JP4293782B2 - card - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a card processing device and a card, and more particularly, to a card processing device and a card for reading and writing data to and from a card having a plurality of functions.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, every time a service is used for a certain period, points are generated on the card, each time the price of goods or services reaches a certain amount, points are generated on the card, and the points on the card can be used as the price for goods or services. , Points and other information can be shared, commuter pass and department store cards etc. can be integrated and used as coupons and tickets, or used for shopping points There is something like that (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-175546 A (FIG. 1)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the card handled by the card processing apparatus of Patent Document 1 did not have a function that can be distributed free of charge like a flyer to acquire customers. For example, a predetermined amount is charged in advance and can be used instead of cash for the amount charged on the card when purchasing goods or services, but the upper limit of the amount that can be used at one time is set, There is no card having a function that the charged amount cannot be used up without purchasing goods and services multiple times.
[0005]
This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, and makes it possible to repeatedly use the disposable card used as a gift card or a prepaid card, and to expand a fixed customer.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The card processing device performs rewrite printing on a printing unit of a predetermined card, print processing means for reading and writing data to a magnetic recording unit, and stores data read from the card by the printing processing means. The setting means is set by the setting means from the amount of the balance that is currently charged, which is included in the data stored in the storage means when the card is used, and the setting means for setting the usable amount per time. A calculation means for subtracting the amount of money and calculating a new balance, and an update means for updating the usage history included in the data, the print processing means prints the calculation result by the calculation means on the printing unit of the card, and magnetically In addition to writing to the recording unit, the usage history updated by the updating means is printed on the printing unit of the card and written to the magnetic recording unit. To.
Further, the data includes the number of points for use as a point card, and further includes point addition means for adding the number of points according to the usage amount to the number of points included in the data according to the usage amount by the card. The printing processing means can print the number of points added by the point adding means on the printing portion of the card and write it on the magnetic recording portion. In addition, data includes coupon information for use as coupon tickets, and coupon coupons can be used to reduce the remaining number of coupon information included in the data according to the number of coupons used by the card. The remaining number management means is further provided, and the print processing means can print the available remaining number reduced by the coupon usable remaining number management means on the printing portion of the card and write it on the magnetic recording portion.
The card of the present invention includes a first print area that can be used as a point card, on which point information is printed, a second print area that can be used as a coupon ticket, and on which a coupon card is printed, and a gift card or A third printing area that can be used as a prepaid card, has a third printing area on which charge information is printed, point information, coupon information, and a magnetic recording unit on which charge information is magnetically recorded. The charge information printed in the area includes at least the amount of the balance that is currently charged and information indicating the usage history, and the magnetic recording unit records the upper limit amount that can be used at one time. It is characterized by having a function that the remaining amount charged cannot be used up without purchasing goods or services over a period of time .
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an embodiment of a card processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, the card processing apparatus 100 operates in accordance with a control program stored in the ROM 2 and controls a CPU 1 (central processing unit) that controls each unit, and a ROM (read only memory) 2 that stores a control program and the like. A random access memory (RAM) 3 that stores various data necessary for the operation of the CPU 1, an interface (I / F) 5, a display unit 4 that displays various information, and a power source that is turned off. EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable ready memory) 6 for storing various data to be stored, an interface 7, and an interface 7 for inputting various data and commands And the operation unit 8, the interface 9, is connected to the interface 9, and a card reader-writer 10 for writing and reading of various data to the card 21. The card 21 is a rewritable card composed of a magnetic recording unit and a printing unit. Various information can be magnetically recorded on the magnetic recording unit, and characters and figures are repeatedly printed (rewrite) on the printing unit on the card surface. Printing).
[0008]
FIG. 2 shows a print example of the card 21. The printing unit of the card 21 includes a point card area where data for use as a point card is printed, a coupon ticket area where data for use as a coupon is printed, and data for use as a gift card. It consists of a gift card area to be printed.
[0009]
In the point card area, the membership number (NO.), The date of enrollment, the current point, the accumulated points, and the number of visits are printed. In this example, “111-123456” is printed as the membership number, “August 04, 2002” is printed as the membership date, “30P” is printed as the current point, and “130P” is printed as the accumulated point. "53 times" is printed as the number of visits.
[0010]
In the coupon ticket area, the usage date of the coupon ticket and the remaining usable number are printed as coupon ticket usage history information. In this example, the usage date “02.08.04” and the remaining usable number “10”, the usage date “02.08.05” and the remaining usable number “9”, and the usage date “02.08.06”. ”And the remaining usable number“ 8 ”, the usage date“ 02.08.07 ”and the remaining usable number“ 7 ”, the usage date“ 02.08.08 ”and the remaining usable number“ 6 ”. The date “02.08.08” and the remaining usable number “5”, the date used “02.08.09” and the remaining usable number “4”, the date used “02.08.10” and the remaining usable date The number “3”, the usage date “02.08.11” and the remaining usable number “2”, the usage date “02.08.012” and the remaining usable number “1”, and the usage date “02.08” .13 ”and the remaining usable number“ 0 ”are printed.
[0011]
In the gift card area, the accumulated gift card charge, the current gift card charge (the most recently charged amount), the remaining balance, and the usage history are printed. The usage history consists of the date of use and the balance after use. In this example, “18,000 yen” is printed as the accumulated gift card charge, “5,000 yen” is printed as the gift card charge this time, and “3,000 yen” is printed as the balance. In addition, as the usage history, the usage date “02.08.17” and the balance “3,000 yen”, the usage date “02.08.16” and the balance “5,000 yen”, and the usage date “02.08” .15 ”and the balance“ 8,000 yen ”, the usage date“ 02.08.14 ”and the balance“ 10,000 yen ”, the usage date“ 02.08.13 ”and the balance“ 12,000 yen ” Is printed.
[0012]
In addition, data similar to the data printed on the printing unit of the card 21 is also recorded on the magnetic recording unit of the card 21. Accordingly, in the following description, description regarding the writing process for the magnetic recording unit is omitted as appropriate.
[0013]
The card 21 is initially distributed as a free gift card or free prepaid card instead of a flyer. Here, when a user who received a normal gift certificate (paper card) used the gift certificate at a predetermined store, he registered as a member at that store and received a card 21 as a free gift card or prepaid card. The case will be described.
[0014]
It is assumed that a gift card for 15,000 yen, for example, is charged (stored) in the card 21 when the user receives the card 21. Hereinafter, this amount is referred to as a gift card charge. Then, “15,000 yen” is printed in the column of accumulated gift card charges.
[0015]
The card 21 can be used only in advance, for example, in units of 3,000 yen. Therefore, in this example, in order to use up 15,000 yen, it is necessary to visit the store five times at the shortest. In this way, by issuing a gift card that can only be used at a specific store, the possibility of being visited multiple times increases, which may lead to an increase in the number of fixed customers.
[0016]
As a method for making it possible to use only in units of 3,000 yen, for example, data indicating that it can only be used in units of 3,000 yen is recorded in the magnetic recording unit of the card 21, and the card processing apparatus 100 It is conceivable to perform such control that the data is read from the card 21 and used only in units of 3,000 yen.
[0017]
In addition, the user can thereafter appropriately purchase a gift card charge. In this case, the most recent purchase amount is printed in the “current gift card charge” field of the card 21, and the value printed in the “gift card charge accumulated” field is the value of “current gift card charge”. Updated to value. In addition, the balance remaining usable at the present time is updated, and the balance remaining after the update is printed in the column “Remaining balance”. Further, the date of use and the history of the balance after use are printed a predetermined number of times. In this example, the latest data is always displayed at the top in the history, but it is also possible to replace old data with new data in order. In that case, the print position of the latest data changes.
[0018]
In addition, the number of points can be accumulated each time the card is used as a gift card. It is also possible to accumulate points every time a gift card charge is purchased. Moreover, when the amount of money that can be used at one time is less than the payment amount, it is collected in cash. When the free gift card is used up, it automatically shifts to a point card.
[0019]
Next, a case where the card 21 is used as a coupon ticket will be described. When a user pays a predetermined price and purchases a coupon ticket, the date on which the coupon ticket is purchased and the number of times it can be used are printed on the printing unit of the card 21. Each time the user uses this card 21 as a coupon ticket, the used date is printed in the coupon ticket area of the printing unit as a usage history, and the number of times obtained by subtracting 1 from the previous usable number is newly usable. Printed as a count.
[0020]
In the example of the card 21 shown in FIG. 2, a usage history for a maximum of 12 times can be printed. In addition, when purchasing a coupon, the number of points according to the purchase amount is printed in the “Current Points” field of the point card area, and the “Current Points” value is added to the “Total Points” value. The obtained value can also be printed in the “cumulative point” field.
[0021]
For example, when a user goes to a store to purchase goods or services of a predetermined amount and presents the card 21 for payment, the store clerk shows the card 21 on the card reader / writer 10 of the card processing device 100. Insert the card into the card slot. When the card reader / writer 10 detects that the card 21 is inserted, the card reader / writer 10 reads data recorded in the magnetic recording unit of the card 21. The read data is supplied to the CPU 1 via the interface 9. When the CPU 1 receives the data read from the card 21 by the card reader / writer 10 through the interface 9, the CPU 1 temporarily supplies the data to the RAM 4 for storage.
[0022]
Next, the store clerk operates the operation unit 8 to input the price of goods or services purchased by the user. Data indicating the input price is supplied to the CPU 1 via the interface 7. The CPU 1 supplies data indicating the price supplied via the interface 7 to the RAM 3 for storage.
[0023]
Next, the CPU 1 subtracts the amount of the gift card charge that can be used at one time included in the data read from the card 21 stored in the RAM 3 from the price of the product or service purchased by the user. Display data for displaying the result is supplied to the display unit 4 via the interface 5. The display unit 4 supplied with the display data displays the display data on the screen. The amount displayed on the screen is a price that the user should pay in cash.
[0024]
Thereafter, the CPU 1 updates the value of the “remaining amount” to a value obtained by subtracting the amount of the gift card charge used this time, and adds the current date and the remaining amount of the gift card charge to the usage history data. In addition, the number of points is calculated according to the amount of goods or services purchased by the user, the “current point” value is updated, and the “cumulative point” value is added to the “current point” value. Update. The updated data is overwritten on the magnetic recording part of the card 21 and rewritten on the printing part of the card 21. Thereafter, since the card 21 is discharged from the card reader / writer 10, the store clerk returns the card 21 to the user.
[0025]
In the above embodiment, the case of a free gift card has been described. However, the same applies basically to a free prepaid card distributed in place of a leaflet. However, it is realistic that the amount charged to the prepaid card distributed free of charge is about 3,000 yen, and the upper limit amount that can be used once is about 500 yen.
[0026]
In addition, the configuration and operation of the above embodiment are examples, and it goes without saying that they can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the card processing device of the present invention, rewrite printing is performed on a printing unit of a predetermined card, data is read and written to the magnetic recording unit, and data read from the card is read. Store, set the amount of money that can be used per time, and when using the card, deduct the set amount from the amount of the balance that is currently charged and included in the data stored by the storage means. The balance is calculated, the usage history included in the data is updated, the calculation result is printed on the card printing unit, written to the magnetic recording unit, and the updated usage history is printed on the card printing unit. So that disposable cards that are used as gift cards or prepaid cards can be used repeatedly, expanding the number of fixed customers. Can.
In addition, according to the card of the present invention, the first print area that can be used as a point card, on which point information is printed, and the second print area that can be used as a coupon ticket, on which coupon information is printed. And a third printing area that can be used as a gift card or a prepaid card, on which charge information is printed, point information, coupon information, and a magnetic recording unit on which charge information is magnetically recorded The charge information printed in the third print area includes at least the amount of the remaining charged amount and information indicating the usage history, and the upper limit amount that can be used once is recorded in the magnetic recording unit. Therefore, the disposable card used as a gift card or prepaid card can be used repeatedly, and the number of fixed customers can be increased.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an embodiment of a card processing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the card in FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 CPU
2 ROM
3 RAM
4 Display 5, 7, 9 Interface (I / F)
6 EEPROM
8 Operation unit 10 Card reader / writer 21 Card 100 Card processing device

Claims (1)

A first print area that can be used as a point card and on which point information is printed;
A second print area that can be used as a coupon ticket and printed with coupon information;
A third print area on which charge information can be printed, which can be used as a gift card or prepaid card;
The point information, the coupon information, and a magnetic recording unit in which the charge information is magnetically recorded. The charge information printed in the third print area is at least currently charged. The amount of remaining money and information indicating usage history are included, and the upper limit amount that can be used per time is recorded in the magnetic recording unit, and if the product or service is not purchased multiple times, it is charged. A card having a function of not being able to use up the amount of the remaining money .

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