TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a settlement system.

BACKGROUND ART

For example, credit card settlements are widely used for payment at stores, eating places and the like, as well as payment for buying and selling goods on the Internet. Such settlements (payment of money) are now performed via the Internet or other networks.

More specifically, the credit card settlements are performed as follows.

For a currently popular credit card, when a user performs the payment with the credit card, data read with a card reader or the like of a brick-and-mortar store if the user has used the credit card at the brick-and-mortar store, or data sent by the user to a virtual store on the web, for example, through encrypted communication, if the user has used the credit card at the virtual store, is sent from the brick-and-mortar store or the virtual store, via the network such as the Internet, to a settlement device that is a computer of a credit card company (or a computer managed by the credit card company). In the settlement device, an approach is generally employed in which it is determined whether or not credit is possible for the user, based on the received data, and the settlement is performed if the credit has been successful. While such credit is intended to mitigate risks taken by the credit card company, the computer of the credit card company attempts to mitigate risks due to fraudulent use of the credit card through impersonation by a third party, also by performing user authentication (for example, authentication by seeing legitimacy of a combination of a credit card number and a name of a credit card holder) prior to performing the credit. The authentication for the user as above is basically performed with the credit card number and the credit card holder which are physically imprinted or electromagnetically recorded information on the credit card.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

As mentioned above, only one fixed credit card number on the credit card exists for one credit card. Accordingly, complete elimination of the impersonation by the third party is difficult in the authentication with the credit card number.

In addition to a case where the credit card itself has been stolen by a malicious third party, if the credit card number has leaked as data, for example, from a database having recorded credit card numbers of customers for the settlement device or the like, the malicious third party can easily impersonate an owner of the credit card.

Various contrivances have been provided for the purpose of increasing precision of the user authentication to thereby reduce the fraudulent use of the credit card through the impersonation by the third party. If the credit card is used at the brick-and-mortar store, one of the contrivances is, of course, to essentially have the user's signature. Moreover, recently, various technologies such as CVC (Card Verification Code) and CVC2 are also actually used. However, these technologies merely increase the precision of the authentication by using a several-digit number other than the credit card number, with the credit card number in the authentication. Since the several-digit number used with the credit card number is constantly fixed similarly to the credit card number, these technologies only have an effect like that obtained by somewhat increasing the number of digits of the credit card number, and the effect of increasing the precision of the user authentication is also highly restricted.

An object of the invention of the present application is to propose a novel settlement technology which replaces a settlement technology using credit cards, and in which fraud through the impersonation by the third party is unlikely to occur.

Solution to Problem

In order to achieve this object, the inventor of the present application proposes the invention as described below.

The invention of the present application is a settlement system configured to include a user terminal used by a user, comprising user terminal input means that accepts input of information, user terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of data via a predetermined network, and user terminal information processing means that performs information processing; a settlement device that performs settlement of the user's payment, comprising settlement device transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, and settlement device information processing means that performs information processing, and a recording medium that records at least virtual balance information for each user so as to be associated with each user; and a settlement terminal managed by a recipient of the payment from the user, comprising settlement terminal input means that accepts the input of the information, and settlement terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, wherein each of the user terminal, the settlement device, and the settlement terminal is capable of connecting to the network.

The user terminal in this settlement system is capable of inputting upper limit amount information that is information identifying an amount of an upper limit of the settlement, and amount information that is information identifying an amount to be settled, with the user terminal input means, and transmits the upper limit amount information and user information that is information identifying the user who performs the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information, to the settlement device via the network with the user terminal transmission and reception means; and moreover, the user terminal information processing means comprises a user terminal OTP generation unit that generates a one-time password.

Moreover, the settlement device in the settlement system receives the upper limit amount information and the user information from the user terminal with the settlement device transmission and reception means; the settlement device information processing means comprises a credit determination unit that, if the settlement device transmission and reception means has received the upper limit amount information and the user information, executes credit determination that is determination of whether or not the settlement of the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information sent from the user terminal is possible, and if it is determined in the credit determination that the settlement is possible, generates temporary permission information that is information indicating the determination; the settlement device information processing means also comprises a final determination unit that performs final determination of the settlement, and a settlement device OTP generation unit that generates the one-time password identical to the one-time password which is generated in the user terminal if the temporary permission information has been generated; and the settlement device transmission and reception means transmits the temporary permission information generated by the credit determination unit to the user terminal via the network; and moreover, in the recording medium, the one-time password and the upper limit amount information are recorded so as to be associated with each other such that the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information, the upper limit amount information having been used for generating the temporary permission information that has caused the generation of the one-time password in the settlement device OTP generation unit.

In addition, in this settlement system, when the temporary permission information is accepted from the settlement device by the user terminal at the user terminal transmission and reception means, the user terminal OTP generation unit generates the one-time password; and if the one-time password generated in the user terminal and the amount information have been inputted from the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal, and the settlement terminal has sent the one-time password from the settlement terminal transmission and reception means to the settlement device via the network, the virtual balance information associated with a one-time password identical to the one-time password received from the settlement terminal by the settlement device is read out from the recording medium, and also on a condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than an amount identified by the virtual balance information, the final determination unit of the settlement device permits the payment from the user of the user terminal to an administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password, and also subtracts the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium.

In an illustration for the purpose of helping general understanding of the invention of the present application, the user terminal in the settlement system of the invention of the present application is used, managed, etc. by the user, and corresponds to a credit card in a conventional settlement system using credit cards. The settlement device of the invention of the present application corresponds to a settlement device managed, etc. by a credit card company or the like in a credit card settlement system. Moreover, the settlement terminal of the invention of the present application corresponds to a device having a card reader placed at a brick-and-mortar store in the credit card settlement system, or if the settlement system is applied to the settlement at a virtual store on the Internet, the settlement terminal of the invention of the present application corresponds to a computer itself used by the user, or a computer managed by an administrator of the virtual store, which receives the one-time password from the computer used by the user, or a combination thereof. However, the above illustration is merely an illustration, and may also be not necessarily accurate since the invention of the present application may also be a totally new settlement system.

The user terminal of the invention of the present application is a computer, for example, a portable computer, and is a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet or the like. It is now very common also for ordinary people to carry around such equipment. The user utilizes such equipment as the user terminal, and thus does not need to carry around the credit card that is bulky. In this settlement system, if the user terminal corresponds to the credit card in the conventional settlement system, the one-time password generated in the user terminal in this settlement system corresponds to the credit card number in the conventional settlement system. For the one-time password, different one-time passwords are generated one after another as is well known. Accordingly, even if the one-time password has been stolen by a malicious third party, it is difficult to abuse such a so-called disposable one-time password, and in addition, as will be described later, when an expiration time of the one-time password has been defined to be much shorter than the expiration time of an ordinary credit card (for example, within several months or several weeks, within on the order of several days to several tens of minutes, possibly on the order of 10 minutes, which, however, may be longer than this), such abuse becomes almost impossible. In other words, in this settlement system, the one-time password that is valid only at that time is used instead of the credit card number, and thereby the impersonation by the malicious third party is prevented.

Meanwhile, the settlement system according to the invention of the present application has a further advantage. In the conventional settlement system using the credit cards, it is widely known that a person stealing and abusing the credit card number may be a person in a position of being informed of the credit card number by the user, such as those who operate or manage a credit card reader. In other words, in the credit card settlement system, a person handling the credit card number himself may structurally become the malicious third party, and complete elimination thereof is impossible. In case of the abuse of the credit card number performed by such a person, the credit card company or the like that issues the credit cards performs credit management for a person operating or managing the credit card reader (or organization of corporation to which they belongs), and increases or decreases a fee in the case of the payment with the credit card, depending on the degree of his credit, and the like, which are very burdensome. However, according to the settlement system of the invention of the present application in which the abuse of the credit card number by the third party can hardly be assumed, the above credit management performed by the credit card company or the like is not required. In the above credit management, a person even without the credit, who is judged to be imbalanced with risks taken by the credit card company or the like, regardless of how much the fee is increased, is precluded from the credit management performed by the credit card company or the like, and cannot receive the payment with the credit card. This is reality today with popularization of the credit card settlement system. Unnecessary credit management for the recipient of the payment from the user in the settlement system using the credit cards, in which the credit card number is received from the user, means that the number of recipients of the payment from the user can be increased more than a conventional case, according to the settlement system of the invention of the present application. This naturally is a great advantage.

A general flow of processing in this settlement system is as follows.

First, the user inputs the upper limit amount information that is the information identifying the upper limit amount to be settled, with the user terminal input means. The upper limit amount information is transmitted from the user terminal to the settlement device, along with the user information that is the information identifying the user who performs the settlement according to the upper limit amount information.

This settlement device uses the user information and the upper limit amount information to perform user authentication and credit judgment with the credit determination unit. The user authentication performed here is performed with the user information. The user information may include, for example, at least one of a user ID inputted by the user with the user terminal input means, and unique terminal information allocated to each user terminal that is the user terminal, or may include both of them. Since the user ID is, for example, an enumeration of numbers, characters, symbols and the like decided by the user, and is basically only known to a legitimate user, even if the user terminal is stolen by the third party, the impersonation by the third party may be highly likely to be prevented. Examples of the terminal information can include, in the case where the user terminal is a smartphone, an ID number recorded in a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module Card) incorporated in this smartphone, and an individual identification number such as a manufacturing number of the smartphone. If the terminal information is used for the user authentication, the impersonation by the malicious third party becomes likely to be prevented, unless the user terminal itself is stolen by the malicious third party. Of course, when both the user ID and the terminal information are used for the user authentication, the user authentication becomes precise, and the impersonation can also be prevented with a high possibility.

The credit determination itself performed in the credit determination unit can be performed similarly to the credit determination in the case of using the conventional credit card. If it is determined in the credit determination that the settlement can be performed, the temporary permission information indicating the determination is sent from the settlement device to the user terminal. However, depending on this method of executing the credit determination, the settlement system of the present application may be close to the settlement system with the credit cards or may be close to a settlement system with debit cards. This point will be described later.

In the user terminal, which has received the temporary permission information, the one-time password is generated in its user terminal OTP generation unit. The one-time password can be an enumeration of numbers, characters, symbols and the like, and is generated at least each time the user is authenticated by the settlement device, and also becomes different for each generation. Moreover, the sets of the one-time passwords generated in each user terminal are different if all the one-time passwords generated multiple number of times in each of user terminal are seen. The one-time password can be generated, for example, with a publicly known approach. The one-time password generated in the user terminal is passed to the settlement terminal with the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal.

The user terminal typically includes a display. The one-time password generated in the user terminal OTP generation unit is displayed, for example, on the display. If the one-time password is an enumeration of numbers, a numeric keypad or the like is provided as the settlement terminal input means, and thereby, the user or the administrator of the settlement terminal can operate the numeric keypad or the like to input the one-time password displayed on the display, to the settlement terminal. If the one-time password is a combination of numbers and characters, and the settlement terminal input means is a keyboard, the user or the administrator of the settlement terminal can operate the keyboard to input the one-time password displayed on the display, to the settlement terminal. A method of passing the one-time password to the settlement terminal is not limited thereto. For example, the one-time password can also be passed to the settlement terminal by taking an image of the display of the user terminal having the one-time password displayed thereon, with a camera as the settlement terminal input means, and inputting the one-time password displayed on the display to the settlement terminal through image processing, or by reading the one-time password displayed as a bar code on the display of the user terminal, with a bar-code reader as the settlement terminal input means. Alternatively, the one-time password can also be passed as data from the user terminal to the settlement terminal through wireless communication such as Bluetooth™ or infrared communication (of course, wired communication may be used but is somewhat inconvenient). It should be noted that, in this case, the one-time password is not necessarily required to be displayed on the display of the user terminal.

If the user performs the payment to the virtual store on the Internet, the user will input the one-time password to the user terminal, or to another terminal that is used by the user and is capable of communicating via the Internet. For the input in this case, while the numeric keypad or the keyboard included in the user terminal or the other terminal is typically used, it is self-evident that the camera, the bar-code reader, or the wireless communication may also be utilized in this input, similarly to the above-mentioned case.

Moreover, the amount information that is the information identifying the amount to be settled is passed from the user terminal to the settlement terminal. In the case of the brick-and-mortar store, one of specific examples thereof is that the user orally tells the amount to be paid with the one-time password at the brick-and-mortar store, to the administrator of the settlement terminal, and the administrator of the settlement terminal inputs the amount to the settlement terminal with the settlement terminal input means. Alternatively, the user may also send or input the amount information, which has been inputted to the user terminal by the user with the user terminal input means, to the settlement terminal with the camera or the bar-code reader, or wirelessly. In this case, the one-time password and the amount information may conveniently be sent or inputted collectively from the user terminal to the settlement terminal. In contrast, in the case of the virtual store, while the numeric keypad or the keyboard included in the user terminal or the other terminal is used in order for the user to pass the amount information to the virtual store, it may be self-evident that the camera, the bar-code reader, or the wireless communication may also be utilized in this input, similarly to the above-mentioned case.

In any case, the one-time password and the amount information passed from the user terminal to the settlement terminal are sent from the settlement terminal to the settlement device.

Meanwhile, the settlement device has the settlement device OTP generation unit. The settlement device OTP generation unit generates a one-time password identical to the one-time password which is generated in the user terminal. The settlement device OTP generation unit generates the one-time password at an appropriate timing that is the same time as the generation of the temporary permission information or later. Regarding the one-time password generated in the settlement device OTP generation unit, the one-time password and the upper limit amount information are recorded so as to be associated with each other such that the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information, in the recording medium, the upper limit amount information having been used for generating the temporary permission information that has caused the generation of the one-time password in the settlement device OTP generation unit.

As is publicly known, the one-time password generated in the user terminal OTP generation unit and the one-time password generated in the settlement device OTP generation unit are synchronized. The settlement device performs settlements of many user terminals, so that the settlement device can generate the one-time password that is synchronized with the one-time password generated in the user terminal OTP generation unit of each user terminal.

When the one-time password is received from the settlement terminal, the final determination unit performs the final determination in the settlement device. The final determination is determination of whether or not the payment of the amount identified by the amount information, from the user to the administrator of the settlement terminal or the like, may be allowed. When the settlement device receives the one-time password and the amount information from the settlement terminal, the virtual balance information associated with the one-time password identical to the one-time password sent from the settlement terminal is read out from the recording medium, and on the condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than the amount identified by the virtual balance information, the final determination unit allows the above-mentioned payment. If the final determination unit has allowed the payment, the final determination unit subtracts the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium. The processing performed in the settlement device after the payment is permitted may, for example, be similar to the case of the settlement system using the credit cards or the debit cards.

According to this settlement system, as mentioned above, final permission of the settlement performed in the settlement device is performed with the one-time password generated in the user terminal.

The one-time password used in the user terminal will be generated over and over again to be changed. Accordingly, even when the one-time password has been stolen by the third party, damage is unlikely to occur therefrom, and even if the damage occurs, the damage is much smaller than the case of the settlement system using the credit cards.

In the invention of the present application, the user can use one one-time password to perform multiple payments within a range of the upper limit amount. When the user performs the payment, the user sends the one-time password and the amount information to the settlement device via the settlement terminal. Unless a sum of the amounts identified by the amount information exceeds the upper limit amount, the settlement device allows the payment from the user to the administrator of the settlement terminal, and subtracts the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance in each case.

Moreover, even in a case where the one-time password has been generated once in the user terminal, and a one-time password identical to the one-time password has also been generated once in the settlement device, for example, if a balance has existed in virtual balance information when the expiration time of the one-time password has expired, the settlement device can also set the balance back to the user's credit balance or account balance at a bank or the like. Thereby, the user can lightheartedly use the user terminal to issue the one-time password.

It should be noted that, in the invention of the present application, the administrator of the settlement terminal is not limited to a person who manages the settlement terminal, but includes all of persons who install, own, take sole possession of or occupy, or manage and operate the settlement terminal, as well as the recipient of the payment from the user, and in any case, the administrator of the settlement terminal means an organization itself that receives the payment from the user, or a person who belongs to this organization or is at least associated with the organization.

Moreover, in the settlement system of the invention of the present application, communication between the settlement device and the user terminal and communication between the settlement device and the settlement terminal may be encrypted communication.

It should be noted that, if the other party to which the user performs the payment with the settlement system of the present application is specifically a brick-and-mortar store, and if the user is assumed to perform the payment to the other party after a certain amount of time elapses (for example, after several hours or several months elapse) since the generation of the one-time password with the user terminal, the one-time password generated in the user terminal may also be conveniently printed on paper. While the one-time password in the invention of the present application is data (or simple information) without physical substance, the one-time password has a property in which the data or the information can be used to perform the payment to the third party. If this property is emphasized more, the one-time password generated in the user terminal in the settlement system of the present application can be considered as an alternative to money. In consideration of a trend with FinTech-related technologies raised as topics in recent years, while money may eventually lose its substance, at least the ordinary people in a current state are familiar with money having the physical substance. The user can use a cash voucher that is paper having the one-time password printed thereon, as if it were money (paper money), to thereby perform the payment to the other party of the payment. In other words, this cash voucher can be said to be one of variations for delivering the one-time password from the user terminal to the settlement terminal. The recipient of the payment, who has received this cash voucher, can input the one-time password printed thereon to the settlement terminal through some method, for example, by using the numeric keypad or the keyboard to perform the input.

However, if this cash voucher has been dropped by the user or stolen by the third party, the cash voucher may be used by the third party, similarly to when conventional paper money has been dropped by the user or stolen by the third party. Nonetheless, since the cash voucher has an expiration time for use depending on a usable period provided for the one-time password, a risk of being used by the malicious third party can be said to be smaller than the conventional money. However, as another kind of problem, this cash voucher has a risk in that, if the one-time password printed thereon has been known to the third party, the one-time password is used by the third party while the cash voucher itself exists at hand of the user, and thus monetary value, which has been originally included in the cash voucher or the one-time password printed on the cash voucher, may be lost. It is the risk that is not caused in the conventional paper money. It is difficult for the user still having the cash voucher at hand to know that the one-time password printed on the cash voucher has been stolen by the third party, and thus, even if this problem has occurred, it is difficult to find and solve the problem. Accordingly, as a technology for preventing occurrence of such a situation, the inventor of the present application proposes a cash voucher having a part of the one-time password printed on one side of the paper, and a rest part of the one-time password printed on another side of the paper, respectively. With this cash voucher, if the malicious third party has attempted to steal the one-time password printed on the cash voucher, the malicious third party needs to see (or take pictures of) both sides of the cash voucher, and thus a possibility of the one-time password being stolen becomes much lower than a case of the one-time password printed only on one side of the paper.

Moreover, the inventor of the present application also proposes a cash voucher made by printing information for identifying the one-time password generated in the user terminal in the settlement system of the present application, on paper, as one aspect of the invention of the present application. This cash voucher can also be used by the user in an aspect similar to existing traditional money. The information for identifying the one-time password is, for example, a bar code. The other party, which has received this cash voucher from the user and should receive the payment from the user, can read and input the information (for example, the bar code) to the settlement terminal to thereby input the one-time password generated in the user terminal to the settlement terminal. This can also be said to be one of the variations for delivering the one-time password from the user terminal to the settlement terminal. As in a case of printing the one-time password itself on the cash voucher, information for identifying a part of the one-time password may be printed on one side of the paper, and information for identifying a rest part of the one-time password may be printed on another side of the paper, respectively.

Moreover, a face of a person scheduled to use the cash voucher may be printed on the paper constituting the above cash voucher. If a person who should receive the payment from the user has received the cash voucher, matching of the face printed on the cash voucher and the face of the user who has held out the cash voucher is checked, and if processing required for the settlement with the cash voucher (for example, the input of the one-time password described on the cash voucher, to the settlement terminal) is to be performed only when the check has been successful, fraudulent use of the one-time password (a fraudulent settlement) can be prevented even in the case where the cash voucher has been dropped or stolen by the third party.

In this settlement system, if the user has the one-time password issued in the user terminal, the user can use the one-time password to perform the payment of the amount identified by the amount information, with the upper limit of the upper limit amount set when the one-time password has been issued, and possibly, the payment may be split into multiple number of times. In other words, the user can present the amount information to the other party to thereby provide an indication of intention of performing the payment of the amount identified by the amount information, and can also present the one-time password to the other party to thereby perform the payment of the amount identified by the amount information.

This is possible because, when the one-time password has been generated in the user terminal, the credit has already been finished for the upper limit amount identified by the upper limit amount information indicated to the settlement device by the user when the one-time password has been issued. In that sense, the one-time password generated in the user terminal can also be regarded as a temporary credit card number with a defined upper limit of a payable amount.

Moreover, specifically, when the one-time password and the amount information are sent from the settlement terminal to the settlement device, if identity of the user who has generated the one-time password in the user's own user terminal and has sent the one-time password from the settlement terminal is not checked in the settlement device, this one-time password can be used by anyone. In this case, the one-time password becomes transferable, and a person who has been transferred the one-time password can use it. In this case, the one-time password generated in the user terminal can be regarded as virtual currency that can be used for the payment with the upper limit of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information. It should be noted that since the virtual currency in this case has been given the credit based on the user's trust, reception of money by the person who has been transferred the one-time password, for example, via the settlement device, is generally ensured. In this sense, if the one-time password in the invention of the present application is regarded as the virtual currency, this one-time password has higher reliability than conventional virtual currency.

This one-time password is convenient since the user can be enabled to generate the one-time password at the user's preferable timing when the user needs to perform the payment. Moreover, even if the user has generated the one-time password, the user does not need to use it soon, and can separately use it several times according to the user's wish when the user needs to use it, which is also convenient. Moreover, when the user generates the one-time password, the user can set the upper limit amount of the amount that can be paid with the one-time password, by himself. Thus, the user can prevent wasteful spending as long as the generated one-time password is used to perform the payment, and also, even if the one-time password has been stolen, an amount of economic damage thereof will be limited to the upper limit amount set for the one-time password. All of them are advantages of the invention of the present application.

For example, when the user goes on an overseas trip, the user can generate the one-time password for covering the payments during the overseas trip, with the user's own user terminal, and go on the overseas trip with the one-time password instead of cash or the credit card. Moreover, when the user has intended to go for shopping at a shopping mall, if the user generates the one-time password with the upper limit amount depending on a budget for the shopping on that day, and utilizes the one-time password to perform the payment for the shopping on that day, the user can stay within the budget during the shopping. Moreover, if the one-time password is transferable, for example, a father can also generate multiple one-time passwords in his own user terminal, and give them to his children, respectively, for example, as their spending money. In this case, of course, different upper limits can also be set to the amounts that can be paid with the respective one-time passwords, which can create a state similar to a state where different amounts of spending money have been given to the respective children.

The inventor of the present application also proposes the user terminal used in the settlement system as described above, as one aspect of the invention of the present application. An effect thereby obtained is the same as the effect obtained in the above-mentioned settlement system.

An example user terminal is a user terminal for constituting a settlement system which has the user terminal, a settlement device, and a settlement terminal configured to include the user terminal used by a user, comprising user terminal input means that accepts input of information, user terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of data via a predetermined network, and user terminal information processing means that performs information processing; the settlement device that performs settlement of the user's payment, comprising settlement device transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, settlement device information processing means that performs information processing, and a recording medium that records at least virtual balance information for each user so as to be associated with each user; and the settlement terminal managed by a recipient of the payment from the user, comprising settlement terminal input means that accepts the input of the information, and settlement terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, wherein each of the user terminal, the settlement device, and the settlement terminal is capable of connecting to the network.

In this user terminal, upper limit amount information that is information identifying an amount of an upper limit of the settlement, and amount information that is information identifying an amount to be settled are capable of being inputted with the user terminal input means; the upper limit amount information and user information that is information identifying the user who performs the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information are transmitted to the settlement device via the network with the user terminal transmission and reception means; and moreover, the user terminal information processing means comprises a user terminal OTP generation unit that generates a one-time password.

The settlement device receives the upper limit amount information and the user information from the user terminal with the settlement device transmission and reception means; the settlement device information processing means comprises a credit determination unit that, if the settlement device transmission and reception means has received the upper limit amount information and the user information, executes credit determination that is determination of whether or not the settlement of the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information for the user identified by the user information is possible, and if it is determined in the credit determination that the settlement is possible, generates temporary permission information that is information indicating the determination; the settlement device information processing means also comprises a final determination unit that performs final determination of the settlement, and a settlement device OTP generation unit that generates a one-time password identical to the one-time password which is generated in the user terminal if the temporary permission information has been generated; the settlement device transmission and reception means transmits the temporary permission information generated by the credit determination unit to the user terminal via the network; and moreover, in the recording medium, the one-time password and the upper limit amount information are recorded so as to be associated with each other such that the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information, the upper limit amount information having been used for generating the temporary permission information that has caused the generation of the one-time password in the settlement device OTP generation unit.

In addition, in this settlement system, when the temporary permission information is accepted from the settlement device by the user terminal at the user terminal transmission and reception means, the user terminal OTP generation unit generates the one-time password; and thereby, if the one-time password generated in the user terminal and the amount information have been inputted from the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal, and the settlement terminal has sent the one-time password and the amount information from the settlement terminal transmission and reception means to the settlement device via the network, the virtual balance information associated with a one-time password identical to the one-time password received from the settlement terminal by the settlement device is read out from the recording medium, and also on a condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than an amount identified by the virtual balance information, the final determination unit of the settlement device permits the payment from the user of the user terminal to an administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password, and also subtracts the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium.

The final determination unit included in the settlement device in the settlement system of the invention of the present application may permit the settlement only if a time from a predetermined time point after the user starts processing for inputting the upper limit amount information with the user terminal input means and before the final determination unit performs the final determination of the settlement, until the final determination unit performs the final determination of the settlement, is shorter than a predefined time interval.

This, in short, provides the expiration time for the one-time password generated in the user terminal. Thereby, the one-time password in the settlement system according to the invention of the present application becomes less likely to be fraudulently used.

The predetermined time point is a predetermined time point after the user starts the processing for inputting the upper limit amount information with the user terminal input means and before the final determination unit performs the final determination of the settlement, as mentioned above. “When the user has started the processing for inputting the upper limit amount information with the user terminal input means” means when the user has started some processing required for starting the input of the upper limit amount information, instead of when the user has started the input of the upper limit amount information itself. For example, if software necessary for this settlement needs to be launched in the user terminal in order to input the upper limit amount information, this time means when processing thereof has been performed.

The predetermined time point is, for example, a time point when the user has inputted the upper limit amount information that is the information identifying the amount of the upper limit of the settlement, with the user terminal input means (for example, a time point when the user has started the input, or has finished the input); a time point when the user terminal transmission and reception means has transmitted the upper limit amount information and the user information to the settlement device via the network; a time point when the settlement device transmission and reception means has received the upper limit amount information and the user information from the user terminal transmission and reception means; a time point when the credit determination unit of the settlement device has generated the temporary permission information; a time point when the temporary permission information has been transmitted from the settlement device transmission and reception means of the settlement device; and a time point when the temporary permission information has been received at the user terminal transmission and reception means of the user terminal.

The settlement device can process virtual balances unused for payments, in virtual balances associated with expired one-time passwords, as unused virtual balances. For example, the settlement device can refrain from charging a financial institution for parts of the virtual balances which are unused for the payments, or as will be described later, if the settlement device manages the user's deposit balance (for example, corresponding to a case where the user performs the payment to the administrator of the settlement device in a prepaid manner, and the like), the settlement device can execute processing of returning the virtual balances unused for the payments, to the deposit balance.

In the settlement system of the invention of the present application, the user terminal input means may be capable of, with an operation thereof, inputting an additional condition that is a condition added in order for the final determination unit of the settlement device to permit the payment from the user of the user terminal to the administrator of the settlement terminal, and the user terminal transmission and reception means may send the additional condition to the settlement device via the network, and when the settlement device transmission and reception means accepts the additional condition, the final determination unit may add a condition for permitting the payment from the user of the user terminal to the administrator of the settlement terminal, depending on the additional condition.

In this way, the user can set conditions regarding the payment performed with the one-time password generated in the user terminal, based on the user's wish.

Examples of the additional condition are as follows.

The additional condition may be a restriction of a period in which the payment is permitted. As mentioned above, for the one-time password in the settlement system of the present application, the period in which the payment is permitted, and which is defined on the side of the settlement device, more precisely, determined by the final determination unit of the settlement device, may be provided. Meanwhile, it is more convenient and the one-time password can be less likely to be fraudulently used if a shorter time limit of the payment can be set, or a starting point and an ending point of a time in which the payment can be performed can be set on the side of the user terminal. If the period in which the payment is permitted, and which is determined by the final determination unit of the settlement device, does not exist, a larger benefit is provided from the user terminal capable of restricting the period in which the payment with the one-time password is permitted.

The additional condition may be a restriction of a position of the settlement terminal that receives the payment. For example, if the payment is allowed only for settlement terminals that exist in one area or exist close to the user terminal, among the settlement terminals, the user can perform the payment with the one-time password to the user's desired store or the like, with a lower possibility of the fraudulent use of the one-time password.

When the additional condition is a restriction of a position of the settlement terminal that receives the payment, the user terminal in the settlement system of the invention of the present application comprises position information generation means that generates position information that is information for identifying a position where the user terminal exists, and the user terminal transmission and reception means may transmit the position information to the settlement device. In this case, only if a position of the settlement terminal that has sent the one-time password from the user terminal with the settlement terminal transmission and reception means thereof is within a predetermined distance from the position identified by the position information generated in the position information generation means of the user terminal, the final determination unit of the settlement device may permit the payment from the user of the user terminal to the administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password. This settlement system is particularly useful in the case where the settlement terminal exists in the brick-and-mortar store, but is not limited thereto. In this settlement system, unless the user terminal and the position of the settlement terminal to which the one-time password is passed from the user terminal are within the predetermined distance, the final determination unit of the settlement device does not perform the permission of the settlement. Thereby, fear of the impersonation performed by the third party can further be reduced.

A timing of the transmission of the position information from the user terminal to the settlement device can be decided separately from a timing of the transmission of the upper limit amount information and the user ID to the settlement device. For example, the user terminal transmission and reception means may transmit the position information along with the upper limit amount information and the user information to the settlement device. Alternatively, at a predetermined timing after the user terminal has received the temporary permission information, the user terminal may send the position information to the settlement device.

The position information generation means is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System). Since functions of the GPS have typically already been integrated in the smartphone or the like as an example of the user terminal, use of the GPS as the position information generation means is less burdensome as far as hardware is concerned.

As mentioned above, the final determination unit determines whether or not the position of the settlement terminal that has sent the one-time password from the user terminal is within the predetermined distance from the position identified by the position information on the user terminal. In order to perform this determination, the final determination unit needs to know the position of the settlement terminal. In order to enable it, there are some approaches as follows.

The first one of the approaches is that the settlement device has previously grasped the position of the settlement terminal that may send the one-time password to the settlement device. For example, if the settlement device has a database in which a settlement terminal ID for identifying each settlement terminal and the position of each settlement terminal are linked and recorded, the settlement device can grasp which settlement terminal the one-time password has been sent from, to thereby grasp the position of the settlement terminal that has sent the one-time password.

The second one of the approaches is that the settlement terminal has been caused to have position information generation means similar to the position information generation means included in the user terminal, and the position information on the settlement terminal is sent from the settlement terminal to the settlement device each time the settlement terminal sends the one-time password to the settlement device (regardless of whether or not the position information on the settlement terminal is sent at the same time as the sending of the one-time password). Thereby, the settlement device can also grasp the position of the settlement terminal that has sent the one-time password.

The additional condition may be a restriction of the settlement terminal that receives the payment. For example, if the settlement terminals that receive the payment are restricted only to settlement terminals that exist within one shopping mall, or to settlement terminals managed by an enterprise belonging to one enterprise group, the user can perform the payment with the one-time password to the user's desired store or the like, with the lower possibility of the fraudulent use of the one-time password.

The user terminal input means may be capable of inputting an upper limit amount identified by the upper limit amount information as a sum of split amounts that are two or more amounts; and if the user terminal OTP generation unit generates the one-time password, the user terminal OTP generation unit may generate as many one-time passwords as a number of pieces of split amount information that is information identifying the split amounts, corresponding to the respective pieces of the split amount information.

In this case, if the settlement device OTP generation unit in the settlement device generates the one-time password identical to the one-time password which is generated in the user terminal, the settlement device OTP generation unit may generate as many one-time passwords identical to those generated in the user terminal, as the number of pieces of the split amount information, corresponding to the respective pieces of the split amount information; and in the recording medium, the one-time passwords and the split amount information made to correspond to the one-time passwords may be recorded so as to be associated with each other such that each piece of the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information.

If the one-time password made to correspond to one piece of the split amount information generated in the user terminal and the amount information have been inputted from the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal, and the settlement terminal has sent the one-time password and the amount information from the settlement terminal transmission and reception means to the settlement device via the network, the virtual balance information associated with the one-time password identical to the one-time password received from the settlement terminal by the settlement device may be read out from the recording medium, and also on the condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than the amount identified by the virtual balance information, the final determination unit of the settlement device may permit the payment from the user of the user terminal to the administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password, and also subtract the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium.

In the settlement system of the invention of the present application, multiple one-time passwords may be generated from one user terminal. Moreover, all of the multiple one-time passwords generated from one user terminal may be valid, in other words, may be in a state of being capable of being used for the payments. If the multiple one-time passwords are generated, the user may also be caused to perform a procedure of generating the one-time password, including the input of the upper limit amount information, multiple times, which, however, will place a burden on the user. For example, if the user hopes to have three one-time passwords with the upper limit amount of 10000 yen, the user is caused to input three 10000 yen as the split amount information, and as a result, caused to input the upper limit amount information for 30000 yen, and thereby, the user can collectively obtain three one-time passwords with the upper limit amount of 10000 yen. The respective split amounts are not required to be the same. For example, if the user causes the settlement device to perform the credit determination with the respective split amounts of one 10000 yen+two 5000 yen+ten 1000 yen, and with the upper limit amount of 30000 yen as a sum of them, of course, on a condition that the temporary permission information is generated in the credit determination, the user will collectively obtain one one-time password with the upper limit amount of 10000 yen, two one-time passwords with the upper limit amount of 5000 yen, and ten one-time passwords with the upper limit amount of 1000 yen.

In this case, the settlement device allocates virtual balances with the split amounts as the upper limit amounts, to the multiple one-time passwords, respectively, and records them in the recording medium. Handling of the respective virtual balances may be the same as the case where only one one-time password is generated at a time.

The split amount information may be selected from predefined split amount information with an operation of the user terminal input means. For example, in the above-mentioned example, 10000 yen, 5000 yen, and 1000 yen have previously been prepared as selectable split amounts such that the user is caused to select how to combine them.

The inventor of the present application also proposes the following method executed by the user terminal, as one aspect of the invention of the present application. An effect thereby obtained is the same as the effect obtained in the above-mentioned settlement system.

An example of the method is a method executed by user terminal information processing means included in a user terminal for constituting a settlement system which has the user terminal, a settlement device, and a settlement terminal configured to include the user terminal used by a user, comprising user terminal input means that accepts input of information, user terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of data via a predetermined network, and the user terminal information processing means that performs information processing; the settlement device that performs settlement of the user's payment, comprising settlement device transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, and settlement device information processing means that performs information processing, and a recording medium that records at least virtual balance information for each user so as to be associated with each user; and the settlement terminal managed by a recipient of the payment from the user, comprising settlement terminal input means that accepts the input of the information, and settlement terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, wherein each of the user terminal, the settlement device, and the settlement terminal is capable of connecting to the network.

This method is executed by the user terminal information processing means.

Specifically, this method includes a process of accepting input of upper limit amount information that is information identifying an upper limit amount to be settled, with the user terminal input means; a process of transmitting the upper limit amount information and user information that is information identifying the user who performs the payment of the upper limit amount identified by the upper limit amount information, to the settlement device via the network with the user terminal transmission and reception means; a process of, if, in the settlement device that has received the upper limit amount information and the user information from the user terminal with the settlement device transmission and reception means, the settlement device information processing means has executed credit determination that is determination of whether or not the settlement of the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information sent from the user terminal is possible, and in a case where it has been determined in the credit determination that the settlement is possible, the settlement device information processing means has generated temporary permission information that is information indicating the determination, and has also generated a one-time password in a case where the temporary permission information has been generated, and moreover, in the recording medium, the one-time password and the upper limit amount information are recorded so as to be associated with each other such that the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information, the upper limit amount information having been used for generating the temporary permission information that has caused the generation of the one-time password, and the settlement device transmission and reception means has transmitted the temporary permission information to the user terminal via the network, accepting the temporary permission information by the user terminal transmission and reception means; and a process of, if the temporary permission information has been accepted from the settlement device by the user terminal, generating a one-time password identical to the one-time password which is generated in the settlement device. The processes are executed by the user terminal information processing means.

Thereby, in this settlement system, if the one-time password generated in the user terminal and amount information that is information identifying an amount to be settled have been inputted from the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal, and the settlement terminal has sent the one-time password from the settlement terminal transmission and reception means to the settlement device via the network, the virtual balance information associated with a one-time password identical to the one-time password received from the settlement terminal by the settlement device is read out from the recording medium, and moreover, on a condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than an amount identified by the virtual balance information, the settlement device information processing means of the settlement device permits the payment from the user of the user terminal to an administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password, and also subtracts the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium.

The inventor of the present application also proposes a computer program for causing a predetermined computer to function as the user terminal included in the settlement system of the invention of the present application, as one aspect of the invention of the present application. An effect thereby obtained is the same as the effect obtained in the above-mentioned settlement system.

An example of the computer program is a computer program for causing a computer to function as a user terminal for constituting a settlement system which has the user terminal, a settlement device, and a settlement terminal configured to include the user terminal used by a user, comprising user terminal input means that accepts input of information, user terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of data via a predetermined network, and user terminal information processing means that performs information processing; the settlement device that performs settlement of the user's payment, comprising settlement device transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, and settlement device information processing means that performs information processing, and a recording medium that records at least virtual balance information for each user so as to be associated with each user; and the settlement terminal managed by a recipient of the payment from the user, comprising settlement terminal input means that accepts the input of the information, and settlement terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, wherein each of the user terminal, the settlement device, and the settlement terminal is capable of connecting to the network.

In addition, this computer program causes the computer to execute a process of accepting input of upper limit amount information that is information identifying an upper limit amount to be settled, with the user terminal input means; a process of transmitting the upper limit amount information and user information that is information identifying the user who performs the payment of the upper limit amount identified by upper limit the amount information, to the settlement device via the network with the user terminal transmission and reception means; a process of, if, in the settlement device that has received the upper limit amount information and the user information from the user terminal with the settlement device transmission and reception means, the settlement device information processing means has executed credit determination that is determination of whether or not the settlement of the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information sent from the user terminal is possible, and in a case where it has been determined in the credit determination that the settlement is possible, the settlement device information processing means has generated temporary permission information that is information indicating the determination, and has also generated a one-time password in a case where the temporary permission information has been generated, and moreover, in the recording medium, the one-time password and the upper limit amount information are recorded so as to be associated with each other such that the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information, the upper limit amount information having been used for generating the temporary permission information that has caused the generation of the one-time password, and the settlement device transmission and reception means has transmitted the temporary permission information to the user terminal via the network, accepting the temporary permission information by the user terminal transmission and reception means; and a process of, if the temporary permission information has been accepted from the settlement device by the user terminal, generating a one-time password identical to the one-time password which is generated in the settlement device.

Thereby, in this settlement system, if the one-time password generated in the user terminal and amount information that is information identifying an amount to be settled have been inputted from the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal, and the settlement terminal has sent the one-time password from the settlement terminal transmission and reception means to the settlement device via the network, the virtual balance information associated with a one-time password identical to the one-time password received from the settlement terminal by the settlement device is read out from the recording medium, and moreover, on a condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than an amount identified by the virtual balance information, the settlement device information processing means of the settlement device permits the payment from the user of the user terminal to an administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password, and also subtracts the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium.

The inventor of the present application also proposes the settlement device used in the settlement system as described above, as one aspect of the invention of the present application. An effect thereby obtained is the same as the effect obtained in the above-mentioned settlement system.

An example of the settlement device is a settlement device for constituting a settlement system which has a user terminal, the settlement device, and a settlement terminal configured to include the user terminal used by a user, comprising user terminal input means that accepts input of information, user terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of data via a predetermined network, and user terminal information processing means that performs information processing; the settlement device that performs settlement of the user's payment, comprising settlement device transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, and settlement device information processing means that performs information processing, and a recording medium that records at least virtual balance information for each user so as to be associated with each user; and the settlement terminal managed by a recipient of the payment from the user, comprising settlement terminal input means that accepts the input of the information, and settlement terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, wherein each of the user terminal, the settlement device, and the settlement terminal is capable of connecting to the network.

The user terminal included in the settlement system including this settlement device is capable of inputting upper limit amount information that is information identifying an amount of an upper limit of the settlement, and amount information that is information identifying an amount to be settled, with the user terminal input means, and transmits the upper limit amount information and user information that is information identifying the user who performs the payment of the amount identified by upper limit the amount information, to the settlement device via the network with the user terminal transmission and reception means; and moreover, the user terminal information processing means comprises a user terminal OTP generation unit that generates a one-time password.

In addition, this settlement device receives the upper limit amount information and the user information from the user terminal with the settlement device transmission and reception means; the settlement device information processing means comprises a credit determination unit that, if the settlement device transmission and reception means has received the upper limit amount information and the user information, executes credit determination that is determination of whether or not the settlement of the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information sent from the user terminal is possible, and if it is determined in the credit determination that the settlement is possible, generates temporary permission information that is information indicating the determination; the settlement device information processing means also comprises a final determination unit that performs final determination of the settlement, and a settlement device OTP generation unit that generates the one-time password identical to the one-time password which is generated in the user terminal if the temporary permission information has been generated; and the settlement device transmission and reception means transmits the temporary permission information generated by the credit determination unit to the user terminal via the network; and moreover, in the recording medium, the one-time password and the upper limit amount information are recorded so as to be associated with each other such that the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information, the upper limit amount information having been used for generating the temporary permission information that has caused the generation of the one-time password in the settlement device OTP generation unit.

In addition, in this settlement system, when the temporary permission information is accepted from the settlement device by the user terminal at the user terminal transmission and reception means, the user terminal OTP generation unit generates the one-time password; and if the one-time password generated and the amount information in the user terminal have been inputted from the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal, and the settlement terminal has sent the one-time password from the settlement terminal transmission and reception means to the settlement device via the network, the virtual balance information associated with a one-time password identical to the one-time password received from the settlement terminal by the settlement device is read out from the recording medium, and also on a condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than an amount identified by the virtual balance information, the final determination unit of the settlement device permits the settlement of the payment from the user of the user terminal to an administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password, and also subtracts the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium.

The user terminal input means of the user terminal may be capable of inputting user terminal cancellation information for identifying and canceling one of settlements performed in the past with the user terminal, after the final determination unit of the settlement device has permitted the settlement, and moreover, the user terminal transmission and reception means may send the user terminal cancellation information to the settlement device via the network. In this case, the settlement device information processing means of the settlement device may comprise cancellation means that, when the user terminal cancellation information has been accepted, cancels the settlement identified by the user terminal cancellation information.

In this way, the user can cancel the settlement that has already been allowed, on the user's own will, and for example, correction is enabled when there has been an error in the settlement.

A similar effect can also be obtained by the following invention.

The settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal may be capable of inputting settlement terminal cancellation information for identifying and canceling one of settlements performed in the past with the settlement terminal, after the final determination unit of the settlement device has permitted the settlement, and moreover, the settlement terminal transmission and reception means may send the settlement terminal cancellation information to the settlement device via the network. In this case, the settlement device information processing means may comprise cancellation means that, when the settlement terminal cancellation information has been accepted, cancels the settlement identified by the settlement terminal cancellation information.

In this case, the administrator of the settlement terminal can cancel the settlement that has already been allowed, on the administrator's own will.

The user terminal cancellation information may also be sent from the user terminal similarly to the above-mentioned case, and the settlement terminal cancellation information may also be sent from the settlement terminal, also similarly to the above-mentioned case, respectively, to the settlement terminal. In this case, the cancellation means may cancel the settlement when the user terminal cancellation information and the settlement terminal cancellation information have been accepted and the settlements identified by the user terminal cancellation information and the settlement terminal cancellation information have matched each other.

In this case, the settlement that has already been allowed can be canceled only if the will of the administrator of the settlement terminal has matched the will of the user having the user terminal.

It should be noted that, in any case of the above three cases, a time in which the cancel of the settlement can be allowed can be limited. For example, an example is that the cancel of the settlement is enabled within 10 minutes since the settlement has been allowed in the settlement device.

The above function of enabling the cancel of the settlement is particularly useful in the case as follows. As mentioned above, the one-time password in the invention of the present application, which is used like the credit card number in the conventional credit card, that is, so-called disposable, and thus a possibility of plagiarism thereof is very low. However, for example, an unknown person may steal a glance at the one-time password displayed by the user on the display or the like of the user's own user terminal such as the smartphone, and a third party who has known the one-time password may send the one-time password, for example, from a settlement terminal at one store to the settlement device, before the user uses the one-time password for the user's own payment, that is, before the user sends the one-time password from a settlement terminal at another store to the settlement device. In the settlement device of the invention of the present application, basically, if the temporary permission information is generated, the authentication of an authentic user is performed, while if the settlement is performed with the one-time password sent from the settlement terminal, it is not necessarily required to check whether or not the authentic user has passed the one-time password to the administrator of the settlement terminal. Accordingly, if a malicious third party, who has stolen a glance at the one-time password displayed on the user terminal of the legitimate user, has used the one-time password before the legitimate user, the settlement device may not be able to find out such fraud.

In order to prevent such fraud, when the final determination unit of the settlement device has not permitted the settlement, the final determination unit generates non-permission information that identifies which settlement has not been permitted and indicates that the settlement has not been permitted, and sends the non-permission information to the settlement device transmission and reception means; and the settlement device transmission and reception means may transmit the non-permission information to the settlement terminal via the network. In this case, the settlement terminal that has accepted the non-permission information may notify an administrator of the settlement terminal of which settlement has not been permitted. In the settlement system having the settlement device and the settlement terminal as above, the administrator of the settlement terminal can know whether or not the settlement has been successful with the one-time password, which the person has received from the user and sent from the settlement terminal to the settlement device, for example, according to content displayed on the display of the settlement terminal based on the non-permission information. If the administrator of the settlement device has, for example, orally informed the user thereof, the user may operate the user's own user terminal to cause the user terminal to generate the above-mentioned user terminal cancellation information, and send the user terminal cancellation information to the settlement device. Thereby, the settlement allowed in the settlement device with the one-time password fraudulently known to the third party can be canceled.

It should be noted that, in this case, the settlement device may transmit the non-permission information only to the settlement terminal as the other party. It is because, in the settlement system of the invention of the present application, the fraudulent use of the one-time password by the third party occurs only if the third party has used the one-time password generated by the legitimate user in the user's own user terminal, before the legitimate user, and the settlement with the one-time password used by the malicious third party before the legitimate user is allowed in the settlement device. In other words, even if the one-time password has been used by the malicious third party, the settlement with the one-time password has been successful, in terms of whether or not the settlement has been successful, and thus the non-permission information cannot be sent to the user terminal at all. Accordingly, the settlement device may send the non-permission information only to the settlement terminal. However, in addition to sending the non-permission information to the settlement terminal, the settlement device may send the non-permission information, or information indicating that the identical one-time password has been used twice (that is, information indicating that the one-time password has been fraudulently used) to the user terminal.

The above processing may simply be processing, by the settlement device, of notifying the settlement terminal, and possibly the user terminal, of whether or not the settlement has been successful with the one-time password sent from the settlement terminal. If the administrator of the settlement terminal has known that the settlement has been permitted, according to content of the notification, the administrator of the settlement terminal may inform the user thereof, that is, of the completion of the payment. This is not different at all from the case of performing the payment by the user in the settlement system using the credit card. In contrast, if the administrator of the settlement terminal has known that the settlement has not been permitted, according to the content of the notification, the administrator of the settlement terminal may inform the user thereof, and prompt the user to cancel the settlement and to generate the one-time password again. While this is a somewhat different procedure from the case of performing the payment by the user in the settlement system using the credit card, this procedure itself further increases certainty of the settlement by the settlement system of the present application.

As mentioned above, the credit determination unit of the settlement device performs the credit determination of whether or not the user can perform the payment with the upper limit amount identified by the upper limit amount information sent by the user from the user terminal. This credit determination may be performed based on the user's occupation, place of employment, annual income, asset situation, and the like, similarly to the case of the credit card or the like.

In contrast, more easily, the credit determination may be performed by comparing the user's deposit balance to the upper limit amount.

In this case, for example, each user's deposit balance may be recorded in the recording medium. In that case, the credit determination unit may perform the credit determination by determining whether or not the amount identified by the upper limit amount information is equal to or less than the user's deposit balance, and generate the temporary permission information on a condition that the amount identified by the upper limit amount information is equal to or less than the user's deposit balance. When such credit determination is performed, since it is ensured that the user has the deposit equal to larger than the upper limit amount, that is, the user can perform the payment of the upper limit amount, there is no possibility of failure to receive money corresponding to the payment by a person who has received the payment with the one-time password generated in the user terminal.

Moreover, as mentioned above, each user's deposit balance may be recorded in the recording medium. In the settlement device in that case, if the temporary permission information has been generated, the upper limit amount information that has caused the generation of the temporary permission information may be subtracted from the deposit balance of the user who has sent the upper limit amount information that has caused the generation of the temporary permission information. This can be employed regardless of whether or not to use the deposit balance in the credit determination. If the user's deposit balance is reduced, and for example, money for the reduction is once moved to an account of the administrator of the settlement device once, or the like, the one-time password issued in the user terminal is put into a state that is not different from a state with security of money of an amount subtracted from the user's deposit balance, and can be regarded as the money itself in a way. This can also be said to be just the same as conversion of a part of the user's deposit balance into virtual currency called “one-time password.”

It should be noted that a state where the user's deposit balance is recorded in the recording medium of the settlement device is a state where the administrator of the settlement device manages at least one deposit account of the user. Such a state can be realized, for example, if the user has previously paid some money to the administrator of the settlement device, that is, if a so-called prepaid system has been employed. Otherwise, if the administrator of the settlement device is a bank or the like that performs deposit management as its business, or also if the administrator of the settlement device is in cooperation with the bank or the like, the user's deposit balance may be recorded in the recording medium of the settlement device.

The inventor of the present application also proposes the following method executed by the settlement device, as one aspect of the invention of the present application. An effect thereby obtained is the same as the effect obtained in the above-mentioned settlement system.

An example of the method is a method executed by settlement device information processing means included in a settlement device for constituting a settlement system which has a user terminal, the settlement device, and a settlement terminal configured to include the user terminal used by a user, comprising user terminal input means that accepts input of information, user terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of data via a predetermined network, and user terminal information processing means that performs information processing; the settlement device that performs settlement of the user's payment, comprising settlement device transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, and the settlement device information processing means that performs information processing, and a recording medium that records at least virtual balance information for each user so as to be associated with each user; and the settlement terminal managed by a recipient of the payment from the user, comprising settlement terminal input means that accepts the input of the information, and settlement terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, wherein each of the user terminal, the settlement device, and the settlement terminal is capable of connecting to the network.

This method is executed by the settlement device information processing means.

Specifically, this method includes, in the settlement device information processing means: a process of, after upper limit amount information that is information identifying an amount of an upper limit of the settlement has been inputted with the user terminal input means in the user terminal, when the upper limit amount information and user information that is information identifying the user who performs the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information have been transmitted to the settlement device via the network with the user terminal transmission and reception means, receiving the upper limit amount information and the user information from the user terminal with the settlement device transmission and reception means; a process of, if the settlement device transmission and reception means has received the upper limit amount information and the user information, executing credit determination that is determination of whether or not the settlement of the payment of the amount identified by the upper limit amount information for the user identified by the user information is possible, and if it is determined in the credit determination that the settlement is possible, generating temporary permission information that is information indicating the determination; a process of generating a one-time password if the temporary permission information has been generated; a process of recording, in the recording medium, the one-time password and upper limit amount information so as to be associated with each other such that the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information, the upper limit amount information having been used for generating the temporary permission information that has caused the generation of the one-time password; a process of transmitting the generated temporary permission information to the user terminal via the network, with the settlement device transmission and reception means; a process of, if, in the user terminal that has accepted the temporary permission information at the user terminal transmission and reception means from the settlement device, a one-time password that has been generated by the user terminal information processing means and is identical to that generated in the settlement device, and the amount information have been inputted from the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal, and the settlement terminal has sent the one-time password and the amount information from the settlement terminal transmission and reception means to the settlement device via the network, receiving the one-time password and the amount information at the settlement device transmission and reception means; and a process of reading out the virtual balance information associated with a one-time password identical to the one-time password received from the settlement terminal by the settlement device, from the recording medium, and on a condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than an amount identified by the virtual balance information, settling the payment from the user of the user terminal to an administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password, and also subtracting the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium.

The inventor of the present application also proposes a computer program for causing a predetermined computer to function as the settlement device included in the settlement system of the invention of the present application, as one aspect of the invention of the present application. An effect thereby obtained is the same as the effect obtained in the above-mentioned settlement system.

An example of the computer program is a computer program for causing a computer to function as a settlement device for constituting a settlement system which has a user terminal, the settlement device, and a settlement terminal configured to include the user terminal used by a user, comprising user terminal input means that accepts input of information, user terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of data via a predetermined network, and user terminal information processing means that performs information processing; the settlement device that performs settlement of the user's payment, comprising settlement device transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, and settlement device information processing means that performs information processing, and a recording medium that records at least virtual balance information for each user so as to be associated with each user; and the settlement terminal managed by a recipient of the payment from the user, comprising settlement terminal input means that accepts the input of the information, and settlement terminal transmission and reception means that performs transmission and reception of the data via the network, wherein each of the user terminal, the settlement device, and the settlement terminal is capable of connecting to the network.

In addition, this computer program causes the computer to execute a process of, after upper limit amount information that is information identifying an upper limit amount to be settled has been inputted with the user terminal input means in the user terminal, when the upper limit amount information and user information that is information identifying the user who performs the payment of the upper limit amount identified by the upper limit amount information have been transmitted to the settlement device via the network with the user terminal transmission and reception means, receiving the upper limit amount information and the user information from the user terminal with the settlement device transmission and reception means; a process of, if the settlement device transmission and reception means has received the upper limit amount information and the user information, executing credit determination that is determination of whether or not the settlement of the payment of the amount identified by the amount information for the user identified by the user information is possible, and if it is determined in the credit determination that the settlement is possible, generating temporary permission information that is information indicating the determination and has also generated a one-time password in a case where the temporary permission information has been generated, and moreover, in the recording medium, the one-time password and the upper limit amount information are recorded so as to be associated with each other such that the upper limit amount information becomes the virtual balance information, the upper limit amount information having been used for generating the temporary permission information that has caused the generation of the one-time password; a process of transmitting the generated temporary permission information to the user terminal via the network with the settlement device transmission and reception means; a process of, if, in the user terminal that has accepted the temporary permission information at the user terminal transmission and reception means from the settlement device, the one-time password identical to the one-time password which is generated in the settlement device generated by the user terminal information processing means and the amount information have been inputted from the settlement terminal input means of the settlement terminal, and the settlement terminal has sent the one-time password from the settlement terminal transmission and reception means to the settlement device via the network, the virtual balance information associated with a one-time password identical to the one-time password received from the settlement terminal by the settlement device is read out from the recording medium, and moreover, on a condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than an amount identified by the virtual balance information; and a process of, on a condition that the amount identified by the amount information received from the settlement terminal is equal to or less than an amount identified by the virtual balance information, settling the payment from the user of the user terminal to an administrator of the settlement terminal with the one-time password, and also subtracts the amount used for the payment, from the virtual balance information recorded so as to be associated with the one-time password used for the payment in the recording medium.

