ELECTRONIC SETTLEMENT SYSTEM, SETTLEMENT APPARATUS, AND TERMINAL

• US 20070130025A1
• Filed: 02/08/2007
• Published: 06/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kioba Processing, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC), Keiichi Nakajima
• Original Assignee: Softbank BB Corporation (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakajima, Keiichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,865,401 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4012 Verifying personal identification numbers [PIN]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/10 together with a coded signal , e.g. in the form of personal identification information, like personal identification number [PIN] or biometric data
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1075 PIN is checked remotely

Abstract

A simple, easy, and safe electronic settlement system is provided. A user terminal such as a cellular phone is wirelessly connected to a synchronizing server. A cashier server of a mail order retailer activates a virtual cashier terminal, and connects to the synchronizing server. The synchronizing server sets a transaction identifying number in order to identify the transaction, and sends to the user terminal information about the cashier server and the transaction identifying number. A user confirms the cashier server, and returns the transaction identifying number to the synchronizing server. The synchronizing server completes a transaction between the virtual cashier terminal and the user terminal, both of which are corresponded to each other by the transaction identification number. The user can complete a settlement of mail order without telling his or her personal information such as a credit card number or a password to a mail order retailer. A security of the system is improved.

Claims

1. An electronic settlement server system for setting up a transaction through a communication network, which communicates with a paying terminal including an information indicating unit with an actual register comprising an input unit for inputting information regarding the transaction in association with the actual register;

a communicating section connected to the communication network; and

a processing unit for setting up link information including transaction ID information and transmitting said link information which is indicatable in the information indicating unit of said paying terminal through said communicating section when said communicating section receives both the transaction ID information and information regarding the transaction from the actual register, said processing unit establishing a synchronization of communication between the paying terminal and the actual register one-to-one upon receipt of both the same transaction ID information and a signal in response to the link information from the paying terminal.

2. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a paying terminal database which stores information about said paying terminal, wherein

said communicating module detects a calling telephone number of said paying terminal,

said processing unit retrieves information about a user of said paying terminal from said paying terminal database based on said calling telephone number, and said processing unit inquires at least one of a registration status of said user, a payment history of said user, and available amount of said user.

3. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said processing unit retrieves at least a part of attribute information of said user of said paying terminal from said paying terminal database, and said communicating section transmits to said actual register at least a part of said attribute information of said user of said paying terminal.

4. A settlement server system as claimed in claim 2, wherein when said communicating section receives a message which demands a purchase history of said user of said paying terminal, said processing unit retrieves said purchase history of said user from said paying terminal database, and said communicating section transmits said purchase history to said paying terminal.

5. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the settlement server system authenticates said user, by said processing unit retrieving authentication information registered by said user of said paying terminal from said paying terminal database,

said communicating section transmits an instruction which inquires said authentication information to said paying terminal, and said paying terminal receives an answer inputted corresponding to said instruction from said paying terminal, and

said processing unit inquires said answer received from said paying terminal to said authentication information retrieved from said paying terminal database.

6. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 5, wherein said paying terminal database stores a plurality of authentication information registered by said user, and said processing unit selects at least one of said plurality of authentication information from said paying terminal database at random.

7. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

said authentication information registered by said user of said paying terminal, which said processing unit retrieves from said paying terminal database, is at least one of a password of said user, voice data spoken from said user, a face image data of said user, a image data of iris or retina of said user, and an image data of finger print of said user, and

said answer said processing unit receiving from said paying terminal in order to inquire with said authentication information is at least one of character data, voice data, and image data.

8. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communicating section receives from said actual register an item ordering information which is for a user of said paying terminal to input an order of an item,

said communicating section transmits said item ordering information to said paying terminal, and

when said paying terminal transmits an order of item, inputted by said user of said paying terminal based on said item ordering information, to the server system, said communicating section transmits said order of item to said actual register.

9. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a voice database which stores user voice data of said paying terminal, wherein:

said communicating section transmits a message which prompts said paying terminal to input user voice and receives said user voice from said paying terminal, and

said processing unit, by inquiring said voice of said user using said voice database, authenticates said user.

10. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the actual register comprises a cashier provided at an actual store and being operable by a clerk and said communicating section receives the information regarding the transaction provided by a user of said paying terminal, from the input unit of the actual register.

11. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the paying terminal comprises at least one of a cellular phone, a PDA and a notebook type personal computer;

and the information regarding the transaction comprises paying terminal information including at least one of a telephone number and an e-mail address of said paying terminal.

12. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input unit of the actual register comprises at least one of a light communication receiving unit, a short range wireless communication receiving unit, an infrared communication receiving unit and a pattern code reader.

13. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising:

a paying terminal database for storing paying terminal information including at least one of a telephone number and an e-mail address of the paying terminal; and

an actual register database for storing actual register information including at least information for identifying said actual register;

which information being indicated on said indicating unit of said paying terminal;

wherein said processing unit identifies the paying terminal based on the paying terminal information transmitted from said actual register with the paying terminal information stored in said paying terminal database and transmits the actual register information as a part of the link information to said paying terminal through the communicating section.

14. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 13, wherein said processing unit transmits the actual register information with an internet address to the paying terminal.

15. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the paying terminal further comprises at least one of a light communication transmitting unit, a short range wireless communication transmitting unit, an infrared communication transmitting unit and a pattern code indicating display for transmitting the paying terminal information.

16. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communicating section comprises:

a first communicating unit connected to the actual register via a first communicating network; and

a second communicating unit connected to the paying terminal via a second communicating network.

17. An electronic settlement server system as claimed in claim 1, wherein, during the synchronizing, said communicating section receives a purchase amount of the transaction which is indicatable in the information indicating unit of the paying terminal from the actual register and transmits the same to the paying terminal and said processing unit processes a settlement of the transaction upon receipt of a signal in response to the purchase amount from the paying terminal.

18. An electronic settlement system for setting up a transaction through a communication network, comprising:

a paying terminal which is operated for participating in the transaction, said paying terminal being connectable to the communication network and having an information indicating unit;

a virtual register which is connectable to the communication network for participating in the transaction with said paying terminal;

a communicating terminal including an input unit for inputting information regarding the transaction;

an order-receiving center including an order-receiving unit for receiving the information regarding the transaction through said input unit of said communicating terminal; and

a synchronizing server communicating with said paying terminal, said order-receiving center and said virtual register, said synchronizing server sets up a link information including transaction ID information in every transaction and transmits said link information to said paying terminal upon receipt of the information regarding the transaction transmitted by said order-receiving unit, and said synchronizing server establishing a synchronization of communication between said paying terminal and said virtual register one-to-one upon receipt of both the same transaction ID information and a signal in response to the link information from said paying terminal.

19. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 18, further comprising a cashier server connected to said synchronizing server via the communicating network, said cashier server generating said virtual register.

20. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 18, wherein said paying terminal comprises at least one of a cellular phone, a PDA and a notebook type personal computer;

and said information regarding the transaction comprises paying terminal information including at least one of a telephone number and an e-mail address of said paying terminal.

21. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

a paying terminal database for storing paying terminal information including at least one of a telephone number and an e-mail address of the paying terminal; and

a virtual register database for storing virtual register information including at least information for identifying said virtual register, which information being indicated on said indicating unit of said paying terminal;

wherein said synchronizing server identifies said paying terminal based on the paying terminal information transmitted from said communicating terminal and the paying terminal information stored in said paying terminal database and transmits the virtual register information as a part of the link information to said paying terminal.

22. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 21, wherein said synchronizing server transmits the virtual register information with an internet address to said paying terminal.

23. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the virtual register information includes information relating to an item for the transaction.

24. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the information regarding the transaction includes a number listed in at least one of a mail order advertisement and a catalog distributed to a user in advance

25. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 18, wherein said order-receiving center is connectable to said synchronizing server via a communicating line.

26. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 18, wherein said communicating terminal includes a phone and said order-receiving unit receives the information regarding the transaction inputted from said input unit of said communicating terminal with voice.

27. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 18, wherein said paying terminal comprises at least one of a cellular phone, a PDA and a notebook type personal computer;

and

said order-receiving center is connectable to said synchronizing server via at least one of a telephone line, a private line and a LAN.

28. An electronic settlement system for setting up a transaction through a communication network, comprising:

a paying terminal which is operated for participating in the transaction, said paying terminal being connectable to the communication network and including an information indicating unit;

an actual register which is connectable to the communication network for participating in the transaction with said paying terminal, said actual register comprising an input unit for inputting information regarding the transaction, said actual register transmitting a transaction ID information in association with said actual register;

a synchronizing server communicating with said paying terminal and said actual register through the communicating network, said synchronizing server receiving both said transaction ID information and information regarding the transaction from said actual register, said server setting up link information including the transaction ID information and transmitting said link information to said paying terminal, and said synchronizing server establishing a synchronization of communication between said paying terminal and said actual register one-to-one upon receipt of both the same transaction ID information and a signal in response to the link information from said paying terminal.

29. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 28, wherein said actual register comprises a cashier provided at an actual store and being operable by a clerk and said input unit of said actual register inputs the information regarding the transaction provided by a user of said paying terminal.

30. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 28, wherein said paying terminal comprises at least one of a cellular phone, a FDA and a notebook type personal computer;

and said information regarding the transaction comprises paying terminal information including at least one of a telephone number and an e-mail address of said paying terminal.

31. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 28, further comprising:

a paying terminal database ID for storing paying terminal information including at least one of a telephone number and an e-mail address of the paying terminal; and

an actual register database for storing actual register information including at least information for identifying said actual register, which information being indicated on said indicating unit of said paying terminal;

wherein said synchronizing server identifies said paying terminal based on the paying terminal information transmitted from said actual register with the paying terminal information stored in said paying terminal database and transmits the actual register information as a part of the link information to said paying terminal.

32. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 31, wherein said synchronizing server transmits the actual register information with an internet address to said paying terminal.

33. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 32, wherein said paying terminal further comprising at least one of a light communication transmitting unit, a short range wireless communication transmitting unit, an infrared communication transmitting unit and a pattern code indicating display for transmitting the paying terminal information.

34. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 28, wherein said input unit of said actual register comprises at least one of a light communication receiving unit, a short range wireless communication receiving unit, an infrared communication receiving unit and a pattern code reader.

35. An electronic settlement system as claimed in claim 28, wherein, during the synchronizing, said actual register transmits a purchase amount of the transaction to the paying terminal through the synchronizing server, said information indicting unit of said paying terminal indicates the purchase amount of the transaction for the user of said paying terminal and said synchronizing server processes a settlement of the transaction upon receipt of a signal in response to the purchase amount from said paying terminal.

36. A recording medium which stores a program for a computer, for setting up a transaction through a communication network, which communicates with a paying terminal including an information indicating unit with an actual register comprising an input unit for inputting ID information regarding the transaction in association with the actual register;

a communicating module which operates the computer to communicate with the actual register and with the paying terminal through the communication network; and

a processing module for setting up link information including the transaction ID information and transmitting said link information which is indicatable in the information indicating unit of said paying terminal through said communicating module when said communicating module receiving both the transaction ID information and information regarding the transaction from the actual register, said processing module establishing a synchronization of communication between the paying terminal and the actual register one-to-one upon receipt of both the same transaction ID information and a signal in response to the link information from the paying terminal.

37. A computer program for a computer, for setting up a transaction through a communication network, which communicates with a paying terminal including an information indicating unit with an actual register comprising an input unit for inputting information regarding the transaction in association with the actual register;

a communicating module which operates the computer to communicate with the actual register and with the paying terminal through the communication network; and

a processing module for setting up link information including transaction ID information and transmitting said link information which is indicatable in the information indicating unit of said paying terminal through said communicating module when said communicating module receives both the transaction ID information and information regarding the transaction from the actual register, said processing module establishing a synchronization of communication between the paying terminal and the actual register one-to-one upon receipt of both the same transaction ID information and a signal in response to the link information from the paying terminal.