 278 are the communication device 240 described above. The NFCIF 276 supports services using a contactless IC chip such as electronic money mounted on a mobile terminal 250 such as a smart phone. The short-range wireless communication IF 277 is an interface for short-range wireless communication, reads the ID of the mobile terminal 250 within a radius of several meters, and performs two-way communication. Communication standards include, for example, Bluetooth
th (registered trademark) and the like are used. The wireless LAN IF 278 performs wireless communication with the portable terminal 250 and the like over a wide range, such as inside the store, similarly to the short-range wireless communication IF 277 .

The flash memory 262 is a non-volatile memory that stores programs for operating the cash register system 200 and constants that should always be held.

The SD-RAM 263 serves as a work area for programs in the operation of the cash register system 200 .

GPS 264 measures the absolute position of register system 200 on the earth. For example, it is used in the case of a mobile store that moves by car or the like.

The first display 265 is a display with a touch panel for salesclerks. This is used when a store clerk visually confirms when totaling the product price, or when selecting a product by displaying a product list on the display in the case of a product without a barcode.

An external memory IF 266 is an I/F with a detachable external memory 267, and is used to bring out the operation log of the cash register system 200 and to input software for updating the program of the cash register system 200. use.

Network IF 268 connects cash register system 200 to network 400 . The cashier system 200 is connected to the payment system 300 via the network IF 268 . That is, the network IF 268 implements the transmission section 212 .

The cash register key 269 has the function of a start switch for the cash register system 200 . Basically, cash register system 200 operates only when a special key is inserted into cash register key 269 . If there is no key, the cash register processing unit 210 may not operate at all, or the system may allow operation of only parts that do not involve money, such as operation confirmation, log reading, and software updates.

Note that the payment system 300 also basically has the same hardware configuration as the cash register system 200 . That is, it includes at least a CPU, a memory, a storage device, and a communication interface. Each function of the payment system 300 is implemented by the CPU loading a program stored in a storage device in advance into the memory and executing the program. Also, account DB
310 is stored in a storage device or the like.

[Designation reception screen]
Here, the designation reception screen 510 displayed on the second display 271 when the reception unit 211 receives selection and designation from the customer 101 will be described. FIG. 6A is an example of a designation acceptance screen 510. FIG.

First, the designation reception screen 510 for the previous selection will be described. The reception unit 211 generates screen data for the designated reception screen 510 using data stored in advance according to the instruction of the cashier, and displays it on the second display 271 . The screen data includes, for example, a payment destination list 512 displaying a list of payment destinations and a payment amount 513 .

The settlement destination list 512 displays information (identification information) 511 that can specify each of the contract settlement systems 300 side by side. The identification information 511 is, for example, each payment system 30
0, such as the logo of a settlement company. The identification information 511 is stored in the flash memory 262 in advance.
Alternatively, it is held in the external memory 267 .

In this embodiment, a default settlement destination may be set in advance. The default settlement destination is the settlement system 300 automatically specified when the customer 101 does not select the settlement system 300 . In this case, the identification information 511 d of the default payment destination may be displayed in a manner identifiable from the identification information 511 of other payment systems 300 . In the example of FIG. 6(B),
A case is shown in which the display size of the default payment destination identification information 511 d is made larger than the display size of the identification information 511 of another payment system 300 .

In the case of post-selection, the contract settlement system 30 that has been successfully authenticated is displayed on the designation reception screen 510.
Only the identification information 511 of 0 is displayed as the settlement party list 512 .

The customer 101 selects a desired payment destination by touching the button containing the identification information 511 displayed on the second display 271 . As a result, the reception unit 211
1 accepts the selection of the settlement destination.

[Flow of payment processing: Preselection]
Next, the flow of payment processing in the biometric information authentication payment system 100 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the flow of payment processing for pre-selection in this embodiment.

When the customer 101's turn comes, the cashier instructs the cashier processing unit 210 to start inputting the customer's purchased products. When a start instruction is received (step S1001),
The cash register processing unit 210 acquires the amount of money of the product code transmitted from the POS terminal 220, and continues to add until an end instruction is received. Upon receiving an end instruction from the cashier, the cashier processing unit 210 tallies the purchase amount (step S1002).

On the other hand, after instructing the start, the register processing unit 210 instructs the biological information acquisition device 230 to acquire the face image of the customer 101 . Upon receiving the instruction, the biometric information acquisition device 230 acquires the face image of the customer 101 (step S1003) and transmits it to the cash register processing unit 210. FIG.

Next, the presentation unit 213 sets the total purchase amount as the payment amount, and displays the designation reception screen 510 on the second display 271 together with the payment destination list 512 (step S1004).
.

The cashier presents the second display 271 to the customer 101 and prompts the customer to select a payment destination. The customer 101 selects a payment destination from identification information 511 displayed as a payment destination list 512 .

When the reception unit 211 receives the selection of the payment destination from the customer 101 (step S1005
), the transmission unit 212 transmits the payment amount, face image, and payment request to the payment system 300 corresponding to the selected identification information 511 (step S1006). In FIG. 7, it is assumed that the settlement destination having the settlement system A301 is selected from among the settlement systems A301, B302, and C303.

In the payment system A301 that has received the payment amount and face image, the authentication unit 330 first compares the sent face image with the matching face image in the account DB 310 for authentication (step S1007). If the authentication is unsuccessful, a response indicating that the authentication is unsuccessful is transmitted to the cashier system 200 as the transmission source (step S1008).

On the other hand, if the authentication is successful, the permitting unit 322 uses the settlement amount to determine whether the settlement is possible (
step S1009). If the settlement is impossible, a response indicating that the settlement is impossible is transmitted to the cashier system 200 of the transmission source.

In the cash register system 200 that has received the authentication failure or payment failure response (step S101
0), returning to step S1004, the presentation unit 213 again displays the designation acceptance screen 510,
Wait for your choice. At this time, the payment system A301 for which payment is not permitted is removed from the displayed payment destination list 512 . It should be noted that, when receiving a reply indicating that the payment is not possible, the presentation unit 213 may display a message indicating that the payment is not possible on the second display 271 .

On the other hand, if the payment is possible, the payment unit 323 makes the payment (step S1011), and transmits a response indicating completion of payment to the transmission source cash register system 200 (step S1012).

In the cash register system 200, the presentation unit 213 displays that the payment has been completed on the second display 271 (step S1013), and ends the merchandise purchase sequence.

In addition, when receiving notification that payment is not possible from all of the contract payment systems 300, the presentation unit 213
notifies the customer 101 to that effect, and terminates this process.

It should be noted that the facial image may be obtained at any timing between the start instruction in step S1001 and the transmission in step S1006.

If a default payment destination is set, the payment destination list 512 is displayed with the default payment destination specified in step S1004. Then, the receiving unit 211 may be configured to determine that the default payment destination has been selected when no selection instruction is received from the customer 101 for a predetermined period of time.

[Payment process flow: Post-selection]
Next, the flow of settlement processing in the case of post-selection will be described with reference to FIG.

The cashier instructs the cashier processing unit 210 to start inputting the products purchased by the customer. Upon receiving a start instruction (step S1101), the cash register processing unit 210
The amount of money for the product code transmitted from the terminal 220 is acquired and added until an end instruction is received. Upon receiving an end instruction from the cashier, the cashier processing unit 210 tallies the purchase amount (step S1102).

On the other hand, after instructing the start, the register processing unit 210 instructs the biological information acquisition device 230 to acquire the face image of the customer 101 . In response to the instruction, the biological information acquisition device 230 acquires the face image of the customer 101 (step S1103) and transmits it to the cash register processing unit 210. FIG.

After totaling, the transmitting unit 212 transmits the acquired face image and the settlement amount to all the contract settlement systems 300 (step S1104).

In each payment system 300 that has received the face image, the authentication unit 330 performs authentication (step S
1105). Then, if the authentication is unsuccessful, it is returned to the cash register system 200 as the transmission source (step S1106). In this case, it is not necessary to reply anything.

If the authentication is successful, the permitting unit 322 determines whether or not the payment can be made (step S1107).
. Then, if it is determined that the transaction is not possible, it is transmitted to the cash register system 200 that is the transmission source. Also in this case, it is not necessary to reply anything.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the payment can be made, the payment system 300 transmits information indicating that the payment can be made to the cash register system 200 that is the transmission source (step S1108).

In addition, when it is determined that the settlement is possible, each settlement system 300 sends the cashier system 2
00 (store system ID), the account ID 313 determined to allow settlement, and the settlement amount are stored in association with each other. The store system ID is, for example, the cashier system 200
Obtained from the header etc. of the data sent from.

In the cash register system 200 that has received the payment permission, the presentation unit 213 displays the payment amount and the payment system 300 that has permitted the payment on the second display 2 as a payment destination list 512.
The designation reception screen 510 is presented to 71 (step S1109).

The cashier presents the second display 271 to the customer 101 and prompts the customer to select a payment destination. The customer 101 selects a payment destination from the payment destination list. In FIG. 8, payment system A3
01 is selected.

When the reception unit 211 receives the selection of the payment destination from the customer 101 (step S1110
), the transmission unit 212 transmits a payment request to the corresponding payment system A301 (step S1111).

In the payment system A301 that received the payment request, the payment unit 323 makes the payment (step S1112), and notifies the cashier system 200 of the transmission source that the payment has been completed (step S1113). Payment is made using the account ID 313 associated with the store system ID of the cash register system 200 that is the transmission source.

In the cash register system 200, the cash register processing unit 210 displays on the second display 271 that the payment has been completed (step S1114), and ends the merchandise purchase sequence.

In step S1107, if only one payment system 300 permits payment, the presentation unit 213 displays only the information specifying the payment system 300, and makes a payment request to the payment system 300 without receiving a selection. may be configured to transmit Alternatively, the settlement system 300 may be configured to receive an instruction as to whether or not to make a settlement.

Also, in step S1107, if the number of payment systems 300 that permit payment is 0 (step S1115), the presentation unit 213 presents that fact to the customer 101, and ends the process.

If a default payment destination is set regardless of whether it is pre-selected or post-selected, the biometric information, payment amount, and payment request are first transmitted to the payment system 300 of the payment destination. It may be configured so as to perform processing such as previous selection.

[Biometric information acquisition process]
Next, details of biometric information (face image) acquisition processing in the biometric information acquisition device 230 will be described.

In the present embodiment, the biometric information acquisition device 230 repeats trials a predetermined maximum number of times until it acquires a face image that can be authenticated. That is, the biometric information acquisition device 230 repeats photographing while determining whether or not the acquired face image can be authenticated. Whether or not authentication is possible is determined by, for example, whether or not features for authentication can be extracted. For example, if the acquired biometric information (face image) has insufficient light, is shaded, is partly hidden, or the like, the feature cannot be extracted, and it is determined that authentication is not possible.

If it is determined that authentication is not possible, the biometric information acquisition device 230 changes the imaging conditions and retries. Here, for example, the shooting angle is changed, the amount of light is changed, and the like. If a facial image that can be authenticated cannot be acquired even after repeating the trial a predetermined maximum number of times, acquisition of the facial image is abandoned as an acquisition failure. In this case, the customer 101 is notified and another method such as a credit card ID is used for authentication.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing biometric information acquisition processing in the biometric information acquisition device 230 of this embodiment.

The biometric information acquisition device 230 acquires a face image (step S1301). Then, it is determined using the above method whether the acquired face image can be authenticated (step S1302).
.

Next, if it is determined that authentication is possible, the obtained face image is registered in a predetermined area (step S1303), and the process ends. Here, the register system 200 stores the data in the SD-RAM 263 or the like, for example, in order to transmit it to the settlement system 300 for authentication.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the authentication is not possible, the biometric information acquisition device 230 determines whether or not the photographing has been repeated a predetermined number of times or more (step S1304). If it is less than the predetermined number of times, the biological information acquisition device 230 changes the imaging conditions (step S1305), and proceeds to step S1301.

In step S1304, if the predetermined number of times has been reached, the biometric information acquisition device 230 notifies that effect (step S1306), and terminates the biometric information acquisition process.

Note that if the biometric information acquisition process ends without acquiring a facial image, the cash register system 200 prompts the customer 101 to input information other than the facial image as authentication information, and accepts the input. Then, the transmission unit 212 transmits the received authentication information to the payment system 300 instead of the face image.

It should be noted that the processing of the biological information acquisition device 230 of the cash register system 200 has been described here. However, it is the same when acquiring a face image to be registered in the settlement system 300 .

[Authentication process]
Next, the flow of authentication processing by the authentication unit 330 of the payment system 300 will be described. Figure 10
is a processing flow of authentication processing.

The authentication unit 330 accesses the account DB 310 and reads each record in a predetermined order (step S1401).

The biometric information 312 (matching face image) of the read record is matched with the received face image (step S1402). If they match (step S1403; Yes), it is determined that the authentication was successful, and information indicating successful authentication and the account ID 313 of the record are output (step S1404), and the process ends.

On the other hand, if there is no match in step S1403, it is determined whether all records have been compared (step S1405). When finished, information indicating that authentication has failed is output (step S1406), and the process ends.

If all records have not been compared in step S1405, the process returns to step S1401 to read the next record and continue processing.

Note that the verification by the authentication unit 330 is not limited to comparison of image data between the transmitted face image and the biometric information 312 registered in the account DB 310 . For example, according to a predetermined algorithm, feature information may be extracted from the transmitted face image and compared with the feature information extracted from the biometric information 312 .

Also, the order of reading records from the account DB 310 for verification is, for example, account I
They may be read out in order of D313. A binary search may be performed if the above features allow the accounts to be arranged in order within the account DB 310 . For example, first, account D
The first and last records of B310 are compared with the biometric information 312, then all accounts D
A comparison with the biometric information 312 of the record near the center of B310 is performed. When the order of features of the transmitted face image is closer to the order of the top record than the record near the center, the biometric information 312 of the record near the center and the record near the center is compared with the biometric information 312 . By using binary search, match search can be performed at high speed compared to comparing in order from the beginning.

As described above, the biometric information authentication and payment system 100 of the present embodiment includes the biometric information acquisition device 230 that acquires the biometric information of the customer, the reception unit 211 that accepts designation of the payment system 300 of the payment destination, and the payment system 300. A transmission unit 2 that transmits the biometric information and the payment amount to
12, an authentication unit 330 that performs authentication processing using the transmitted biometric information, and a settlement unit that performs settlement of the settlement amount when the authentication result is authentication success and a settlement destination is specified. 323;

Currently, each customer has multiple credit cards, and it is natural to use them according to each situation, such as the type of store and the type of product purchased. In addition, now that online shopping has become commonplace, presenting a credit card issued by a card issuing company or PIN (Personal Identification N) is also required at stores.
Instead of using cash, it is always required to perform similar procedures, such as entering an umber (personal identification number).

In this embodiment, biometric information of the customer 101 is used as substitute information corresponding to the credit card ID. The credit card company extracts the credit card ID by matching it with the biometric information of the customer 101 sent from the store, and uses it to make the payment.

Also, at the store, the user can select a credit card to be used for payment from among a plurality of credit cards owned by the user.

According to the present embodiment, in settlement, authentication of the customer 101 is performed using biometric information of the customer 101, which is a face image. Therefore, the customer 101 can pay for the product by simply lining up at the register with the product without presenting a credit card or a personal digital assistant. In payment using biometric authentication, payment can be made using only biometric information, which is highly convenient for the customer 101 who is the user.

In addition, since the customer 101 is provided with the accepting unit 211 that accepts designation of the settlement system 300 of the settlement destination, even if the customer 101 has a plurality of cards, the customer 101 can select a desired card for settlement. Therefore, even higher convenience can be provided.

If the store has its own or recommended default payment destination, its identification information 511
If you touch , or if you time out without touching anything, you can automatically perform biometric information search and authentication at the default payment destination and execute payment.

In the case of the latter selection, since the credit card companies not used by the customer are not displayed on the menu, the customer can surely select an available settlement destination without making a mistake in the settlement destination.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, each credit company performs matching authentication of the specified credit card with the biometric information registered at the time of contract. All credit cards that support biometric authentication can be used.

<Modification>
In addition, in this embodiment, the biometric information acquisition device 230 captures the face image of the customer 101 as, for example,
Although the case of acquiring from one direction such as the front has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be configured to acquire from a plurality of directions.

FIG. 11A shows an example of the biometric information acquisition device 230 in this case. Here, a case is illustrated in which six cameras 231 as the biometric information acquisition device 230 are provided in front, left, right, rear, obliquely right of the front, and obliquely left of the front of the customer 101 who is the subject.

As shown in FIGS. 11(B) and 11(C), facial images 234 are acquired from different directions and all of them are transmitted to the payment system 300. FIG.

In the payment system 300, the transmitted full face image 234 is checked against the biometric information 312 (matching face image) of each record. This increases authentication accuracy.

In this case, facial images of the customer 101 obtained from a plurality of directions may also be registered in the settlement system 300 as matching facial images.

For example, the customer 101 does not necessarily face the biometric information acquisition device 230 in front of the cash register processing unit 210 of the store. According to this configuration, even in such a case, the probability of being authenticated increases.

<<Second Embodiment>>
Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described. In the first embodiment, only one piece of biometric information is obtained for authentication. However, in this embodiment, a plurality of authentication means are used according to the amount of money. The present embodiment will be described below, focusing on the configuration different from that of the first embodiment.

The configuration of the biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, since a plurality of authentication means are used according to the amount of money, the configuration related to the processing is different.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, the cash register system 200 includes a plurality of authentication information acquisition means. Further, the register processing unit 210 includes an amount determination unit 215 in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment.

Here, as a plurality of authentication information acquisition means, for example, as shown in FIG. ) is further provided with an ID reading device 233 for reading.

Note that the authentication information acquiring means is not limited to these. Note that the card ID may be acquired using the NFC device 242 . In this case, the ID reader 233 may not be provided.

In addition, all biometric information that may be transmitted from the cashier system 200 is registered as the biometric information 312 in the account DB 310 of the payment system 300 . That is, the matching face image 351, the second biometric information 352, and the card ID 353 are registered. In addition, card ID
353 may be part or all of account ID 313 .

In this embodiment, a plurality of authentication means are used as the purchase amount (settlement amount) increases. Specifically, if the payment amount is less than the first threshold amount of A yen, and if the amount of payment is A yen or more and is less than the second threshold amount of B yen (B>A), as authentication using only the face image, If the face image and the second biometric information are equal to or larger than B circles, authentication is further performed using the card ID. Note that A and B are integers of 0 or more.

The processing flow of the cashier system 200 in this case will be described with reference to FIG. This is basically the same as the processing flow of the cashier system 200 in the pre-selected payment processing described in FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the same processes.

When the customer 101's turn comes, the cashier instructs the cashier processing unit 210 to start inputting the customer's purchased products. When a start instruction is received (step S1001),
The cash register processing unit 210 acquires the amount of money of the product code transmitted from the POS terminal 220, and continues to add until an end instruction is received. Upon receiving an end instruction from the cashier, the cashier processing unit 210 tallies the purchase amount (step S1002). Su
m.

After instructing the start, the register processing unit 210 instructs the biometric information acquisition device 230 to acquire the face image of the customer 101 . Upon receiving the instruction, the biometric information acquisition device 230 acquires the face image of the customer 101 (step S1003) and transmits it to the cash register processing unit 210. FIG.

The amount determination unit 215 determines whether or not the settlement amount is less than A yen (step S2101).
If it is less than A yen, the process proceeds directly to step S1004. The reception unit 211 then displays a designation reception screen 510 including a payment destination list 512 and a payment amount 513 and receives a selection from the customer 101 . Since subsequent processing is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

On the other hand, if it is A yen or more (S2101; No), the register processing unit 210 causes the second biometric information acquisition device 232 to acquire second biometric information (step S2102). For example, if the second biometric information acquiring device 232 is a fingerprint scanner, the cash register processing unit 210 displays on the first display 265 a message prompting the customer 101 to acquire fingerprint information. In response to this, the cash register clerk presents the fingerprint scanner to the customer 101 and proceeds to acquire the fingerprint information.

After that, the amount determination unit 215 determines whether or not the amount is less than B yen (step S2103). B.
If less than a circle, the process proceeds to step S1004. However, to the selected payment system 300, the face image and the second biometric information (fingerprint) are transmitted as authentication information together with the payment amount and the payment request.

If the amount is B yen or more, the cash register processing unit 210 further acquires the card ID (step S
2104). Therefore, the register processing unit 210 urges acquisition of the card ID by, for example, blinking the lamp of the ID reader 233 . In response to this, the cashier requests the customer 101 to read the card ID. Then, when the card ID is acquired, step S100
Proceed to 4. However, to the selected payment system 300, the face image, the second biometric information, and the card ID are transmitted as authentication information together with the payment amount and the payment request.

Note that the payment system 300 performs authentication using the transmitted authentication information. i.e.
When a plurality of pieces of authentication information are sent, the authentication is successful only when all of the pieces of authentication information sent are successful.

FIG. 14 shows the flow of processing in the case of post-selection. Also in this case, the flow of processing is basically the same as that described in FIG. However, when the settlement amount is determined after totaling the purchase amount, authentication information to be acquired is added according to the settlement amount.

That is, in the case of less than A circle, only the face image is acquired as the authentication information. In addition, more than A yen B
If it is less than a circle, the face image and the second biometric information are acquired as authentication information. Then, in the case of B yen or more, the face image, the second biometric information, and the card ID are acquired as the authentication information. and,
All the acquired authentication information is transmitted to each contract settlement system 300 to request settlement permission.

Since the processing after receiving the settlement permission is the same as in FIG. 8, the description is omitted here.

As described above, in this embodiment, the number of pieces of authentication information to be used is changed according to the settlement amount. That is, the types of authentication information to be used are increased as the amount of payment increases.

Thus, according to this embodiment, a system that is highly convenient for customers can be provided, as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the number of pieces of authentication information is increased as the purchase price increases. Therefore, the higher the purchase amount, the higher security can be ensured.

In the above embodiment, the authentication information is added in the order of the face image, the second biometric information, and the card ID as the purchase price increases, but the order of addition of the authentication information is not limited to this.
Further, the biometric information is not limited to the face image and fingerprints exemplified. Other biometric information may be used.

Further, the method is not limited to the method of adding authentication information in accordance with the settlement amount, as in the processing flow described above. For example, authentication information to be acquired is set for each range of payment amounts, and it is configured to determine to which range the payment amount belongs, and to acquire the set number of authentication information according to the determination result. may

<<Third Embodiment>>
Next, a third embodiment of the invention will be described. In this embodiment, the biometric information (face image) and card ID are acquired regardless of the amount of payment, instead of changing the number of authentication information to be obtained according to the amount of payment. However, for the card ID, information of all card holders near the register processing unit 210 is acquired. The card ID is not used for authentication, but is used to narrow down the number of payment systems 300 to which facial images and the like are to be sent.

In this embodiment, the card ID is registered in the credit card carried in the pocket or bag of the customer 101 or in the portable terminal 250 having ID information.

The biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment basically has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. However, as described above, the information transmitted to the payment system 300 is different. Accordingly, the configuration and processing of the cash register system 200 are different. The present embodiment will be described below, focusing on the configuration different from that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the processing of the cash register system 200 of this embodiment.

A situation in which the mobile terminal 250 owned by the customer 101 is used is shown in a store layout drawing.
Here, of the components of the cash register system 200, the cash register processing unit 210 and the short-range wireless communication device 243 are shown.

The short-range wireless communication device 243 acquires credit card information held by the mobile terminal 250 within the range of the communication distance 244 by short-range wireless communication. Note that the communication distance 244 is
It is determined by the specifications of the short-range wireless communication device 243 . Alternatively, it may be set in advance. For example, it is about several meters. The mobile terminal 250 within the range of the communication distance 244 is hereinafter referred to as a nearby terminal 250n.

In this embodiment, the short-range wireless communication device 243 is connected to a nearby terminal 250n.
Necessary information in the card ID of the credit card of the owner of the near terminal 250n registered in advance is obtained. The card ID is registered in advance in the mobile terminal 250, for example, in a memory, a storage device, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 16A, the card ID 520 includes a card company, that is, a company identification number 521, which is company identification information that identifies the settlement system 300, and a customer identification number 522, which is information unique to the customer 101. Prepare. In this embodiment, only the company identification number 521 is acquired.

For example, a 16-digit decimal number is registered as the card ID 520 . Of these, the first six digits are the company identification number 521 indicating the issuing company of the credit card. In standard definition terms, the first six digits are referred to as a Bank Identification Number (Bank Identification Number).
Umber, abbreviation: BIN) or issuer identification number (Issuer Identifi
cation number, abbreviation: IIN). The first 6 digits of the card issuer (
issuer).

A customer identification number 522 is a number from the first six digits to the last digit. Specifically, these numbers represent the account number corresponding to the account ID 313 for each customer. The last digit is a value corresponding to the checksum of the entire card ID 520 number, and is a value for determining whether the entire card ID 520 number is valid.

The short-range wireless communication device 243 of this embodiment uses the card ID 5 held by the near terminal 250n.
Read the first 6 digits out of 20.

In this embodiment, the register processing unit 210 includes a company identification number 521 shown in FIG.
An identification number database (DB) 217 that associates each contract settlement system 300 is held. Then, the reception unit 211 and the transmission unit 212 refer to the identification number DB 217 as necessary to identify the payment system 300 identified by the read company identification number 521 . The identification number DB 217 stores, for example, a payment system ID 524 that identifies the payment system 300 in association with the company identification number 521, as shown in FIG. 16B.

For example, in the case of pre-selection, the reception unit 211 displays only the payment system 300 identified by the company identification number 521 read by the near field wireless communication device 243 as the payment destination list. In the case of post-selection, the transmission unit 212 transmits the facial image only to the payment system 300 specified by the company identification number 521 read by the short-range wireless communication device 243 .

The processing flow of the cash register system 200 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. FIG. FIG. 17 shows the flow of processing for pre-selection. The processing in the case of pre-selection is basically as shown in FIG.
The flow of processing in the cash register system 200 is the same as that of the processing described in .

When the customer 101's turn comes, the cashier instructs the cashier processing unit 210 to start inputting the customer's purchased products. When a start instruction is received (step S1001),
The cash register processing unit 210 acquires the amount of money of the product code transmitted from the POS terminal 220, and continues to add until an end instruction is received. Upon receiving an end instruction from the cashier, the cashier processing unit 210 tallies the purchase amount (step S1002).

After instructing the start, the register processing unit 210 instructs the biometric information acquisition device 230 to acquire the face image of the customer 101 . Upon receiving the instruction, the biometric information acquisition device 230 acquires the face image of the customer 101 (step S1003) and transmits it to the cash register processing unit 210. FIG.

Further, after instructing the start, the cash register processing unit 210 instructs the short-range wireless communication device 243 to
50n company identification number 521. In response to the instruction, the short-range wireless communication device 243
performs short-range wireless communication with the nearby terminal 250n, acquires the company identification number 521 (step S3101), and transmits it to the register processing unit 210. FIG.

The reception unit 211 refers to the identification number DB 217 and identifies the payment system 300 associated with each acquired company identification number 521 (step S3102). Then, a settlement destination list 512 is created using the specified settlement system 300, and the created settlement destination list 5
12 and the payment amount is displayed, and a selection from the customer is accepted (step S3103). Then, the biometric information, the payment amount, and the payment request are transmitted to the selected payment system 300 . Since subsequent processing is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted here.

FIG. 18 shows the flow of processing for post-selection. Also in this case, the flow of processing is basically the same as that described in FIG.

When the customer 101's turn comes, the cashier instructs the cashier processing unit 210 to start inputting the customer's purchased products. When the cash register processing unit 210 receives an instruction to start (step S1101), it acquires the price of the product code transmitted from the POS terminal 220, and continues adding until an instruction to end is received. Upon receiving an end instruction from the cashier, the cashier processing unit 210 tallies the purchase amount (step S1102) and obtains the settlement amount.

Further, when the register processing unit 210 receives the instruction to start, the biometric information acquisition device 230
An instruction is given to acquire the face image of the customer 101 . In response to the instruction, the biological information acquisition device 230 acquires the face image of the customer 101 (step S1103) and transmits it to the cash register processing unit 210. FIG.

Further, after instructing the start, the register processing unit 210 instructs the short-range wireless communication device 243 to acquire the company identification number 521 of the near terminal 250n. In response to the instruction, the short-range wireless communication device 24
3 performs short-range wireless communication with the nearby terminal 250n, acquires the company identification number 521 (step S3201), and transmits it to the cash register processing unit 210. FIG.

When the totalization is completed and the face image and the company identification number 521 of the nearby terminal 250n are acquired, the transmission unit 2
12 refers to the identification number DB 217 and identifies the payment system 300 associated with each acquired company identification number 521 (step S3202). Then, the payment amount and face image are transmitted to all the specified payment systems 300 (step S3203). Since subsequent processing is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted here.

As described above, in the card ID 520, the credit card information of the customer 101 is specified in detail in order from the upper digits. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to read only the company identification number 521, the contact communication specification of the short-range wireless communication device 243 is set so that only the upper six digits of the card ID 520 can be read. Furthermore, encryption with an encryption key may be performed at the time of reading. This ensures security and prevents illegal reading of card information through wireless communication.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the short-range wireless communication device 243 uses the cash register processing unit 2
The card ID information of the customer 101 in the vicinity of 10 is automatically read. Then, using it, the destination of the biometric information or the like is narrowed down.

Since it is difficult for the short-range wireless communication device 243 to determine the distance to the nearby terminal 250n, the company identification number 521 of all the nearby terminals 250n including the portable terminal 250 of the customer 101 of the cash register processing unit 210 is read. . Thus, for example, if the owner of five nearby terminals 250n
For example, if you have credit cards from 3 payment companies, 3 companies x 5 units = 15
company's company identification number 521 is read. In this way, the number of payment systems 300 that search for facial images can be specified as 15 out of a large number. For this reason, the transmission destinations of the biometric information are narrowed down, thereby making it possible to improve the efficiency of face image retrieval. In practice, there may be overlapping payment companies, so it can be further limited.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a settlement system that is highly convenient for users, as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, since the transmission destination of the biometric information is limited, the processing speed is increased and the certainty is enhanced.

<Modification>
In the above embodiment, only the company identification number 521 of the card ID 520 is read by the short-range wireless communication device 243, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be configured to read more digits. For example, part or all of the customer identification number 522 may be read. In this case, the customer identification number 522 is used not to narrow down the number of destination payment systems 300 but to narrow down the search range in the payment system 300 .

The read customer identification number 522 is sent to the payment system 300 together with the payment amount and face image. The transmitted customer identification number 522 constitutes part of the account ID 313 of each record in the account DB 310 of the payment system 300 .

In the settlement system 300, when the authentication unit 330 performs authentication by referring to the account DB 310, search records are narrowed down by part or all of the transmitted customer identification number 522, and authentication is performed within the narrowed down records. . As a result, the processing in the payment system 300 can also be speeded up, and reliability is enhanced.

However, the customer identification number 522 is information forming part of the account ID 313 as described above. Therefore, communication of the information requires high security. In this case, for example, the register processing unit 210 may be configured so that the short-range wireless communication device 243 cannot read the card ID 520 unless the register key 269 is inserted. Also, the content of wireless communication may be encrypted. The encryption key may be configured such that the cashier key 269 holds it as electronic information. This encryption key is set between the cash register system 200 and each settlement system 300, and is provided so that a third party cannot illegally obtain it such as duplication as well as purchase. It is encrypted information to be used.

The short-range wireless communication device 243 is configured so that only a part of the card ID 520 can be read, and all digits of the card ID cannot be read, thereby preventing security incidents such as leakage of the credit card ID. can be done.

Further, the number of digits of the card ID 520 read by the short-range wireless communication device 243 may be selectable. For example, depending on the number of digits to be read out, the following three readout modes are set so that one of them can be selected.
A) Company identification number 521 only B) Company identification number 521 and part of customer identification number 522 (for example, 4 digits out of 9 total digits)
C) All card IDs 520

In this case, the three kinds of read modes are configured so that the security level can be changed and the data can be read. It is assumed that the read mode is set in advance in the register system 200 .

In case A), the read information is used when selecting the payment system 300 as described above. On the other hand, in the case of B) or C), it is used to limit the search range when searching on the payment system 300 side.

Therefore, although the security level increases in the order of A), B), and C), there are merits such as certainty of authentication and an increase in search speed. As a result, it is possible to ensure safety against information leakage when reading the card ID 520 from the mobile terminal 250 of a customer other than the customer 101 lined up at the register. That is, the security level in reading this card ID 520 is
By making changes on the cash register side according to the state of transactions with customers, it is possible to realize various operation sequences that improve convenience while ensuring security.

It should be noted that the mobile terminal 250 may be configured to limit the reading range regardless of an external request such as the cash register system 200 . For example, in the above mode C), even if a request to read all digits of the card ID 520 is received, only the company identification number 521, or only part of the company identification number 521 and the customer identification number 522 are read from the portable terminal 250. may be configured not to allow This can be realized by setting the portable terminal 250 side to a specification that returns only a predetermined number of digits in response to a request for a credit card ID through short-range wireless communication.

Also, the target does not have to be the mobile terminal 250 . For example, if a credit card is a card that enables communication by receiving wireless power supply within a relatively short range,
The credit card may be provided with a similar function to read the card ID 520 of a predetermined number of digits.

<Modification>
In the above embodiment, the short-range wireless communication device 243 reads information of all nearby terminals 250 n within the communication distance 244 . However, the communication distance 244 may be set small, and only the information of the portable terminal 250 of the customer 101 who makes the payment of the cash register processing unit 210 may be read.

By configuring in this way, in the case of pre-selection, it is possible to further narrow down the payment destination list to be presented. Further, in the case of post-selection, the number of payment systems 300 to be transmitted can be reduced.

Furthermore, when a plurality of card IDs 520 are saved in the portable terminal 250 of the customer 101, additional information 523 may be saved as shown in FIG. 16(A). Supplementary information 5
23 includes, for example, information specifying a card to be preferentially used by the customer 101 in advance, and information setting a card to be preferentially used for each store. For example, the incidental information 523 is user setting information set by the user. The short-range wireless communication device 243 uses card ID5
20, the accompanying information 523 is also read.

When priority is registered, selection processing in pre-selection, post-selection, etc. is unnecessary. That is, the cash register processing unit 210 reads a plurality of card IDs read by the short-range wireless communication device 243.
520 receives company identification number 521 and priority. And a plurality of company identification numbers 52
1, to the payment system 300 corresponding to the company identification number 521 with the highest priority in the incidental information 523, the payment amount and face image are transmitted together with the payment request.

At this time, if information indicating that payment is not possible is received from the payment system 300, the payment amount and the like are transmitted to the payment system 300 having the next highest priority. This processing is repeated in order from the company identification number 521 having the highest priority until a notice of settlement or completion of settlement is received.

A plurality of priority orders registered as the incidental information 523 may be set according to the settlement amount. Furthermore, the incidental information does not have to be the priority itself. For example, it may be an algorithm that selects the optimum payment destination using information such as the point award rate set for each card, the frequency of use of each card, and the remaining usage limit.

In this case, the cash register processing unit 210, according to the algorithm read by the short-range wireless communication device 243 as the supplementary information 523, selects the settlement system 300 corresponding to the read multiple company identification numbers 521. , the optimum settlement system 300 is calculated.

Also, the incidental information 523 may be a pre-set settlement destination (default settlement destination) for each store or store group unit.

As a result, the biometric authentication search can be performed only within the settlement system 300 specified by the card ID 520 transmitted from the mobile terminal 250, and more efficient biometric authentication can be performed.

Note that the storage destination of the incidental information 523 does not necessarily have to be the mobile terminal 250 or the credit card. For example, the cash register processing unit 210 of each store may manage and store each customer 101 .

Also, the incidental information 523 may be stored in a database on the cloud. By storing the information on the cloud, the customer 101 can make a payment referring to this priority information regardless of which store the customer 101 shopped at. This database on the cloud is, for example, a service system independent of the cash register system 200 and the settlement system 300, and may be managed by a dedicated service system that manages and provides priority for each customer.

<<Fourth Embodiment>>
Next, a fourth embodiment of the invention will be described. In this embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the number of authentication information items is increased as the purchase price increases. However, in this embodiment, the cashier system 200 is provided with two communication devices with different communication distances, and automatically reads,
The authentication information is acquired in different reading modes such as reading by active operation of the customer 101 .

The biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment is basically the same as the configuration of the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the NFC device 242 is the communication device 240 with a non-contact communication distance but a distance that allows the terminal to touch (for example, 0.01 m or less). Also, the short-range wireless communication device 243 is assumed to be the communication device 240 with a communication distance of several meters to several tens of meters. However, in this embodiment, the communication distance of the short-range wireless communication device 243 is
It is set so that only the information of the mobile terminal 250 of the customer 101 who makes the payment, who is very close to the customer, can be acquired.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining authentication information acquisition processing by the register processing unit 210 of this embodiment. In this figure, 101 is a customer, and 102 is a cashier.

When the purchase amount is less than C yen, the cash register processing unit 210 of the present embodiment acquires only the facial image and transmits it to the predetermined payment system 300 . If the purchase amount is C yen or more and less than D yen (C<D), the company identification number 521 acquired by the short-range wireless communication device 243 is received and transmitted to the corresponding settlement system 300 . Furthermore, if the purchase amount is D yen or more, the cashier system 2
00 prompts the customer 101 to touch the NFC device 242 . Then, the cash register processing unit 210 acquires the customer identification number 522 via the NFC device 242 and transmits it to the settlement system 300 .

In this embodiment, by configuring as described above, the settlement amount is slightly high, for example, C
If the value is equal to or greater than Yen and less than D Yen, the short-range wireless communication device 243 reads out the company identification number 521 from the portable terminal 250 carried by the customer 101 . At this time, the customer 101 does not need to take out the portable terminal 250 from his pocket or bag. If the settlement amount is higher, for example, D yen or more, the customer 101 takes out the portable terminal 250 and touches the NFC device 242 . The NFC device 242 thereby reads the customer identification number 522 . Note that C and D are integers of 0 or more.

In the above example, the short-range wireless communication device 243 uses the company identification number 521 as the NFC device 2
42 is configured to read the customer identification number 522, but is not so limited. Depending on each communication distance, it may be determined whether the first four digits of the card ID 520 are read or all the digits are read. If the communication device 240 can measure the distance to the mobile terminal 250, the same communication device 240 may switch between reading a part of the card ID 520 or all the digits according to the distance. That is, if the distance is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, a predetermined number of digits (company identification number 521) may be read, and if the distance is less than the predetermined distance, all digits may be read.

Further, in communication with the communication device 240, the mobile terminal 250 or credit card may be configured to determine the number of digits that can be transmitted in the card ID 520 according to the type of communication and communication distance.

Specifically, according to the communication method and communication distance, the card ID recorded in the mobile terminal 250
520 information read digit number. For example, in the contact method or short-range wireless communication, all digits of the card ID 520 can be read.

By configuring in this way, security can be ensured, and illegal reading of the card number by wireless communication can be prevented. Also, since the range of biometric authentication can be limited, the number of biometric authentication processes can be reduced. Therefore, more efficient face authentication can be performed while ensuring required security.

It should be noted that the number of read digits of the card ID 520 may be dynamically changed in consideration of the balance between security and search efficiency according to the situation at the store. Also, the register processing unit 2
10 may be configured to change the number of read digits of the card ID 520 according to the settlement amount. For example, when purchasing an expensive product, the customer 101 is encouraged to actively bring the mobile terminal 250 into contact with the NFC device 242, thereby causing the NFC device 242 to read all digits of the card ID. This makes it possible to perform more reliable personal authentication. Therefore, it is possible to prevent security accidents, especially when purchasing high-priced products.

<<Fifth Embodiment>>
Next, a fifth embodiment of the invention will be described. In this embodiment, when the biometric information and the payment amount are transmitted from the cash register system 200 to the payment system 300, the location information of the store is also transmitted. On the payment system 300 side, at the time of authentication processing, the location information of the store is used to streamline the search. That is, in this embodiment, the customer 101 determines the search order by utilizing the fact that the probability that the customer 101 lives near the store is high.

That is, in this embodiment, the payment system 3
00 to optimize the customer authentication process. Thereby, the face authentication search is efficiently performed.

Prior to detailed description of this embodiment, an outline will be described. FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the processing of this embodiment. Stores 702a-702e and customer homes 701a and 701
d. When there is no particular need to distinguish between them, they are collectively referred to as a store 702 and a home 701 .

In the map shown in FIG. 20, for example, if the store 702 is a convenience store, the customer 101 is in the vicinity of the store 702, for example, within a predetermined distance r from the store 702.
more likely to live in

In this embodiment, using this, the store 702 transmits the location information of the store 702 to the payment system 300 along with the face image and the payment amount. In the settlement system 300, an account DB
Using the address information of the customer 101 registered in 310 , matching processing is performed in order from the record of the customer 101 closest to the location information of the store 702 . As a result, it is possible to determine search results at an early stage, and it is possible to improve the search efficiency.

The biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment basically has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. However, as described above, the cashier system 200 transmits the location information of the store 702 . Also, on the payment system 300 side, the search range is limited using the position information. Therefore, the configurations for realizing these are different. The present embodiment will be described below, focusing on the configuration different from that of the first embodiment.

The cash register system 200 of this embodiment holds its own position information. The position information is held, for example, in the external memory 267, flash memory 262, or the like. In addition, in the case of a mobile store, GPS264 may acquire own positional information.

The transmission unit 212 of the present embodiment also transmits the position information when transmitting the face image and the payment amount to the payment system 300 .

The account DB 310 of the settlement system 300 stores customer information 315 as shown in FIG.
It has address data 317 of the customer 101 .

During the authentication process, the authentication unit 330 of the present embodiment first refers to the location information, and performs matching in order from the customer 101 whose address data 317 is registered close to the location information. For example, store 7
This is based on the fact that when 02 is a community-based store such as a convenience store, the customer 101 is likely to be a nearby resident.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 20, the authentication unit 330 refers to the location information, picks up the record of the customer 101 whose address data is registered within a range of a predetermined distance r from the store 702, and preferentially It may be configured to match.

In the example of FIG. 20, if the store is 702a, records of customers 101 who live in their homes 701a and who have address data within a radius r centered on the store 702a are picked up. In this case, records of customers 101 living in homes 701d outside the range of radius r are not picked up. Conversely, if the store is 702d, the record of customer 101 who lives in home 701d is picked up, and the record of customer 101 who lives in home 701a is not picked up.

If the authentication unit 330 cannot match among the picked up records, the other customer 101
records are matched in the usual way.

As described above, in this embodiment, the location information of the store is transmitted to the payment system 300 . The settlement system 300 narrows down the search range using the location information.

According to this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, it is possible to provide a highly convenient payment system for the customer 101 . Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a settlement system that enables efficient retrieval, quick response, and high certainty.

For example, in addition to a store installed at a fixed location, even if the store is a mobile store using an automobile, etc., the position information obtained by GPS or the like possessed by the cash register processing unit 210 of the store can be used. , the priority of biometric authentication can be increased for customers whose homes are within a radius of distance r from the store. Thereby, search efficiency can be improved.

<Modification>
In addition, in this embodiment, the customer 101 may be configured to pre-register information (store information) specifying a store that the customer 101 is likely to visit in the account DB 310 of the payment system 300 .

That is, as shown in FIG. 2(C), in the customer information 315 of the account DB 310, further,
Store information that is frequently used is registered as favorite store information 318, for example.

In this case, the cash register system 200 transmits the face image, the payment amount, and the shop information to the payment system 300 at the time of the authentication request.

The payment system 300 extracts a group of records in which the received store information is registered as the favorite store information 318, and preferentially performs matching processing from those records. Only when authentication is not successful in the extracted record, authenticate other records.

Note that, for example, the store may prepare an application that allows the customer 101 to register the store as a favorite store in the desired payment system 300, and support the registration.
stomach.

<<Sixth Embodiment>>
Next, a sixth embodiment of the invention will be described. In this embodiment, the biometric information (matching face image) 312 registered in the account DB 310 is updated.

As shown in FIG. 21, biometric information may change over time. Especially in the case of face images, such changes over time are remarkable. In this embodiment, such biometric information is used for authentication. Therefore, it is desirable to update the data of the biometric information 312 for authentication stored in the account DB 310 as appropriate. For example, basically, the latest biometric information is obtained and updated every predetermined update period.

As shown in FIG. 22, the biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this modified example has basically the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the data of the biometric information 312 is updated as described above. Therefore, the settlement system 300 of this embodiment further includes an account management section 340 . In addition, the biometric information 331 of the account DB 310 of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in (D), biometric information itself (matching face image 312a) and update date/time 312b
and

The account management unit 340 receives the face image for verification, and when the authentication succeeds, the account management unit 340 replaces the registered verification face image 312a of the record with the successfully authenticated face image. Also, the replaced date is registered as the update date and time 312b.

Note that after successful authentication, a new face image may be additionally registered in association with the update date/time 312b instead of being replaced. In this case, in subsequent authentication, authentication is performed using the matching face image 312a associated with the latest update date and time 312b.

Whenever a face image is sent for verification, the latest face image is registered. however,
There may be accounts where face images are not sent for a predetermined period of time. The account management unit 340 of the present embodiment executes biometric information update processing at predetermined time intervals so as to update the matching face image 312a for such an account as well.

The flow of biometric information update processing will be described below. FIG. 23 shows the account management unit 340 of this embodiment.
It is a processing flow of biometric information update processing by. The biometric information update process is executed at predetermined time intervals.

The account management unit 340 scans the account DB 310 and extracts records in which the elapsed time from the biometric information update date/time 312b exceeds a predetermined update period (step S6101).

Account management unit 340 sends a message to each contact in the extracted record to send the latest biometric information (step S6102). Specifically, for example, a message requesting transmission of the latest biometric information together with the acquisition date and time of the biometric information is sent to the e-mail address, or similar content is sent to the registered address. At this time, the account ID 313 and the like are attached and transmitted.

The above processing is repeated at predetermined time intervals.

When the account management unit 340 receives the biometric information and the like from each customer 101 together with the account ID 313, the account management unit 340 first performs authentication by collating it with the currently registered biometric information. When the authentication is successful, the biometric information (matching face image 312a) of the account ID 313 is replaced with the latest biometric information, and the update date/time 312b is replaced with the biometric information acquisition date/time.

As described above, according to the system of this embodiment, in the payment system 300,
The latest matching face image can always be held. This makes it possible to further improve authentication accuracy.

<Modification>
It should be noted that aging of the biometric information may be dealt with not by updating the biometric information but by performing verification in consideration of the change at the time of authentication. In this case, the account management section 340 may not be provided.

First, the principle of this modification will be described. Also in this modified example, a case where a face image is used as biometric information will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 21, biometric information such as a person's face includes elements that change in a certain direction with aging or the passage of time and elements that do not change regardless of age. For example, for face images,
Whitening of hair and eyebrows is an age-related change. On the other hand, the positional relationship of parts such as the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth in the face does not change unless there is an extraordinary event. In the present embodiment, such differences due to factors are taken into account at the time of authentication.

Here, it is assumed that a face image 234t0 captured at time t0 using a mobile information terminal such as a camera-equipped mobile phone is registered in the account DB 310 as biometric information (matching face image) 312. FIG.

The facial image 234t1 is the facial image at time t1 when a predetermined time has passed since time t0. Here is an image of a man with a beard and slightly thin cheeks. In the face image 234t2 at time t2 after more years, the eyebrows have turned white and the cheeks have become thinner. Such a change is a change due to aging and has a certain direction.

In the authentication process in the authentication unit 330, such a difference due to aging is ignored. That is, when the facial image 234t1 or the facial image 234t2 is transmitted, the authentication unit 330
It is determined that the person is the same person instead of a different person, and the authentication is successful.

On the other hand, the face image 235 has the same color of the eyebrows as the face image 234t0. Therefore, when the face image 235 is transmitted, the authentication unit 330 determines that the person is a different person because the elements that do not change with age or the passage of time are different.

It should be noted that, in this modified example as well, each time a new face image is transmitted for authentication, it may be additionally stored in the account DB 310 together with the date and time of registration, as in the above-described embodiment. As a result, account DB3
10 is a database including the directional vectors of the elements that change with the passage of time, and even after the lapse of time, more reliable face image authentication can be performed by adding the directional vectors.

<<Seventh Embodiment>>
Next, a seventh embodiment of the invention will be described. In this embodiment, payment can be made without product registration and tally processing by a cash register. That is, after the customer 101 enters the store, after taking out the products from the shelf and purchasing the products, the counting procedure by the cash register is eliminated, and when the customer 101 leaves the store, face authentication is automatically performed and settlement is executed. do.

Prior to detailed description of the present embodiment, an outline of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the outline of this embodiment. As shown in this figure, a store 710
A face image of the customer 101 is acquired by cameras 711 installed at a plurality of locations inside. Also, the product in the shopping basket 717 is photographed together with the face image. Then, the customer 101 whose face image matches
specifies the product placed in the shopping basket 717 and sums up the price of the product.

Then, in the payment area 715 provided in the area immediately before the exit 713, the short-range wireless communication device 243 indicates the payment amount to the mobile terminal 250 of the customer 101, accepts the selection of the payment company, and performs the payment.

The biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment will be described below. The biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. Furthermore, the biometric information authentication payment system 100 of this embodiment includes a plurality of cameras 711 . Also, the register processing unit 210 has the configuration of the first embodiment. However, instead of the counting unit 214, a counting unit 216 for each customer is provided.

A plurality of cameras 711 are installed at a plurality of locations within the store 710 , such as the entrance 712 and each product shelf 71 .
4 and their neighbors are placed at positions where they can be photographed. Each camera 711 acquires an image at a very short predetermined time interval and transmits the image to the register processing section 210 .

The per-customer tallying unit 216 analyzes the image transmitted from the camera 711 arranged at the entrance 712 and extracts the customer 101 who has newly visited the store. The extraction is performed, for example, by cutting out a region recognized as a face and obtaining a face image of each customer 101 . After that, entrance 712
Using the face image obtained in step 710 as an ID (face image ID), the image placed near each product shelf 714 in the store 710 is analyzed, and the shopping owned by the person whose face image is identified as the same person as the face image ID. The product in the basket 717 is specified and registered as the purchased product in association with the face image ID. This processing is performed for each customer 101 identified by the face image ID.

When the customer 101 reaches the payment area 715, the per-customer tallying unit 216 sums up the amounts of all products registered in association with the face image ID at that time, and sets the sum as the payment amount. Also, the biometric information acquisition device 230 acquires a face image. Whether or not the customer 101 has reached the payment area 715 is determined by image analysis from the camera 711 arranged to photograph the payment area 715 .

Subsequent processing is basically the same as in the first embodiment. However, the display destination of the payment amount and the payment destination list is assumed to be the portable terminal 250 of the customer. That is, the register processing unit 210 causes the short-range wireless communication device 243 to display the payment amount and the payment destination list on the portable terminal 250 in the payment area 715 . Then, through the short-range wireless communication device 243, the reception unit 211 receives the selection of the payment destination.

For example, in the case of pre-selection, the transmission unit 212 transmits the face image acquired by the biometric information acquisition device 230 and the payment amount to the selected payment system 300 . In the case of post-selection, the payment amount and face image are transmitted to all payment systems 300 . In addition, in this embodiment, the biometric information acquisition device 230 may not be provided. Instead, the face image used as the face image ID may be configured to be transmitted to the payment system 300 .

For example, the exit may be provided with a gate or the like so that only the customer 101 concerned can pass through when the payment is completed.

In this embodiment, the camera 711 captures and analyzes the behavior of the customer 101 . Therefore, it is effective to use the camera 711 for biometric authentication using information such as a face image and physique. In the above embodiment, the case of using face image authentication as a biometric authentication method has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. Any of any biometric authentication methods may be used.

The flow of shopping by a customer according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. (a
), the customer 101 carries the portable terminal 250 and enters the store from the entrance 712 of the store. Customer 101 only passes through entrance 712, at which time camera 711 sees customer 101
biometric authentication information such as the face image of the customer 101 and the appearance of the customer 101 are photographed.

Next, in (b) of FIG. 24, the customer 101 picks up the product 716 on the product shelf 714 . When the customer 101 decides to purchase the product 716 after confirming the actual product, the customer 101 puts the product 716 into a shopping basket 717 as shown in FIG. 24(c). The camera 711 captures the action (including the action of stopping the purchase and returning the product to the shelf). Aggregation unit 2 for each customer
16 records information that the customer 101 purchases the product 716 by analyzing the photographed image.

Then, as shown in (d) in FIG. 24, when the customer 101 finishes shopping, the customer 101
goes to the cash register. In this embodiment, there is no clerk at the register. In addition, the POS terminal 220 or the like does not individually read the product 716 to be purchased.

At the stage of (c) in FIG. 24, the purchase of the product 716 is planned. For this reason,
The customer 101 passes in front of the cash register processing unit 210 installed in the settlement area 715 at the exit, and exits 7.
13, the cashier processing unit 210 calculates the total price of the products 716 in the shopping basket 717 and uses the biometric information acquisition device 230 to photograph the face image of the customer 101 . Subsequent processing is the same as in the first embodiment.

Thus, in this embodiment, the customer 101 passes in front of the cash register processing unit 210 installed in the payment area 715 and simply selects a payment destination to complete the payment. At this time, if the order of priority of payment destinations is registered in the portable terminal 250, selection of payment destinations is not necessary. That is, the customer 101 enters the store from the entrance 712 and puts the product 716 from the product shelf 714 into the shopping basket 717 .
The purchase of the product can be settled by simply entering the store and passing through the exit 713 as it is to open the store.

Note that the camera 711 picks up the product 716 from the product shelf 714 and displays it in the shopping basket 717 .
An image is acquired so that a series of actions of the customer 101 to put the product 716 in the box can be recognized.

In addition, the per-customer tallying unit 216 performs provisional registration of product purchase, and the customer 101
At the timing of passing through, the total amount of the temporarily registered products is calculated and the settlement amount is fixed.

In addition, in the case of post-selection, using the image taken by the camera 711 installed at the entrance 712,
The face image may be authenticated immediately after photographing. That is, at the timing when the customer 101 enters the store, the facial image is acquired, and the facial image is transmitted to all the contract settlement systems 300 and authenticated. In this case, since the payment amount cannot be transmitted, it is not determined whether payment is possible based on the amount.

By configuring in this way, the waiting time for authentication processing in the payment area 715 can be reduced. Therefore, the settlement process for the customer 101 can be completed in a shorter time. Therefore, the customer 101 can smoothly open a store from the exit 713 .

Furthermore, if face recognition is difficult with the camera 711 at the entrance 712, the customer 101
When a person picks up a product 716 while moving in the store, face authentication may be performed using an image captured by a nearby camera 711 . Also, the authentication may be performed each time a face image is acquired by a plurality of cameras 711 . In this case, authentication accuracy can be improved by using a plurality of captured images.

<Modification>
Note that each of the above-described embodiments has been described by taking as an example the case where the customer 101 uses the system for payment when purchasing a product at a store. However, the usage environment of the biometric information authentication payment system 100 is not limited to this. For example, it may be used for authentication when entering an event venue such as a stadium.

At event venues, etc., in order to prevent resale of tickets, when purchasing tickets, a photograph of the face is registered on a dedicated website, and when entering the event venue on the day of the event, the staff takes a photograph of the face and checks it against the photograph registered by the staff. may be performed. However, since this is a manual collation, accuracy varies, and it takes time and effort. This modification solves this problem.

Hereinafter, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the customer 101 has registered a facial image as a matching facial image with the ticket sales company when obtaining the ticket. In addition, the cash register system 200 is assumed to include an opening/closing control device for controlling the opening/closing of the gate of the event site.

FIG. 25 is a flow chart of entrance authentication processing in the case of pre-selection in this modified example. As described above, in this modified example, at the entrance of an event site such as a stadium, it is determined whether or not a person can pass through a gate by biometric authentication.

It is the customer 101's turn, and when the customer 101 comes in front of the cash register processing unit 210, the cash register processing unit 2
10 causes the biometric information acquisition device 230 to acquire the face image of the customer 101 (step S
9001).

The reception unit 211 displays the settlement destination list 512 listing the contract settlement systems 300 on the second display 271 (step S9002). In this modified example, the contract settlement system 300 is the ticket sales company for this event. Here, it is assumed that the ticket sales company has settlement systems A301, B302, and C303.

The person in charge presents the second display 271 to the customer 101 and prompts him to select a ticket sales company. The customer 101 selects the ticket sales company from which he purchased the ticket from the settlement destination list 512 . Here, it is assumed that the sales company having the settlement system A301 is selected.

When the reception unit 211 receives the selection of the ticket sales company from the customer 101 (step S9003), the transmission unit 212 transmits the face image to the corresponding payment system A301 (
step S9004).

In the payment system A301 that has received the facial image, the authentication unit 330 collates the transmitted facial image with the matching facial image to perform authentication (step S9005). Then, the result is transmitted to the transmission source cash register system 200 (step S9006). That is, if authentication fails, a response indicating authentication failure is sent, and if authentication succeeds, a response indicating authentication success is sent.

When the cash register processing unit 210 receives the reply that the authentication is unsuccessful, the second display 2
71 (step S9007), the process returns to step S9002, the settlement destination list is displayed again, selection is received, and the process is repeated. At this time, the payment destination list is
It is created by excluding the settlement system A301 for which settlement is not permitted.

At this time, if the authentication is unsuccessful in all of the contract settlement systems 300, a message to that effect is displayed on the second display 271 (step S9008) to notify the customer 101, and the process ends.

When the cash register processing unit 210 receives a response of authentication success from the payment system A301 (step S9009), it instructs the opening/closing control device to open the gate (step S9010).
, terminate the process.

Next, the flow of settlement processing in the case of post-selection will be described with reference to FIG.

It is the customer 101's turn, and when the customer 101 comes in front of the cash register processing unit 210, the cash register processing unit 2
10 causes the biometric information acquisition device 230 to acquire the facial image of the customer 101 (step S91
01).

The transmission unit 212 transmits the acquired face image to the contract settlement system 300 (A301, B302,
C303) Send to all (step S9102). In addition, the contract settlement system 300
Ticket sales company for this event.

In each payment system 300 that has received the face image, the authentication unit 330 performs authentication (step S
9103). Each payment system 300 transmits the success or failure of authentication to the cash register system 200 (
step S9104).

When the cash register processing unit 210 receives an authentication success reply from at least one payment system 300 (step S9105), it instructs the opening/closing control device to open the gate (step S9106), and ends the process.

On the other hand, if the cash register processing unit 210 does not receive a response of authentication success from any payment system 300 for a predetermined period of time, it determines that the authentication has failed, and displays a message to that effect on the second display 271.
(step S9107) to notify the customer 101 and terminate the process.

According to this modification, at a gate where a ticket is usually presented and checked before passing through, the specific operation of checking the ticket can be automatically performed by biometric authentication, and work at the gate can be performed automatically. is reduced. Therefore, people can pass through the gate more smoothly. This is particularly effective when using a face image that can be captured by a camera as biometric information.

A service based on face recognition is an act that humans have done very naturally from the beginning. For example, when shopping near your home, you can become familiar with the people at the store and receive a discount, or buy things on credit (deferred payment without documents). And by doing it correctly, we can imagine a future where it will be used in every field.

<Modification>
In each of the above embodiments, the payment system 300 manages the customer's biometric information in association with the customer's account, but the present invention is not limited to this form. For example, a service system 800 independent of each cash register system 200 and each payment system 300 is provided, and the service system 800
may be configured to perform biometric authentication of the customer 101 .

The system configuration in this case is shown in FIG. 3(B).

In this case, the service system 800 is responsible for the card ID 520, which is part of the account ID 313.
and biometric information (matching face image) 312 are managed in association with each other. And cash register system 20
When a face image is sent from 0, authentication is performed.

An example of the authentication DB 810 managed by the service system 800 is shown in FIG. 16(C). As shown in this figure, the authentication DB 810 includes payment company information 811 , account ID 812 , and authentication biometric information 813 . The settlement company information 811 is information specifying each settlement system 300 . For example, the company identification number 521 of the card ID is used. Also, the account ID 812 is information specifying the account of the customer 101 . The account ID 313 of the account DB 310, the customer identification number 522, and the like are used. The authentication biometric information 813 is, for example, a matching face image.

In the case of preselection, as shown in FIG. 27, the cash register system 200 transmits the payment amount, face image, payment request, and payment company information to the service system 800 (step S1006).
.

When the service system 800 receives the facial image from the cashier system 200, it determines whether or not the authentication biometric information 813 matching the facial image is registered in the authentication DB 810, thereby performing authentication (step S9201). ). At this time, collation is performed within the record associated with the settlement company information sent together.

If registered, the account ID 81 registered in association with the authentication biometric information 813
2 is identified (step S9203). Then, the specified account ID 812, the settlement amount, the settlement request, and the information (store information) specifying the source cash register system 200, together with information indicating successful authentication, are sent to the settlement system specified by the received settlement company information. 300 (step S9204). In FIG. 27, it is assumed that the payment system A301 is selected.

If not registered, information indicating authentication failure is sent back to the cash register system 200 of the transmission source (step S9202).

When the payment system A301 receives the payment amount, payment request, account ID, and store information, it determines whether payment is possible (step S1009), and if payment is possible, payment is made (step S1011). Then, information indicating completion of payment is transmitted to the service system 800 of the transmission source (step S1012). Further, the service system 800 relays the information to the cash register system 200 that is the transmission source (step S9206). It should be noted that the payment system A301 may be configured to directly transmit information indicating completion of payment to the store specified by the store information.

On the other hand, if it is not possible in step S1009, information indicating that it is not possible is transmitted to the service system 800 in the same manner as described above, and the service system 800 relays the information to the cash register system of the transmission source (step S9205).

On the other hand, the flow in the case of post-selection will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, the cashier system 20
0 transmits the payment amount and face image to the service system 800 (step S1104).
).

When the service system 800 receives the face image from the cashier system 200, it determines whether or not the authentication biometric information 813 matching the face image is registered, and performs authentication (step S9301). If the authentication is unsuccessful, a reply to that effect is sent to the request source cash register system 200 (step S9302).

If the authentication is successful, the service system 800 identifies the settlement company information 811 registered in association with the biometric information for authentication 813 (step S9303). Then, the payment amount and the account ID 812 are transmitted to the payment system 300 of each specified payment company (step S
9304).

The settlement system 300 uses the transmitted settlement amount and the account ID 812 to determine whether or not the settlement can be made (step S1107). Then, the result is transmitted to the service system 8 of the transmission source.
00 (steps S1107 and S1108).

The service system 800 relays the result to the requesting cash register system 200 (steps S9305 and S9306). At this time, the settlement company information 811 is transmitted together with the settlement company for which settlement is possible.

In the cash register system 200, the settlement company information 811 returned from the service system 800
creates a payment destination list 512 of the payment system 300 specified by (step S1109)
, the selection from the customer 101 is accepted (step S1110). Then, the payment company information of the selected payment system 300 and the payment request are transmitted to the service system 800 (step S1111).

When the service system 800 receives the payment company information and the payment request as a reply to the previously transmitted authentication success, the service system 800 relays them to the payment system 300 (step S9307). At this time, the account ID 812 from which the settlement permission was received in step S9306 and the information (store information) specifying the cashier system 200 of the transmission source are also transmitted. FIG. 28 illustrates a case where the settlement system A301 is selected.

When the payment system A301 receives the payment amount, payment request, account ID 812, and store information, it makes a payment (step S1112) and returns it to the service system 800 (step S1113). The service system 800 relays the reply to the cashier system 200 that is the source of the request (step S9308).

Also in the case of post-selection, the transmission and reception of data other than the authentication process may be directly performed between the payment system 300 and the cash register system 200 . In this case, payment system A301
transmits data to the cash register system 200 of the store specified by the store information, and the cash register system 2
00 replies to the transmission.

By configuring in this way, the biometric information such as the face image for verification can be sent to a plurality of payment systems 3
00 does not have to be registered.

Additionally, the service system 800 described above may also maintain priority information for each customer 101 . The priority order information is information that defines the order of priority of the settlement companies used for each customer 101 .

In the post-selection of the information, in step S1108, if permission is given from a plurality of payment systems 300, the service system 800 determines the payment system 300 according to the customer's priority information. This makes it possible to omit the process of returning information to the cashier system 200 once and accepting the selection.

The priority information may be stored in the mobile terminal 250 of the customer 101, read, and transmitted to the service system 800 together with the settlement amount. The service system 800 determines the settlement system 300 according to the transmitted priority information.

The embodiments and modifications of the present invention described above are not limited to these. For example, part of the configuration of one embodiment and variations can be replaced with another embodiment and variations. It is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment and modification to the configuration of one embodiment and modification. These all belong to the scope of the present invention.

Furthermore, numerical values, messages, etc. appearing in sentences and drawings are only examples, and the effects of the present invention are not impaired even if different ones are used.

Also, the functions of the invention may be implemented in hardware, for example by designing them in integrated circuits, in whole or in part. Moreover, the microprocessor unit, CPU, etc. may be implemented by software by interpreting and executing an operation program for realizing each function. Moreover, the implementation range of software is not limited, and hardware and software may be used together.

100: biometric information authentication payment system, 101: customer, 102: cashier,
200: cash register system, 201: store system A, 202: store system B, 203:
store system C, 204: store system D, 210: cash register processing unit, 211: reception unit, 21
2: transmission unit, 213: presentation unit, 214: aggregation unit, 215: amount determination unit, 216: totalization unit for each customer, 217: identification number DB, 220: POS terminal, 221: product, 230: biometric information acquisition device, 231: camera, 232: second biological information acquisition device, 233: ID reader, 2
34: face image, 234t0: face image, 234t1: face image, 234t2: face image, 235
: face image, 240: communication device, 242: NFC device, 243: short-range wireless communication device, 24
4: communication distance, 250: portable terminal, 250n: nearby terminal,
260: CPU, 261: Bus, 262: Flash memory, 263: SD-RAM,
264: GPS, 265: first display, 266: external memory IF, 267: external memory, 268: network IF, 269: cash register key, 271: second display, 2
72: camera, 273: fingerprint sensor, 274: card reader, 275: barcode reader, 277: short-range wireless communication IF, 278: wireless LAN IF, 290: member store,
300: payment system, 301: payment system A, 302: payment system B, 303:
Payment system C, 304: payment system D, 305: payment system E, 310: account DB
, 311: account information, 312: biometric information, 312a: face image for verification, 312b: update date and time, 313: account ID, 314: password, 315: customer information, 316: payment amount information, 3
17: Address data, 318: Favorite store information, 320: Payment processing unit, 322: Permission unit, 32
3: payment unit, 330: authentication unit, 331: biometric information, 340: account management unit, 351: face image for verification, 352: second biometric information, 353: card ID,
390: Credit card operators, 391: International brands, 392: Issuers, 39
3: Acquirer,
400: network,
510: designation reception screen, 511: identification information, 511d: identification information, 512: payment destination list, 513: payment amount, 520: card ID, 521: company identification number, 522: customer identification number, 523: additional information, 524 : payment system ID,
701: Home, 701a: Home, 701d: Home, 702: Store, 702a: Store, 7
02b: store, 702c: store, 702d: store, 702e: store, 710: store, 71
1: camera, 712: entrance, 713: exit, 714: product shelf, 715: payment area, 716
: product, 717: shopping basket,
800: Service system, 810: DB for authentication, 811: Settlement company information, 812: Account ID, 813: Biometric information for authentication

Claims (5)

A payment method for a customer to purchase a product,
an acquisition step of acquiring facial information of the customer;
a registration step of registering the product determined to be held by the customer;
a calculation step of calculating a payment amount by summing the amounts of all the registered products;
a first transmission step of transmitting the customer's biometric information together with the settlement amount to a contract settlement system, which is a settlement system of a plurality of card companies;
a receiving step of receiving payment authorizations sent from one or more of said contracted payment systems;
a payment destination designation step of accepting designation of a payment destination from among one or more approved payment systems that are contracted payment systems that have transmitted the payment authorization;
a second transmission step of transmitting a payment request to the approved payment system that has received the designation as the payment destination;
payment methods, including The payment method according to claim 1,
If the settlement amount is greater than or equal to the first threshold,
a second acquisition step of acquiring authentication information different from the biometric information;
a third transmitting step of transmitting said authentication information;
Payment Method. The payment method according to claim 2,
If the settlement amount is equal to or greater than a second threshold larger than the first threshold,
a third acquiring step of further acquiring second authentication information different from the biometric information and the authentication information;
a fourth transmitting step of transmitting the second authentication information;
Payment Method. The settlement method according to claim 2 or 3,
If the customer's credit card is within a predetermined distance from the cash register processing terminal,
further comprising a reading step of reading the credit card information via short-range wireless communication;
The credit card information includes at least company identification information that identifies the payment system,
In the first transmission step, one or more payment systems identified by the company identification information is the contracted payment system;
Payment Method. The payment method according to claim 4,
the credit card information further includes at least a portion of customer identification information for identifying the customer;
further transmitting at least part of the customer identification information in the first transmitting step;
Payment Method.

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