JPH09251502A - Electronic payment method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the necessity of connection through a network to a bank every time of payment by performing payment by adding and transmitting information concerning the payment and a customer's own signature for proofing that payment to a recipient. SOLUTION: When issuing electronic cash from a payment means manager (bank) A to a user A, the bank A transmits the information (containing the user's own electronic signature) shown by a cash main body 4 to the user A. When the user A performs payment to a user B, the user B adds information shown by an endorsement 5 to the information shown by the electronic cash main body 4, further optionally adds information shown by a seal impression certificate 6 and transmits it to the user. When the user B further pays this electronic cash to any other person, afterwards, the pair of endorsement and seal impression certificate is further added. Thus, the payment can be performed between personal computers, which are not connected to any internet (through LAN connection or the like).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electronic payment means,
That is, the present invention relates to a payment method using a payment means similar to so-called electronic cash, and specifically, an "electronic cash" equivalent to a conventional cash or bank check (including a traveler's check) (claims 1 and 2). ) And a "electronic check" (claim 3) corresponding to a conventional personal check, and more specifically, payment methods inside the network such as the Internet and outside the network. E-payment method commonly used for local payments.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a technology related to electronic cash, for example, there is an e-cache developed by Digicash Co., Ltd., which is published in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun dated September 27, 1995. It is designed for use on the Internet. In this technology, as in the present invention (Claim 1), the electronic payment means (e-cash) is initially issued by a “bank” (corresponding to “payment means manager” in the present invention), It includes the amount and the electronic signature of the "bank" that guarantees that the electronic payment instrument was issued by the "bank". However, in the present technology, it is necessary to inquire or notify the “bank” each time in order to confirm that the payment is not an illegal double payment.

[0003]

According to the above-mentioned conventional technique, the payment cannot be made without connecting to the "bank" via the Internet each time the payment is made. Therefore, for example, the following cannot be done.

(1) Payment is made between personal computers that are not connected to the Internet (such as LAN connection).

(2) Payment is made between devices that are not always connected to the network. For example, in order to install an IC card reader in a general store register or a vending machine, and to make payment between the IC card reader and an IC card brought by a customer, it is necessary to constantly connect these devices to a network. It is practically difficult.

Further, in the above technique, the data is transferred to the center of the "bank" each time the payment is made, and the center checks the presence or absence of illegal double payments against the database in which the past history is accumulated. Since this check needs to be performed in real time, the load on the network and the center is heavy, and the network transfer time and the database access time are included in the response time for confirming whether or not payment is possible, resulting in poor response. Furthermore, if the center is out of service for regular maintenance, payment will not be possible, and there is concern about availability as an infrastructure of the economic society that replaces the current cash.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problem] The center is not inquired to confirm the presence or absence of illegal double payment each time payment is made. Instead, it uses digital signature technology to let the payer prove that the payer has indeed paid the payee. That is, payment is not made by issuing a transaction to the center of the "bank", and as shown in the claim, information about payment and its own electronic signature for proving it are added. It takes the form of making a payment by transmitting it to the recipient (equivalent to "endorsing" and issuing a bill on a normal paper bill).

Those who know the inside of the system (so-called "hackers") can illegally copy the same electronic cash to make double payments, but this requires the addition of their own electronic signature. Because of this, fraud is discovered after the fact.

As described in claim 2, the proof that the payer has certainly paid the payee (“endorsement”) is proof by the payment means manager (“bank”) (“seal certificate”). Equivalent)
Can be added, which will make fraud prevention even more reliable.

The electronic payment means (electronic cash) once used for payment may be presented to the payment means manager (“bank”) by the payee and settled, or
It may also be used to pay to another person. The latter method corresponds to the endorsement and transfer of bills one after another. The record is left on the data. It is confirmed each time payment is made correctly (corresponding to "endorsement sequence") among persons registered with the payment means manager ("bank"). In any case, the electronic payment means (electronic cash) is eventually collected by the issuing means of payment means manager (“bank”) and checked for illegal double payment.

In electronic cash, it is necessary to prevent illegal double payment. In the present invention, the center is not inquired to confirm the presence / absence of double payment every time payment is made. However, double payment can be prevented as follows.

(1) Electronic payment means (electronic cash)
Finally, the issuer's payment method manager (“bank”) collects the payment and checks for double payment. Therefore,
If you make a double payment, you will eventually discover and track who made the illegal double payment based on your electronic signature. Since it is considered that the normal payment operation based on the present invention is performed by the package software, the illegal double payment does not accidentally occur in the normal payment operation, and the inside is studied to deceive the system (so-called hacker-like action. ). Therefore, if discovered after recovery, there is no excuse for the person who committed the dishonesty and considerable criminal and social sanctions.

(2) A hacker can make a mere double payment, but it is impossible for a hacker to erase the evidence of the double payment and prevent the detection after the collection, unless the code is broken. . In the present invention, it is confirmed every time payment is made (“endorsement sequence”) that payment is correctly made among persons registered with the payment means manager (“bank”).
The receipt of electronic cash that is not continuous is rejected, so if you erase the "endorsement" to destroy the evidence, you will be rejected. It is not possible to forge a plausible "endorsement" and make it appear, for example, that the payer who preceded himself did the wrong thing, because no one else can make a signature.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

FIG. 1 shows the format of electronic payment means (electronic cash) in this embodiment. In this example, when the payment means manager (“bank”) A issues an electronic cash to the user A, the payment means manager (“bank”) A uses the information shown in the electronic cash main body 4 in the figure. The information (including its own electronic signature) is transmitted to the user A. User A is user B
When making a payment, the user B adds the information shown in the endorsement 5 in the figure to the information shown in the electronic cash main body 4, and further, the information shown in the seal stamp certification 6 in the figure. Is additionally added and transmitted to the user B. If the user B pays this electronic cash to another person, a pair of endorsement and seal certification will be added after this.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the payment means manager (“bank”) and the user in this embodiment, and the information to be held in each. In this example, each user has an IC card 7 corresponding to a wallet and a personal computer 8 corresponding to a savings box for convenience. Not only IC cards but also personal computers do not need to be connected to the network at all times. IC
Electronic payment means (electronic cash) 11 can be stored in the card and the personal computer, respectively, and identification codes 12 and public keys 1 of all payment means managers (“banks”) are stored.
3 and own identification code 15, public key 16, private key 17, and seal certification 18 are held. Of these, the private key must be notified by a secure communication channel. On the other hand, each counter 9 of the payment means manager (“bank”)
Identification code 1 for all payment instrument managers ("banks")
2 and the public key 13, the private key 14 of its own, and the identification codes and public keys of all the users registered with itself.

FIG. 3 shows a procedure in which the recipient (user B) confirms the endorsement sequence at the time of payment. First, the electronic signature of the electronic cash main body 4 is decrypted by using the public key 13a of the payment means manager (“bank”) A held in the personal computer or IC card, and this electronic cash is valid. Verify that. Next, the seal stamp proof 6 is similarly decrypted, and the electronic signature of the endorsement 5 is decrypted using the public key 16a of the payer (user A) verified by the same.
This verifies that this endorsement is legitimate. If there are multiple endorsements, verify all endorsements in the same way and then check that the endorsements are continuous.

With the above-described structure and procedure, the following actions that we perform daily using cash and checks are realized as follows.

(1) Transfer of funds from "Bank" to "Wallet" or "Piggy bank" Online connection between the "Bank" registered by oneself and the personal computer ("Piggy bank") or "Bank" And insert your IC card (“wallet”) into the IC card reader of the “bank”. After confirming the account balance, the "bank" issues a "cash" of the requested amount and transfers it to the applicant's "wallet" or "piggy bank", and at the same time reduces the applicant's account balance by that amount. . In this case, there are several possible ways to confirm the identity, for example, (7)
By using the "check" function described later in Section 2 above and having the applicant issue a self-addressed check, it is possible to perform a reliable verification.

(2) Transfer of funds in the same person's "wallet" and "savings box" Simply copy the electronic cash and erase the original electronic cash. Since the users are the same,
No "endorsement" is required.

(3) Payment by someone else's "wallet" and "piggy bank" The necessary "endorsement" is made in the electronic cash held by the payer.
Then, the “seal stamp proof” 18a is added and transmitted to the recipient. For endorsement, an electronic signature is given by cryptographic processing using its own private key. This proves that the electronic cash with the specific serial number was transmitted to the recipient at the specific date and time. For the "seal stamp certification", the data (the seal stamp certification 18a of the user A) previously received from the "silver number" may be simply copied and attached. The recipient receives the electronic cash after confirming the "endorsement sequence" according to the procedure described above.

The "savings box" side may be a general storefront or a vending machine. These do not have to be connected to the network at all times, and can be dialed up on a regular basis to send the day's sales to the "bank", or can be collected in its own "wallet".

(4) Payment with "Piggy bank" and "Piggy bank" As in (3) above, the electronic cash held by the payer is required to be "endorsed" and then "certificate of seal stamp". Add and transmit to the recipient. As a medium, payment can be made by any connection method such as LAN, personal computer communication, and the Internet. Although some of these media have low reliability, according to the present invention, there is no problem even if the communication data is tapped.

(5) Depositing money from the "wallet" or "piggy bank" to the "bank" As in (1) above, online the "bank" registered by the user and the personal computer ("piggy bank"). Tie or go to the "bank" and insert your IC card ("wallet") into the "bank" IC card reader. The electronic cash to be deposited will be endorsed by the user to pay to the bank. The electronic cash to be deposited may be issued by another "bank".

(6) "Bill exchange" In the above (5), the "bank" that received the electronic cash issued by another "bank" transfers it to the issuing "bank" and collects the funds. To do. Since each "bank" will have electronic cash for other "banks", it is sufficient to offset this and settle the "exchange butt".

(7) Issuance of "Check" In this embodiment, the user can issue the "check" by himself without obtaining the electronic cash from the "bank" in advance. In this case, the user receives the "checkbook" from the "bank" in advance. Each page of the “checkbook” has the same format as the electronic cash shown in FIG. 1, but has a NULL value set in the amount column. Therefore, the "bank" does not guarantee the payment. This "check" can be used for payment by the user filling in the amount and "endorsing". A "check" guarantees that it is based on the issuer's will, but it does not guarantee that the issuer has sufficient funds, so the recipient is a regular (paper) check. As in the case of, you will bear the credit risk.

(8) Currency Exchange In this embodiment, the holder of the electronic cash divides the electronic cash (for example, divides the electronic cash of 10,000 yen into 10 electronic cash of 1,000 yen). be able to. In that case, set the division serial number and the amount of money in the "endorsement". Since this division information is guaranteed by the electronic signature of the user, the user is responsible for performing the division correctly.

[0028]

According to the present invention, it is not necessary to connect to the payment means manager ("bank") via the network each time payment is made. Therefore, the following is possible.

(1) Payment is made between personal computers not connected to the Internet (LAN connection, etc.).

(2) Payment is made between devices that are not always connected to the network. For example, an IC card reader is installed in a general store register or a vending machine, and payment is made between this and an IC card brought by a customer.
It is also possible to periodically collect the electronic cash accumulated in these devices.

Further, according to the present invention, since the presence / absence of illegal double payment can be checked in batch after the electronic payment means (electronic cash) is collected, the load on the network and the center is light and the network transfer is possible. Response is good because the time and database access time are not included in the response time for payment confirmation. Furthermore, even if the center is out of service for regular maintenance,
Payment is possible, and the shutdown of one center does not significantly affect economic activity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a record configuration diagram showing an example of a format of an electronic payment means (electronic cash) according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an application example of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for confirming continuous endorsement.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Electronic cash from administrator (bank) A to user A when newly issued, 2 ... Electronic cash when payment from user A to user B (no seal certification), 3 ... Used by user A Electronic cash at the time of payment to person B (with seal certification),
4 ... Electronic cash main body, 5 ... Endorsement, 6 ... Seal certification, 7 ... IC card (wallet), 8 ... Personal computer (saving box), 8a ... IC card reader, 9 ... "Bank" window,
9a ... IC card reader, 10 ... "Bank" center, 1
1 ... Electronic payment means (electronic cash), 12a ... Identification code of payment means manager (bank) A, 12b ... Identification code of payment means manager (bank) B, 13a ... Payment means manager (bank) A Public key, 13b ... Public key of payment instrument manager (bank) B, 14a ... Private key of payment instrument administrator (bank) A, 14b ... Private key of payment instrument administrator (bank) B,
15a ... User A identification code, 15b ... User B identification code, 16a ... User A public key, 16b ... User B public key, 17a ... User A private key, 17a.
b ... User B's private key, 18a ... User A's seal certificate,
18b ... Seal certificate of user B, 19 ... Electronic payment means (electronic cash) management database.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method of electronically exchanging a monetary value between a payer and a payee by using an electronic payment means composed of a series of bit strings, for managing the electronic payment means. It has one or more payment method managers, and the payer and the payee are registered in advance with one of the payment method managers, and each has a user identification code. , Issued by one of the payment means managers, and at least the amount of money,
And a digital signature of the payment means manager that certifies that the electronic payment means is issued by the payment means manager, wherein the payer confirms the electronic payment means issued by any of the payment means managers. In advance, when paying to the recipient, at least the user identification code of himself and the recipient is added to the electronic payment means, and an electronic signature of himself for guaranteeing the added contents is added. An electronic payment method, characterized in that the payment is made by adding it and transmitting it to the payee without notifying the payment means manager each time. 2. The electronic signature of the payer added by the payer to guarantee the added contents is a public key signature, and at least when the paying means is transmitted to the payee, the payer is made public. A key and a digital signature of the payment means manager of the payer registration destination for guaranteeing that the public key belongs to the payer, and the key is transmitted. The electronic payment method according to claim 1. 3. A method of electronically exchanging a financial value between a payer and a payee using an electronic payment means composed of a series of bit strings, which is for managing the electronic payment means. It has one or more payment method managers, and the payer and the payee are registered in advance with one of the payment method managers, and each has a user identification code. Is issued by the payer, and at least the amount, the user identification code of the self and the recipient, and the payer for guaranteeing that the electronic payment means is issued by the payer. Of the public key method, a public key of the payer, and a digital signature of the payment means manager of the payer registration destination for ensuring that the public key belongs to the payer. Payer is responsible for paying the recipient , By transmitting electronic payment means that they issue to the receiving Tosha pays without notifying each time the payment means administrator, characterized in that, the electronic payment method.