On-line shopping system and the method of payment settlement

• US 5,890,137 A
• Filed: 07/26/1996
• Issued: 03/30/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Miroku Jyoho Service Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha NK Kikaku
• Inventors: Koreeda, Hiroki
• Primary Examiner(s): MacDonald, Allen R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Patel, Jagdish
• Application Number:
  US08/687,729
• Time in Patent Office: 977 Days
• Field of Search: 705/24, 705/26, 705/27, 364/408, 380/24
• US Class Current: 705/26.82
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0855 involving a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/425 using two different networks, one for transaction and one for security confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0637 Approvals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

When performing on-line shopping using the Internet, and when performing payment settlement for a product by a credit card, user'"'"'s card data runs over the Internet, leaving the possibility of card data leakage, thereby causing a security problem. The user decides the product he or she wants to buy via a computer network (Internet) from a user system. Then, a transmission unit calls up a service center to send order data including the credit card data via a settlement network. Service center invoices the sales price to an approval center based on the order data. Approval center pays the price to service center. Then, service center sends the order data to the shopping system. A delivery processing unit then delivers the product to the user based on the order data.

Claims

1. An on-line computerized shopping system, comprising:

(a) a store system for memorizing product data and providing a shopping mall for products via a shopping mall network;

(b) a user system including

a product selection unit connected to the shopping mall network, for selecting a product to be purchased from the shopping mall provided by the store system,

a download unit for downloading selected product data from the store system via the shopping mall network, and

a transmission unit for inputting payment settlement data of the product and personal data of a user who selects the product, for automatically setting an independent settlement network connectable to a service center that carries out settlement, when purchasing a downloaded product, the settlement network being different from the shopping mall network, and for transmitting the selected product data, the payment settlement data and the personal data to the service center via the settlement network based on a first protocol; and

(c) the service center for receiving the selected product data, the payment settlement data, and the personal data via the settlement network from the user system and then performing a payment settlement using the payment settlement data and the personal data, and for distributing the selected product data and the personal data to the store system,

wherein the shopping mall network is not used to transmit the payment settlement data.

2. The on-line shopping system of claim 1, further comprising an approval center connectable to the service center via an authorization network for approving the payment settlement based on a second protocol different from the first protocol, and wherein the service center selects at least the payment settlement data among the received product data, the payment settlement data, and the personal data received based on the first protocol, converts the at least the payment settlement data to be a suitable data to the second protocol, and then requests the approval of the payment settlement to the approval center.

3. The on-line shopping system of claim 2, wherein the user system includes an encipherment unit for enciphering at least a part of the selected product data, the payment settlement data, and the personal data, and wherein the service center includes a decoding unit for decoding the enciphered part of the selected product data, the payment settlement data, and the personal data.

4. The on-line shopping system of claim 1, wherein the service center further includes a distribution unit for distributing the product data and the personal data for which the payment settlement has been approved, and wherein the store system further includes a delivery processing unit for receiving the product data and the personal data and then performs a delivery process of the product.

5. The on-line shopping system of claim 2, wherein the payment settlement data includes card data of a credit card, and wherein the approval center approves the payment settlement based on the card data.

6. The on-line shopping system of claim 5, wherein the download unit downloads the product data with the same format from a plurality of different shopping malls, the transmission unit transmits one card data as the payment settlement data for the plurality of products downloaded from the plurality of different shopping malls, and wherein the service center requests the approval center to collectively settle the plurality of products with one card data.

7. The on-line shopping system of claim 6, wherein the user system further includes a product confirmation unit for selecting a product to be purchased from the downloaded products.

8. The on-line shopping system of claim 2, wherein the approval center further includes a payment collection unit for collecting the payment based on the card data.

9. The on-line shopping center of claim 8, wherein the service center further includes an accumulation unit for summing up amounts of the payment settlement based on the card data in correspondence with each of the plurality of the approval centers.

10. The on-line shopping system of claim 2, wherein the settlement network is a network set separately between the user system and the service center and is not addressed by a third party during communication.

11. The on-line shopping system of claim 10, wherein the shopping mall network is the Internet.

12. The on-line shopping system of claim 11, wherein the settlement network is formed by a public line, wherein the first protocol is Point-to-Point Protocol, wherein the second protocol is a protocol which is used between the shop system and the approval center for a shopping by the credit card.

13. A computerized payment settlement method which includes a store system including shopping malls, a user system that selects a product to be purchased from the shopping malls, an approval center that approves a payment settlement, and a service center which exists among the store system, the user system and the approval center, the payment settlement method, comprising steps of:

(a) selecting the product to be purchased from shopping malls offered by the store system via a shopping mall network in the user system;

(b) downloading data of selected products from the store system into the user system via the shopping mall network;

(c) automatically setting an independent settlement network connected to the service center, the settlement network being different from the shopping mall network, and transmitting the data of downloaded products, data for the payment settlement, and data of a purchaser of the product from the user system to the service center using the independent settlement network;

(d) requesting an approval of the payment settlement from the service center to the approval center based on the data for the payment settlement;

(e) approving the payment settlement in the approval center based on the payment settlement data;

(f) distributing product data approved by the approval center for the payment settlement and the data of the product purchaser from the service center to the store system; and

(g) collecting payment in the approval center from the purchaser of the product based on the payment settlement data,

wherein the shopping mall network is not used to transmit the payment settlement data.

14. The payment settlement method of claim 13, wherein the step for requesting the approval of the payment settlement includes a step of converting the received payment settlement data suitable to a predefined approval protocol provided by the approval center and transmitting the converted data to the approval center via a credit authorization network.

15. The payment settlement method of claim 13, wherein the step for selecting the product includes a step of selecting products from different shopping malls, and wherein the step for downloading includes a step of storing the data of products selected from different shopping malls in a same format.

16. The payment settlement method of claim 15, further comprising steps of confirming a product to be purchased based on the product data downloaded between the downloading step and the automatically setting and transmitting step.

17. The payment settlement method of claim 16, further comprising step of providing one credit card data to pay for the plurality of products selected from the different shopping malls between the above downloading step and the transmitting step, and wherein the step for approving the payment settlement includes a step of settling collectively for the plurality of products purchased based on one credit card data.

18. The payment settlement method of claim 17, wherein said selecting includes connecting the user system to the Internet as the shopping mall network to access the shopping mall.

19. A user system for an on-line shopping system including a store system, connected to a shopping mall network, for memorizing product data and for offering a product via the shopping mall network, and using a settlement network connected to a service center the user system comprising:

a product selection unit, connectable to the shopping mall network, for selecting a product to be purchased from the shopping mall offered by the store system via the shopping mall network,

a download unit for downloading selected product data from the store system via the shopping mall network, and

a transmission unit for, when purchasing the downloaded products, automatically setting the settlement network between the service center that performs payment settlement;

wherein, the shopping mall network is not used to transmit payment settlement data, and wherein the settlement network being different from the shopping mall network is used to transmit the selected product data, product payment data, and personal data to the service center.

20. A service center for an online shopping system using a computer network including a store system for memorizing product data and for offering a product from a shopping mall via a shopping mall network, a user system for selecting a product to be purchased from the shopping mall offered by the store system via the shopping mall network, and an approval center for approving a payment settlement, the service center being automatically connectable to a settlement network different from the shopping mall network upon a call from the user system, the service center being arranged to receive selected product data, payment settlement data and personal data via the settlement network from the user system that does not transmit the payment settlement data via the shopping mall network, the service center being further arranged to perform a settlement using the payment settlement data and the personal data, and distributes the selected product data and the personal data to the store system without transmitting the payment settlement data via the shopping mall network.

22. The on-line shopping system of claim 20, wherein the user system includes an encipherment unit for enciphering at least a part of the selected product data, the payment settlement data, and the personal data, and wherein the service center includes a decoding unit for decoding the enciphered part of the selected product data, the payment settlement data, and the personal data.

21. An on-line computerized shopping system, comprising:

(a) a store system constructed and arranged to memorize product data and to provide shopping mall products via a shopping mall network;

(b) a user system constructed and arranged to download product data from the store system via the shopping mall network and to transmit the product data, product payment settlement data, and user data via a payment network based on a first protocol;

(c) a service center constructed and arranged to receive via the settlement network the product data, the product payment settlement data, the user data and to request an approval of payment settlement via a credit authorization network based on a second protocol different from the first protocol, the service center being further arranged to obtain the approval of a payment settlement from an approval center and to perform the payment settlement; and

(d) the approval center constructed and arranged to receive a request for approving the payment settlement from the service center via the credit authorization network and to approve the payment settlement;

wherein the shopping mall network is a network that can be accessed from a third party, and the payment settlement network is a network that communicates exclusively between the user system and the service center, and the credit authorization network is a network used for credit authorization;

wherein the user system transmits the selected product data, payment settlement data, and the user data not to the store system via the shopping mall network but to the service center based on the first protocol via the payment settlement network;

wherein the service center receives the product data, the product payment settlement data, and the user data based on the first protocol, changes at least the product payment settlement data among the received product data, the product payment settlement data, and the user data so as to be fitted to the second protocol, and requests the approval of the payment settlement to the approval center based on the second protocol via the credit authorization network, and obtains the approval, and distributes the product data of which the payment settlement is approved, and the user data to the store system via a communication line, makes the store system receive the product data and the user data, and performs a delivery process of the product;

wherein data transmitted between the user system and the store system via the shopping mall network is only product data being downloaded from the store system to the user system, and

wherein the service center communicates with the user system via the settlement network, the approval center via the credit authorization network, and store system via the communication line, without using the shopping mall network.

23. The on-line shopping system of claim 21, wherein the payment settlement data includes card data of a credit card, and wherein the approval center approves the payment settlement based on the card data.

24. The on-line shopping system of claim 23, wherein the user system includes a download unit arranged to download the product data with the same format from a plurality of different shopping malls, and a transmission unit arranged to transmit one card data as the payment settlement data for the plurality of products downloaded from the plurality of different shopping malls, and wherein the service center requests the approval center to collectively settle the plurality of products with one card data.

25. The on-line shopping system of claim 24, wherein the user system further includes a product confirmation unit for selecting a product to be purchased from the downloaded products.

26. The on-line shopping system of claim 21, wherein the approval center further includes a payment collection unit for collecting the payment based on the card data.

27. The on-line shopping center of claim 26, wherein the service center further includes an accumulation unit for summing up amounts of the payment settlement based on the card data in correspondence with each of the plurality of the approval centers.

28. The on-line shopping system of claim 21, wherein the settlement network is a network set separately between the user system and the service center and is not addressed by a third party during communication.

29. The on-line shopping system of claim 28, wherein the shopping mall network is the Internet.