JPH07319963A - Credit processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve service ableness by judging a price payment starting time when a paying method capable of determining a payment starting time by a commodity purchase date is selected, and when a transaction is valid, printing out the payment starting time on a slid. CONSTITUTION:When a payment method and the frequency of payment are inputted by depressing a payment method key and a register key, bonus/manthly payment judging processing is executed, the input of an amount to be paied or the like is received and payment amount data are stored in a temporary buffer for credit transactions included in a RAM 23. Then, whether payment data are valid or not, i.e., whether the data are less than a division limit amount or not, is judged, and when the validity of the data is confirmed, a credit validity inquiring message is transmitted to a host device which is a card issuing source through a host interface 25. When a transaction permission response is returned, payment time printing data whose selection flag is ON are read out together with data indicating the payment method and the payment frequency while referring to a payment season table stored in the RAM 23, outputted to a printer 28 through a printing buffer and printed out on receipt paper or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a credit processing device such as a POS (point-of-sale information management) terminal, a card authenticator or the like which can process payment of purchased goods by credit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a credit processing device such as a POS terminal or a card authenticator capable of processing payment of purchased products by credit, a card reader for reading card data of a credit card issued by a credit card issuing company, A keyboard provided with various keys for inputting payment data such as a payment amount by credit and a payment method is provided as a credit data input means. Further, online data communication is possible with a host computer installed in each credit card issuing company. Further, a printer for printing and issuing a credit slip is provided. In addition, PO
Some S terminals have a receipt printer for printing a credit slip on a receipt sheet.

On the other hand, the credit card has a company code for identifying the credit card issuing company, in addition to a member number unique to the credit member customer contracted as a credit member,
Data such as the expiration date of the card is recorded.

However, when the shopper designates credit as a payment method for the purchased merchandise, the clerk operating the credit processor causes the card reader to read the card data of the credit card owned by the shopper. At the same time, the credit payment data such as the payment method (lump sum payment, installment payment, bonus payment, bonus / split combined payment, etc.) selected by the shopper and the payment amount are input from the keyboard.

Then, the card data and the credit payment data are transmitted online to the host computer of the relevant credit card issuing company, and an inquiry is made as to whether or not the credit is accepted.

In the host computer, it is checked whether the membership number in the card data is not the membership number of the card registered as an invalid card, or whether the payment amount exceeds the limit specified by the shopper. Is performed to determine the validity of the credit. Then, the determination result is notified online to the inquiring credit processing device.

[0007] In the credit processing device, when a response for approving the validity is received, a predetermined credit slip is printed and issued by the printer. If the response to approve the validity cannot be received, a message or the like indicating that the handling of the card is prohibited is displayed and the credit slip is not issued.

[0008] By the way, as a method of payment by credit, "lump sum payment" is mainly used to collectively pay the payment amount in an arbitrary month, and "payment payment" is to be paid by dividing the payment amount monthly.
There is a "bonus payment" in which the payment amount is paid in a batch or in a preset bonus payment month.
There is also "bonus / split combined payment" in which part of the payment amount is paid in the bonus payment month, and the remaining amount is paid monthly.

[0009] Of these payment methods, the "bonus payment" is usually set at a selectable time for each credit card issuing company. Therefore, in the conventional credit processing device, "bonus payment" is used as the payment method.
When is selected, it is determined whether the product purchase date is within the bonus payment period specified by the relevant credit card issuing company, and if it is outside the period, the credit processing after that is invalidated and the In some cases, the subsequent credit processing was executed, and when the validity was approved, a credit voucher on which the payment method "bonus payment" was printed was issued.

The "bonus payment" is also arbitrarily set by the credit card issuing company at the time of payment. For this reason, for example, a credit card issuing company claims payment for products purchased from March to June from the bonus paid in the summer of that year, and products purchased from September to December in that year. Arranged to claim payment from the bonus paid in the winter, and another credit card issuer pays from the bonus paid in the summer of the product purchased from December to May of the previous year It is conceivable to make an arrangement so that the products purchased from June to November are billed for the bonus paid in the winter of that year.

[0011] In this case, for the product purchased in December, the shopper who contracts with the former credit card issuing company starts paying from the bonus paid in the winter of the year, but the latter credit card issuing company. Shoppers who have contracted with will start paying from the bonuses paid next summer.

As described above, there are cases where the credit card issuing company starts payment from the summer bonus or payment from the winter bonus even if the product purchase dates are the same.

[0013]

However, in the conventional credit processing device, when the payment method is "bonus payment", only the data "bonus payment" indicating the bonus payment is printed on the credit slip. Therefore, it was not clear to the shopper when payment should start, and there was the trouble of having to contact the store or credit card issuing company if necessary.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when a specific payment method whose payment start time is determined by the date of purchase of a product is selected as a credit payment method and the validity of the credit transaction is approved, the payment is not started at all. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a credit processing device that can clearly indicate to the shopper and improve serviceability.

[0015]

According to the present invention, when data such as a credit member number of a shopper who has designated credit as a payment method for purchased goods is input, the validity of the credit is determined based on the input data. Judgment and, if the validity is approved, in a credit processing device that prints and issues a credit slip through the printing unit, there is a timing means for timing the current date and a payment start time depending on the product purchase date as a payment method by credit. When a specific payment method that is determined is selected, the payment start time determination means for determining the payment start time of the price for the purchased product this time from the date measured by the time measurement means, and the payment start time determined by this determination means The payment start timing printing means for printing the indicated data on the credit slip is provided.

[0016]

With the credit processing device of the present invention having the above-described structure, when a specific payment method whose payment start time is determined by the date of purchase of the product is selected as the credit payment method, the time is measured by the time measuring means. From the date, the payment start time for the purchased product is determined.
And when the validity of this credit transaction is approved,
Data indicating the payment start time is printed on the credit slip.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the credit processing function of the present invention is added to a POS terminal having a product sales data registration function.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment system using a POS terminal 1 according to the present invention. The system of this embodiment includes a plurality of POS terminals 1 and each POS terminal 1.
POS controller 2 that functions as a higher-end model of terminal 1
And are connected via a communication line 3 such as a LAN (local area network) line or an HDLC (high level data link control) line,
Host devices 5A and 5B of each credit card issuing company are connected to the POS controller 2 via a credit network line 4 such as a CAFIS (credit and finance information system).

Each POS terminal 1 is installed in a sales floor of a store, and registers and processes sales data of products purchased by a shopper. In addition, when the shopper offers cash payment or credit payment, the customer can settle the payment for the purchased product.

The POS controller 2 is installed in, for example, a management office of a store, and has a product file in which the product name, unit price, etc. are set in advance corresponding to the product code of each product sold in the store. , Has a function of responding to a product code inquiry from each POS terminal 1 with product data such as a product name and unit price corresponding to the product code. Also, each P
The product sales data registered in the OS terminal 1 is transferred to the communication line 3
It also has a function to collect the data through products, aggregate by product, time zone, cashier, etc., and output the aggregated result as a report. Furthermore, each POS terminal 1 and the host devices 5A, 5
It also fulfills the function of relaying communication with B.

Each of the host devices 5A and 5B is installed in a credit card issuing company, and has a member file in which member data such as a member number, a name, an address and an expiration date of a member who has made a credit contract is stored. And
When a credit inquiry is made through the credit network line 4, a negative check is made to see if the credit card is an invalid card, and a positive check is made to see if the credit amount exceeds the limit set by the cardholder (member). Is automatically performed to judge the validity of the credit, and the judgment result is returned to the inquiry source through the credit network line 4. If the credit is valid, the sales settlement data of the credit is registered in the storage device and billed to the member customer at a later date.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external structure of the POS terminal 1. This POS terminal 1 is provided with a keyboard 11 on the front of the main body 10 for inputting credit payment data such as a payment amount by credit and a payment method.
A magnetic card reader 1 for reading card data such as a membership number magnetically recorded on a credit card on the side, a company code identifying the credit card issuing company, and an expiration date.
2 is provided.

When the credit card is an IC card, the card reader 12 may be an IC card reader, and when the credit card is an optical card, an optical card reader may be used.

In the POS terminal 1, a display 13 is attached to the center of the upper part of the main body 10, and a receipt issuing port 14 is formed on the back side of the display 13. And the main body 10
The receipt paper printed by the printer for receipt / journal printing built in the
It has a structure to discharge from 4.

Further, the POS terminal 1 has a drawer 15 at the bottom of the main body 10 for accommodating cash or the like. Further, between the keyboard 11 and the drawer 15, there is provided a mode switch 16 for selecting various business modes such as “registration”, “inspection”, “payment”, “setting”.

Incidentally, the "registration" mode is a mode of business in which the sales data of the product purchased by the shopper is registered in the storage unit and the payment of the purchased product is processed. The "check" mode is the "registration" mode. The mode of the business that outputs the total data of the merchandise sales data registered and processed in the storage unit as a report. The mode and "setting" are modes of work in which data necessary for executing various works such as "registration" are set in the storage unit in advance.

On the keyboard 11, as shown in FIG. 3, ". (Decimal point)", "00" and "0" to "9" for inputting numerical data such as payment amount by credit.
Numeric key K1 of, "lump-sum" as credit payment method,
In addition to the payment method key K2 for selecting and inputting "revolving", "division", "bonus" and "combination of bonuses", a plurality of department codes "1" to "30" for classifying each product are preset. Various function keys such as a department key K3, a subtotal key K4, a deposit / cash total key K5, a credit total key K6, a credit key K7, an execution key K8, and a set key K9 are provided.

Here, the deposit / cash total key K5 and the credit total key K6 are both registration closing keys for declaring the end of registration of the product purchased by one shopper, and the deposit / cash total key K5.
Is operated when paying for the purchased merchandise in cash, and the credit meter key K6 is operated when paying in credit.

Further, the credit key K7 is a key for declaring the execution of payment service by credit, and when the payment service is declared by the credit key K7, the execution key K8 is effective for the credit to the host devices 5A, 5B. Key for commanding sex inquiry, set key K9
Functions as a key to enter the number of payments in installments or the number of payments in bonus payments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a main part control circuit configuration of the POS terminal 1. The POS terminal 1 has a CPU (central processing unit) 21 as a control unit main body. Further, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22 in which fixed data such as program data is stored in advance and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 23 in which a storage unit for registering product sales data is formed are mounted. is doing.

Further, a clock circuit 24 as a time measuring means for measuring the current date and time, a host interface 25 for controlling data transmission / reception performed through the communication line 3, and a keyboard controller for taking in a key signal from the keyboard 11. 26, a display controller 27 for controlling data display on the display 13, a printer controller 29 for controlling receipt printing and journal printing by the printer 28, and a card reader controller 30 for inputting card data read by the card reader 12. A signal from the mode switch 16 is input, and an I / O port 31 for sending an opening command signal to the drawer opening device 15a for automatically opening the drawer 15 is mounted.

Then, the CPU 21, the ROM 22,
RAM 23, clock circuit 24, host interface 2
5, the keyboard controller 26, the display controller 27, the printer controller 29, the card reader controller 30, and the I / O port 31 are connected to each other by a bus line 32 such as a data bus or an address bus.

Now, as shown in FIG. 5, the company code table 51, the temporary credit buffer 52, the print buffer 53, and the payment season table 54 are stored in the RAM 23.
And various memory areas of the slip number counter 55 are formed.

Here, the company code table 51 is
As shown in the figure, for each unique company code that identifies each credit card issuing company, the name of the credit card issuing company, telephone number for inquiries to the credit card issuing company,
It is a table in which setting data relating to credits such as a limit number of installments, a period during which bonus payments can be handled, a limit number of bonus payments, a payment limit amount for installment payments, and a payment limit amount for bonus payments are stored in advance.

The period during which the bonus payment can be handled is the period during which payment is started from the bonus paid in summer (summer start date to summer end date) and the payment is started from bonus paid in winter. There is a period (winter start date to winter end date) that is set arbitrarily for each credit card issuing company.

The credit temporary buffer 52 is 1
A buffer for temporarily storing data related to the credit of the shopper, in addition to an area for storing card data of a credit card as shown in the figure, an area for storing a classification code of a credit payment method keyed in,
An area for storing the number of payments when the credit payment method is installment payment or bonus payment, an area for storing the payment amount, an area for storing sales date data, which is a product purchase date, and the like are formed.

The print buffer 53 is a buffer for temporarily storing print data on receipt paper and journal paper.

The payment season table 54 is a table in which a selection flag is assigned to each payment time print data indicating a combination of payment times in bonus payment.
Here, the combination of payment times in bonus payment is
(1) Two payments, one for the summer bonus and one for the winter of the year, (2) one payment for the summer bonus, and (3) for the winter bonus. There are four types of payments, the bonus paid twice in the summer of the following year and the bonus paid once in winter (4).

Therefore, in this embodiment, "summer / winter" is set as the payment timing print data for (1), f1 is assigned as the selection flag, and "summer" is set as the payment timing print data for (2). F2 is assigned as a selection flag, and "Winter /
"Summer" is set, and f3 is assigned as a selection flag, and (4)
"Winter" is set as the payment time print data for, and f4 is assigned as the selection flag.

The slip number counter 55 is a counter which is incremented by +1 each time a transaction by credit is completed.

When the "register" mode is selected by the mode switch 16 by the operation input of the credit key K7, the CPU 21 declares the execution of the payment service by credit, as shown in FIG. The program is configured to execute the credit key processing shown in the flowchart.

That is, when the operation input of the credit key K7 is detected in the "registration" mode, first, in ST (step) 1, it is determined whether or not one shopper is registering the product to be purchased. The POS terminal 1 is provided with a registration flag on the RAM 23, which is set in response to the registration of the first item of a product purchased by one shopper and reset in response to the operation input of the registration closing key. The CPU 21 checks the registration flag to determine whether or not the registration is in progress. If the registration flag is set and it is confirmed that the registration is in progress, it is an erroneous operation in which the execution of the payment service by credit is declared while one shopper is registering the product to be purchased. To do.

When the registration flag is reset in ST1 and it is confirmed that the registration is not in progress, in ST2, the card data of the credit card read by the card reader 12 is taken in, and the temporary credit buffer 5 is used.
Stored in the card data area of 2. Also, the clock circuit 2
The date (year / month / day) data counted in step 4 is stored in the sales date data area of the temporary credit buffer 52.

Next, at ST3, whether or not the credit card is a valid card, that is, whether or not the company code of the card data in the card data area is set in the company code table 51, and whether or not the sales date data area is It is checked whether or not the date is within the expiration date of the card data in the card data area, and if it is confirmed that the card is a valid card, the input of the payment method by credit is accepted in ST4. When the payment method is selected and input by the payment method key K2, the classification code for classifying the selected payment method is stored in the payment method classification code area of the temporary credit buffer 52.

At ST5, when "bonus" or "combination of bonuses" is selected and input by the payment method key K2 and one or two payment times by bonus is selected and input by the numeral key K2, ST6 is entered. After executing the bonus month determination process specifically shown in FIG. 7, the process proceeds to ST7. If another payment method is selected and input, the process proceeds to ST7 without performing the process of ST6.

When the bonus month discriminating process of ST6 is started, as shown in FIG. 7, first, referring to the company code table 51, the bonus period data corresponding to the company code of the card data in the card data area is read out. . Then, it is determined whether the date (sales month) in the sales date data area is in the summer period, winter period or other period of the bonus period.

When the number of bonus payments is two during the summer period, the payment seasons are summer and winter in that order, so the corresponding flag f1 of the payment season table 54 is turned on, and the other flag f2. , F3 and f4 are all turned off.

On the other hand, when the bonus payment is made once during the summer period, the payment season is only summer, so the corresponding flag f2 of the payment season table 54 is turned on and the other flags f1, Both f3 and f4 are turned off.

If the number of bonus payments is two during the winter period, the payment seasons are winter and summer, so the corresponding flag f3 of the payment season table 54 is turned on and the other flag f1. , F2, f4 are both turned off.

On the other hand, when it is within the winter period and the number of bonus payments is 1, the payment season is only winter, so the corresponding flag f4 of the payment season table 54 is turned on and the other flags f1, Both f2 and f3 are turned off (payment start time determination means).

If the date (sales month) in the sales date data area is neither the summer period nor the winter period of the bonus period corresponding to the relevant company code, the bonus payment is not accepted, and therefore the indicator 13 is used. Is displayed, and the credit key processing of this time is ended.

Next, in ST7, as payment data other than the payment method, the payment amount (the price of the product whose price is paid by credit) and the like are accepted. Then, when the payment amount data is input by the numeric key K2, the payment amount data is stored in the payment amount data area of the temporary credit buffer 52.

Next, at ST8, whether the payment data is valid, that is, if the payment method is installment payment, whether the payment amount is less than or equal to the installment limit amount corresponding to the company code of the card data in the card data area, If the payment method is bonus payment, it is determined whether or not the payment amount is less than or equal to the bonus limit amount corresponding to the applicable company code, and the process proceeds to ST9 only when it is confirmed that the data is valid.

At ST9, the operation input of the execution key K8 is awaited. When the operation input of the execution key K8 is detected,
In ST10, a credit validity inquiry message is created with all the data in the temporary credit buffer 52, and the host device 5 of the card issuer sends it via the host interface 25.
Send to A, 5B to inquire about credit validity.

In response to this inquiry, as ST11, there is a response from the host devices 5A and 5B within a predetermined time, and when it is confirmed that it is a transaction permission response for approving the validity of credit, as ST12, it is concretely shown in FIG. Perform the credit slip print processing shown.

When the processing for printing the credit slip is started, the company code table 51 is first referred to, and the card name (company name) corresponding to the company code of the card data in the temporary credit buffer 52 and the contact (company telephone number). Read out. Further, the slip number counter 55 is incremented by +1.

Then, each data of the card name and the inquiry destination, the card number of the card data in the temporary credit buffer 52, the sales date data of the sales date data area and the payment amount data of the payment amount area, and the slip number counter. The count value of 55 is set in the print buffer 53 in a predetermined print format. If the payment method data corresponding to the classification code in the payment method classification code area in the credit temporary buffer 52 is set in the print buffer 53, the contents of the print buffer 53 are output to the printer 28 and the receipt paper and the journal are printed. Print on paper.

Here, only when the payment method is "bonus" or "combination of bonuses", refer to the payment season table 54 together with the data "bonus" indicating the payment method and the number of payments "1 time" or "2 times". Then, the payment timing print data for which the selection flag is turned on is read and set in the print buffer. Then, the contents of the print buffer 53 are output to the printer 28 and printed on the receipt paper and the journal paper (payment start timing printing means).

On the other hand, in response to the validity inquiry in ST10, S
At T11, if a response cannot be received within a predetermined time or if a transaction non-response that does not approve the validity of the credit is received, a message prohibiting the handling on the display 13 as ST13 (for example, “Toritsukikinshi”) Is displayed and the credit key processing is terminated.

Also, when it is determined in ST3 that the credit card is invalid, and when it is determined in ST8 that the credit payment data is invalid, the display 1
A message for prohibiting handling (eg, "Toritsukikinkishi") is displayed on 3, and the credit key processing is terminated.

In the present embodiment thus constructed, for example, when the validity of the credit for the double payment of the bonus is approved within the arrangement period in which the payment is started from the bonus provided in the summer, As shown in FIG. 9, in addition to the data “bonus twice” indicating the bonus payment, the data “summer / winter” indicating the payment timing is automatically printed on the credit slip 60.

Similarly, if the validity of the credit for the single payment of the bonus is approved within the arrangement period in which the payment is started from the bonus paid in the summer, the data "bonus" indicating the bonus payment is displayed on the credit slip 60. Once "
In addition to this, data "summer" indicating the payment period is automatically printed.

If the validity of the credit for the bonus payout is approved during the arrangement period in which payment is started from the bonus paid in winter, the data "bonus 2" indicating the bonus payout is displayed on the credit slip 60. In addition to “Time”, data “Winter / Summer” indicating the payment time is automatically printed, and when the validity of the credit for the bonus once payment is approved, the data “Bonus 1” indicating the bonus payment is displayed on the credit slip 60. In addition to “Time”, data “Winter” indicating the payment period is automatically printed.

In addition, in the credit slip 60, the credit card name "A credit" and the reference "0"
"nnn-nn-nnnn", card number, purchase date, slip number, purchase amount, and other data are printed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the shopper specifies the payment method of "bonus payment" as the payment method by credit, the bonus period information of the card issuing company of the credit card used by the shopper. The payment date is specified based on the date information of the product purchase date and the print data indicating the payment date is printed out on the credit slip 60.
The shopping customer who has selected the credit payment can check the credit voucher 60 to know when the payment starts.

For example, the credit card issuing company "A credit" demands payment from the bonus paid in winter of the year for products purchased in December, and the credit card issuing company "B credit" purchases products in December. Suppose they had arranged to claim payment from a bonus that will be paid the following summer.

In this case, if a shopper makes a credit for a one-time bonus payment using a credit card of "A credit" during December, a credit slip in which payment timing print data "winter" is printed. Is issued. Also, if this shopper made a one-time bonus credit payment using the "B credit" credit card during the same December, this time a credit slip with the payment timing print data "summer" printed is issued. To be done. Therefore, it is easy for the shopper to pay the "A credit" with the bonus paid in winter and the "B credit" with the bonus paid in the summer. I can confirm.

Therefore, the trouble of inquiring the start time of payment to the store or the credit card issuing company is eliminated, and the serviceability is improved.

In the above embodiment, the data of "summer / winter" or "winter / summer" is printed on the credit slip in the case of "double bonus payment", but when the payment is started, that is, in the former case, Even if only "summer" and "winter" in the latter case are printed, the shopper can confirm the payment start time, and thus the effect of the present invention can be obtained.

Although the season names such as "summer" and "winter" are printed as the data indicating the payment period, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the month such as "July" or "January" or It may be similar data.

Further, in the above embodiment, "bonus payment" is shown as a specific payment method in which the payment start time is determined by the item purchase date, but the invention is not limited to this. Of course, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0072]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when a specific payment method whose payment start time is determined by the purchase date of a product is selected as a credit payment method, and the validity of the credit transaction is approved. Can clearly indicate to the shopper when payment is started, and can provide a credit processing device capable of improving serviceability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an overall configuration of a POS system that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a POS terminal according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a keyboard of the POS terminal.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a main part of the POS terminal.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a main memory area formed in a RAM of the POS terminal.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing credit key processing executed by the CPU of the POS terminal.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart specifically showing the bonus month determination processing shown in FIG.

8 is a flowchart specifically showing the credit voucher issuing process shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an example of a credit slip issued in this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... POS terminal 2 ... POS controller 5A, 5B ... Host device 11 ... Keyboard K2 ... Payment method key K7 ... Credit key 12 ... Card reader 21 ... CPU 23 ... RAM 28 ... Printer 51 ... Company code table 54 ... Payment season table

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When data such as a credit member number of a shopper who has designated credit as a payment method for purchased goods is input, the validity of the credit is judged based on the input data, and the validity is approved. Then, in a credit processing device that prints and issues a credit slip via the printing unit, a time measuring means for measuring the current date and a specific payment method in which the payment start time is determined by the product purchase date are selected as the payment method by credit. Then, the payment start time determination means for determining the payment start time of the price for the current purchased product from the date measured by the time measurement means, and the data indicating the payment start time determined by this determination means in the credit slip. A credit processing device comprising: a payment start time printing means for printing.