Electronic money apparatus, method, card and computer readable record medium having electronic money processing program recorded thereon

• US 6,611,819 B1
• Filed: 11/05/1998
• Issued: 08/26/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Oneda, Hideo
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALLEN, AKIBA KANELLE
• Application Number:
  US09/186,149
• Time in Patent Office: 1,755 Days
• Field of Search: 705/41, 705/39, 705/35, 705/1, 705/500, 705/68, 705/69
• US Class Current: 705/41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3676 Balancing accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3678 e-cash details, e.g. blinded, divisible or detecting double spending
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system

Abstract

An IC card incorporates a processor, a memory, etc. The memory stores therein a general electronic money balance having an unlimited use range, a specific electronic money balance having a limited use range, and available genre information defining a use range of the specific electronic money balance. A transfer processing unit serves to transfer a specified amount of money from the general electronic money balance to the specific electronic money balance between two IC cards. A settlement processing unit compares genre information acquired from a purchased commodity or a provided service with the available genre information of the IC card and, only when a coincidence has occurred, deducts the purchased amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the IC card.

Claims

1. An electronic money apparatus, comprising:

a carriable card having an integrated circuit with a processor and a memory, the memory storing therein a general electronic money balance available for any genre purchase, a specific electronic money balance available for specific genre purchases, and available genre information defining the types of purchases for which the specific electronic money balance may be used, the available genre information stored in said card containing a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity;

a transfer processing unit in which a transferor carriable card and a transferee carriable card are placed, the transfer processing unit receiving an amount of money to transfer and a genre code specifying a use restriction of the money to be transferred, acquiring a card number and a password of the transferor card and the transferee card, respectively, setting the use limit flag of the transferee card, registering the genre code in the transferee card, withdrawing the specified amount of money to be transferred from the general electronic money balance of the transferor card and adding the same to the specific electronic money balance of the transferee card, and registering the card number and the password of the transferor card in the transferee card, the transfer processing unit comprising one of a handheld computing device and a personal computer; and

a settlement processing unit comparing genre information acquired from a purchased commodity or a provided service with the available genre information of the transferee carriable card, said settlement processing unit, when a coincidence occurs, deducting the purchased amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the transferee carriable card, said settlement processing unit, when a non-coincidence occurs, prohibiting the deduction from the specific electronic money balance.

2. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said use limit flag has a flag value indicative of the absence of a limit or a flag value indicative of the presence of a limit, and

said flag value indicative of the presence of a limit comprises a plurality of flag values set in accordance with different contents of the limit.

3. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said card stores, in addition to the available genre information paired with the specified amount of money, transferor management information containing a card number and a code number of the transferor card.

4. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

at every transfer from the general electronic money balance to the specific electronic money balance, said card registers the transferred specific electronic money balance and the available genre information.

5. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

upon a transfer of a specified amount of money paired with a specified genre said transfer processing unit registers a card number and a code number of the transferor card into transferor management information of the transferee card,

if, upon a return of a specified amount of money from the specific electronic money balance, a returned card is coincident with the transferor card through a reference to the transferor management information, then said transfer processing unit returns the specified amount of money intactly to the general electronic money balance of the transferor card, and

if the returned card is not coincident with the transferor card, then said transfer processing unit judges that the returned card is a third card different from the transferor card and transfers the specified amount of money paired with one or more corresponding genres to a specified electronic money balance of the third card through the acquisition of a permission for transfer based on the coincidence of collation of an input code number of the transferor card with a code number of the transferor management information.

6. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

upon a transfer of a specified amount of money, said transfer processing unit uses a fixed value as the code number registered in the transferor management information of the transferee card.

7. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

upon a transfer of a specified amount of money, said transfer processing unit varies with each transfer the code number registered in the transferor management information of the transferee card.

8. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said transfer processing unit returns a specified amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of one card to the general electronic money balance of the same card.

9. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

at every transfer of a specified amount of money paired with a specified genre from a general electronic money balance of the transferor card to a specific electronic money balance of the transferee card, said transfer processing unit registers a card number and a code number of the transferor card into transferor management information of the transferee card, and

through the acquisition of a permission for transfer based on a coincidence of collation of the code number of the transferor card with a code number of the transferor management information of the transferee card, said transfer processing unit returns the specified amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the transferee card to the general electronic money balance of the same transferee card.

10. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said settlement processing unit has an item table in which are registered items, item codes and classification codes, and

said settlement processing unit refers to said item table on the basis of a purchased commodity to recognize its classification code or item code, for a comparison with the available genre information of said card.

11. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said settlement processing unit has a price look-up table in which are registered price look-up codes, prices and classification codes, and

said settlement processing unit refers to said price look-up table on the basis of a purchased commodity to recognize its classification code, for a comparison with the available genre information of said card.

12. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said settlement processing unit has a genre management table in which are registered apparatus numbers at settlement sites, store codes and counter codes, and

said settlement processing unit refers to said genre management table on the basis of a purchased commodity to recognize its corresponding code, for a comparison with the available genre information of said card.

13. An electronic money processing method, comprising:

storing a general electronic money balance available for any genre purchase, a specific electronic money balance available for specific genre purchases, and available genre information defining the types of purchases for which the specific electronic money balance may be used, in a carriable card having an integrated circuit with a processor and a memory, the available genre information stored in said card containing a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity;

transferring, one or more specific genres and a specified amount of money from the general electronic money balance of a transferor carriable card to the specific electronic money balance of a transferee carriable card, said transferring comprising

placing a transferor carriable card and a transferee carriable card in a transfer processing unit and receiving, by the transfer processing unit, an amount of money to transfer and a genre code specifying a use restriction of the money to be transferred,

acquiring a card number and a password of the transferor card and the transferee card, respectively,

setting the use limit flag of the transferee card,

registering the genre code in the transferee card, and

withdrawing the specified amount of money to be transferred from the general electronic money balance of the transferor card and adding the same to the specific electronic money balance of the transferee card, and registering the card number and the password of the transferor card in the transferee card, the transfer processing unit comprising one of a handheld computing device and a personal computer; and

comparing genre information acquired from a purchased commodity or service with the available genre information of the transferee carriable card and, when a coincidence occurs, deducting a purchase amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the transferee carriable card and, when a non-coincidence occurs, prohibiting a deduction from the specific electronic money balance.

14. An electronic money processing method according to claim 13, wherein:

the use limit flag has a flag value indicative of the absence of a limit or a flag value indicative of the presence of a limit, and

the flag value indicative of the presence of a limit comprises a plurality of flag values set in accordance with different contents of the limit.

15. An electronic money processing method according to claim 13, wherein

said card stores, in addition to the available genre information, transferor management information containing a card number and the code number of a transferor card.

16. An electronic money processing method according to claim 13, wherein

at every transfer from the general electronic money balance to the specific electronic money balance, the card registers the transferred specific electronic money balance and the available genre information.

17. An electronic money processing method according to claim 16, wherein:

said transferring further includes registering a card number and a code number of the transferor card into transferor management information of the transferee card, upon a transfer of a specified amount of money, and

said transferring further includes, if upon a return of a specified amount of money from the specific electronic money balance a returned card is coincident with the transferor card through a reference to the transferor management information, returning said the specified amount of money intactly to said general electronic money balance of the transferor card, and

said transferring further includes, if the returned card is not coincident with the transferor card, judging that the returned card is a third card different from the transferor card and transferring the specified amount of money paired with one or more corresponding genres to a specified electronic money balance of the third card through the acquisition of a permission for transfer based on the coincidence of collation of an input code number of the transferor card with a code number of the transferor management information.

18. An electronic money processing method according to claims 17, wherein

said transferring further includes using a fixed value as the code number registered in the transferor management information of the transferee card, upon a transfer of a specified amount of money.

19. An electronic money processing method according to claim 17, wherein

said transferring further includes varying with each transfer the code number registered in the transferor management information of the transferee card, upon a transfer of a specified amount of money.

20. An electronic money processing method according to claim 13, wherein

said transferring further includes returning a specified amount of money from the specified electronic money balance of one card to the general electronic money balance of the same card.

21. An electronic money processing method according to claim 13, wherein:

said transferring further includes registering a card number and a code number of a transferor card into transferor management information of the transferee card, at every transfer of a specified amount of money paired with a specified genre from a general electronic money balance of the transferor card to a specific electronic money balance of the transferee card, and

said transferring further includes returning the specified amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the transferee card to the general electronic money balance of the same transferee card, through the acquisition of a permission for transfer based on a coincidence of collation of an input code number of the transferor card with a code number of the transferor management information.

22. An electronic money processing method according to claim 13, wherein:

said comparing further includes having an item table in which are registered items, item codes and classification codes, and

said comparing further includes referring to the item table on the basis of a purchased commodity to recognize its classification code or item code, for comparison with the available genre information of the card.

23. An electronic money processing method according to claim 13, wherein:

said comparing further includes having a price look-up table in which are registered price look-up codes, prices and classification codes, and

said comparing further includes referring to the price look-up table on the basis of a purchased commodity to recognize its classification code, for a comparison with the available genre information of the card.

24. An electronic money processing method according to claim 13, wherein:

said comparing further includes having a genre management table in which are registered apparatus numbers at settlement sites, store codes and counter codes, and

said comparing further includes referring to the genre management table on the basis of a purchased commodity to recognize its corresponding code, for a comparison with the available genre information of the card.

25. A carriable card having an integrated circuit, comprising:

a processor and a memory, said memory storing therein a general electronic money balance available for any genre purchase, a specific electronic money balance available for specific genre purchases, and available genre information defining the types of purchases for which the specific electronic money balance may be used,

wherein the available genre information stored in the carriable card contains a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity, and

wherein the carriable card receives a specified amount of money from the general electronic money balance of another card, the specified amount of money being withdrawn from the other card and added to the specific electronic money balance of the carriable card, and the carriable card receives, from the other card, a genre code specifying a use restriction of the specified amount of money added to the specific electronic money balance and information to set the use limit flag of the carriable card.

26. A carriable card according to claim 25, wherein:

the available genre information contains a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and

said use limit flag has a flag value indicative of the absence of a limit or a flag value indicative of the presence of a limit, said flag value indicative of the presence of a limit comprising a plurality of flag values set in accordance with different contents of the limit, and

the specific genre information contains at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity.

27. A carriable card according to claim 26, wherein

said card stores, in addition to the available genre information, transferor management information containing a card number and a code number of a transferor card.

28. An electronic money transfer apparatus, comprising:

a transfer processing unit transferring a specified amount of money from a general electronic money balance of a transferor carriable card to a specific electronic money balance of a transferee carriable card, the general electronic money balance being available for any genre purchase and the specific electronic money balance being available for specific genre purchases, the transferor and transferee cards each having an integrated circuit with a processor and a memory, the memory storing therein the general electronic money balance, the specific electronic money balance, and available genre information defining the types of purchases for which the specific electronic money balance may be used,

wherein the available genre information contains a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity, and

wherein the transferor carriable card and the transferee carriable card are placed in the transfer processing unit, the transfer processing unit receiving the specified amount of money to transfer and a genre code specifying a use restriction of the money to be transferred, acquiring a card number and a password of the transferor card and the transferee card, respectively, setting the use limit flag of the transferee card, registering the genre code in the transferee card, withdrawing the specified amount of money to be transferred from the general electronic money balance of the transferor card and adding the same to the specific electronic money balance of the transferee card, and registering the card number and the password of the transferor card in the transferee card, the transfer processing unit comprising one of a handheld computing device and a personal computer.

29. An electronic money transfer apparatus according to claim 28, wherein

upon a transfer of a specified amount of money paired with a specified genre said transfer processing unit registers a card number and a code number of the transferor card into transferor management information of the transferee card,

if, upon a return of a specified amount of money from the specific electronic money balance, a returned card is coincident with the transferor card through a reference to the transferor management information, then said transfer processing unit returns the specified amount of money intactly to the general electronic money balance of the transferor card, and

if the returned card is not coincident with the transferor card, then said transfer processing unit judges that the returned card is a third card different from the transferor card and transfers the specified amount of money paired with one or more corresponding genres to a specified electronic money balance of the third card through the acquisition of a permission for transfer based on the coincidence of collation of an input code number of the transferor card with a code number of the transferor management information.

30. An electronic money transfer apparatus according to claim 29, wherein

upon a transfer of a specified amount of money, said transfer processing unit uses a fixed value as the code number registered in the transferor management information of the transferee card.

31. An electronic money apparatus according to claim 29, wherein

upon a transfer of a specified amount of money, said transfer processing unit varies with each transfer the code number registered in the transferor management information of the transferee card.

32. An electronic money transfer apparatus according to claim 28, wherein:

at every transfer of a specified amount of money paired with a specified genre from a general electronic money balance of the transferor card to a specific electronic money balance of the transferee card, said transfer processing unit registers a card number and a code number of the transferor card into transfer or management information of the transferee card, and

through the acquisition of a permission for transfer based on a coincidence of collation of the code number of the transferor card with a code number of the transferor management information of the transferee card, said transfer processing unit returns the specified amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the transferee card to the general electronic money balance of the same transferee card.

33. A computer readable storage medium storing an electronic money processing program, comprising:

a transfer processing module transferring a specified amount of money from a general electronic money balance of a transferor carriable card to a specific electronic money balance of a transferee carriable card, the general electronic money balance being available for any genre purchase and the specific electronic money balance being available for specific genre purchases, the transferor and transferee cards each having an integrated circuit with a processor and a memory and storing therein the general electronic money balance, the specific electronic money balance, and available genre information defining the types of purchases for which the specific electronic money balance may be used; and

a settlement processing module comparing genre information acquired from a purchased commodity or service with the available genre information of the transferee carriable card, said settlement processing module, when a coincidence occurs, deducting the purchased amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the transferee carriable card, said settlement processing module, when a non-coincidence occurs, prohibiting the deduction from the specific electronic money balance,

wherein the available genre information contains a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity, and

wherein the transferor carriable card and the transferee carriable card are placed in the transfer processing unit, the transfer processing unit receiving the specified amount of money to transfer and a genre code specifying a use restriction of the money to be transferred, acquiring a card number and a password of the transferor card and the transferee card, respectively, setting the use limit flag of the transferee card, registering the genre code in the transferee card, withdrawing the specified amount of money to be transferred from the general electronic money balance of the transferor card and adding the same to the specific electronic money balance of the transferee card, and registering the card number and the password of the transferor card in the transferee card, the transfer processing unit comprising one of a handheld computing device and a personal computer.

34. An electronic money apparatus, comprising:

a carriable card having an integrated circuit with a processor and a memory, the memory storing therein a specific electronic money balance available for specific genre purchases, and available genre information defining the types of purchases for which the specific electronic money balance may be used; and

a settlement processing unit comparing genre information acquired from a purchased commodity or a provided service with the available genre information of the carriable card, said settlement processing unit, when a coincidence occurs, deducting the purchased amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the carriable card, and said settlement processing unit, when a non-coincidence occurs, prohibiting the deduction from the specific electronic money balance,

wherein the available genre information stored in the carriable card contains a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity, and

wherein the carriable card receives a specified amount of money from another card, the specified amount of money being withdrawn from the other card and added to the specific electronic money balance of the carriable card, and the carriable card receives, from the other card, a genre code specifying a use restriction of the specified amount of money added to the specific electronic money balance and information to set the use limit flag of the carriable card.

35. An electronic money processing method, comprising:

storing a specific electronic money balance available for specific genre purchases and available genre information defining the types of purchases for which the specific money balance may be used, in a carriable card having an integrated circuit with a processor and a memory; and

comparing genre information acquired from a purchased commodity or service with the available genre information of the carriable card and, when a coincidence occurs, deducting a purchase amount of money from the specific electronic money balance of the carriable card and, when a non-coincidence occurs, prohibiting a deduction from the specific electronic money balance,

wherein the available genre information stored in the carriable card contains a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity, and

wherein the carriable card receives a specified amount of money from another card, the specified amount of money being withdrawn from the other card and added to the specific electronic money balance of the carriable card, and the carriable card receives, from the other card, a genre code specifying a use restriction of the specified amount of money added to the specific electronic money balance and information to set the use limit flag of the carriable card.

36. A carriable card comprising an integrated circuit with a processor and a memory, the memory storing therein a specific electronic money balance available for specific types of purchases and available genre information, the available genre information containing a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity, and

wherein the carriable card receives a specified amount of money from another card, the specified amount of money being withdrawn from the other card and added to the specific electronic money balance of the carriable card, and the carriable card receives, from the other card, a genre code specifying a use restriction of the specified amount of money added to the specific electronic money balance and information to set the use limit flag of the carriable card.

37. An electronic money apparatus, comprising:

a first card storing a general electronic money balance for purchasing any type of item, a specific electronic money balance for purchasing at least one designated type of item, and allowable purchases information defining the types of purchases for which the specific electronic money balance may be used;

a transfer processing unit transferring the allowable purchases information and a specified amount of money from the general electronic money balance of said first card to the specific electronic money balance of a second card; and

a settlement processing unit matching the allowable purchases information from the second card with item information associated with an item to be purchased, and allowing the second card to purchase the item when a match occurs,

wherein the allowable purchases information contains a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity, and

wherein the first card and the second card are placed in the transfer processing unit, the transfer processing unit receiving the specified amount of money to transfer and a code specifying a use restriction of the money to be transferred, acquiring a card number and a password of the first card and the second card, respectively, setting the use limit flag of the second card, registering the code in the second card, withdrawing the specified amount of money to be transferred from the general electronic money balance of the first card and adding the same to the specific electronic money balance of the second card, and registering the card number and the password of the first card in the second card, the transfer processing unit comprising one of a handheld computing device and a personal computer.

38. An electronic money processing method, comprising:

storing, on a first card, a general electronic money balance for purchasing any type of item, a specific electronic money balance for purchasing at least one designated type of item, and allowable purchases information defining the types of purchases for which the specific electronic money balance may be used;

transferring the allowable purchases information and a specified amount of money from the general electronic money balance of the first card to the specific electronic money balance of a second card; and

matching the allowable purchases information from the second card with item information associated with an item to be purchased, and allowing the second card to purchase the item when a match occurs,

wherein the allowable purchases information contains a use limit flag defining the presence or absence of a use limit, and specific genre information containing at least one of an available store, an available counter, an available commodity genre and an available commodity, and

wherein the first card and the second card are placed in the transfer processing unit, the transfer processing unit receiving the specified amount of money to transfer and a code specifying a use restriction of the money to be transferred, acquiring a card number and a password of the first card and the second card, respectively, setting the use limit flag of the second card, registering the code in the second card, withdrawing the specified amount of money to be transferred from the general electronic money balance of the first card and adding the same to the specific electronic money balance of the second card, and registering the card number and the password of the first card in the second card, the transfer processing unit comprising one of a handheld computing device and a personal computer.