JPH04149794A - Prepaid card settling system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a rough standard of a balance from the number of aimed printing lines by printing out a balance on a standard printing area when the balance becomes less than a threshold. CONSTITUTION:The prepaid card settling system is provided with a remaining line counting part 23 for counting up the number of remaining lines in a details printing area of a prepaid card, a threshold setting part 24 for setting up a threshold to be compared with a balance rate based on a balance and a balance printing part 25 for printing out data and a balance in the standard printing area 22 when the balance is less than the threshold at the time of comparing the balance with the threshold. The number of remaining lines in a printing area is counted by the means 23, and when there is no remaining line in the details printing area 21, the means 24 sets up plural thresholds to be compared with a balance and the means 25 selectively compares the plural thresholds with the balance in each settlement, and when the balance becomes less than the thresholds, prints out a date and the balance in the area 22. Even when a previously determined printing area disappears, the balance of the card can be known as a standard without executing the carry-over processing of the card.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding a prepaid card payment machine used when paying with a prepaid card, even if a predetermined printing area runs out, the card balance can be calculated without carrying over the prepaid card. In a prepaid card payment system consisting of a prepaid card and a prepaid card payment machine that performs payment settlement with Prepaid Card F and prints the payment history on the prepaid card, the printing area of the prepaid card is The prepaid card payment machine is divided into a detailed printing area and a reference printing area, and includes a counting means with a crosspiece for counting the number of lines remaining in the printing area in the prepaid card payment machine, a threshold setting means for setting a threshold value to be compared with the balance, and a threshold value setting means for setting a threshold value to be compared with the balance amount, and a counting means for setting a threshold value for comparing the balance value with the above-mentioned threshold value. When the balance falls below the above threshold,
By providing a balance printing means for printing the balance in the guideline printing area, when the number of remaining lines in the printing area is counted by the above-mentioned counting means and there is no remaining line in the detail printing area, the balance is being printed by the threshold value setting means. Set multiple thresholds to be compared with, and selectively compare the balance with the multiple thresholds each time a payment is made using the balance printing means, and when the balance falls below the threshold, print the balance in the guide print area. Configure.

(Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a prepaid card payment machine used when paying with a prepaid card, which is attracting attention as a new payment method in the distribution industry.

Such cards are also called PET cards. This is because the material of the card is made of polyethylene terephthalate, on which a magnetic thin film is formed and a certain amount of money guaranteed by the card issuer is recorded on this magnetic thin film. Then, the card holder makes a payment up to that amount at a store, etc.

These PET cards are produced at a much lower cost than conventional cash cards issued by banks, etc., and they become obsolete after being used for a certain period of time, so they are discarded.

Payment is made by inserting the card into a prepaid card payment machine that has a card reader/writer that can read and write to the card.

[Conventional technology]

Since the balance of a prepaid card is recorded magnetically, a way for the user to immediately know the balance is to use a dedicated display device that reads and displays the magnetic record. However, as a simpler method, a method has been put into practical use in which the balance is printed and recorded on the front of the prepaid card each time the card is used.

However, if a printed record is printed every time a card transaction is made, even if there is a balance on the card, the transaction record will fill up the area of the card and cannot be recorded.

Several solutions have been published to solve the problem of not being able to immediately know the balance of a prepaid card. JP-A-2-62695 proposes a method that uses both guideline printing and balance printing, but this method has the disadvantage that the balance is not printed even if there is a printing area.

Conventionally, the following method was used when the card ran out of printing space even though there was still money left on the card.

■Print a mark ($) on the last line of the statement printing section, and when the card balance reaches 0 yen, print ¥0.

■Print a message (Nant F 2 + Ty Cine Kaimas) on the till section and carry over the card.

FIG. 5 shows the printing area of a conventional prepaid car F. In (a) of the figure, a mark ($) is printed on the last line of the details printing section, and when the card balance reaches 0 yen, ¥0 is printed.
In (1)), a message is printed on the till part.

Such functions are realized by the Ablication Program in the prepaid card payment machine.

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a prepaid card payment machine.

In the figure, 1 is a control unit, 2 is an operation unit through which the operator gives instructions to the prepaid card payment machine, and 3 is a display unit on which the prepaid card payment machine displays a message to the operator;
4 is a journal printing unit that prints records, 5 is a file that stores a logging file that stores records and a preset file that stores initial setting conditions, and 6 is a card that reads or writes prepaid card data. Reader/writer 7 is an abbreviation program that controls the prepaid card payment machine.

The prepaid card payment machine first reads the initial setting conditions from the preset file and performs initial settings. ■Read the prepaid card inserted into the card reader/writer by the customer using the prepaid card. ■Record the payment amount input by the operator from the operation unit. ■Display the amount displayed on the prepaid card and the amount input from the operation section on the display section 3. ■Pay the amount displayed on the prepaid card and the amount entered from the operation panel. ■Display the results in the display section 3, journal print section 4,
Transfer to a logging file for display, journal printing, and file recording. A series of payment operations are performed. Of these actions, either ■ or ■ may come first, and ■
It may also be executed separately by and ■.

The application program includes a setting function for initializing the prepaid card payment machine, an inquiry function for making inquiries regarding prepaid cards, a payment function for settling payments made with prepaid cards, a settlement function for tallying and settling daily sales, It consists of an inspection function to check the functions of the prepaid card payment machine, a communication function to communicate with the host computer, etc.

The above card printing function is realized within the payment function.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, with the system that prints a mark ($) on the last line of the statement print section and prints ¥0 when the remaining amount on the card reaches 0 yen, it is not possible to know the remaining amount on the card until the remaining amount reaches 0 yen. Also, in card carryover processing, there was a drawback that card carryover processing could not be performed unless the user went to a place where there was a new card that had not been written on.

In view of these problems, it is an object of the present invention to roughly know the remaining amount of a card without performing card carryover processing even if a predetermined printing area runs out.

[One step to solving the problem] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

In a prepaid card payment system consisting of a prepaid card and a payment machine for the prepaid card that performs payment settlement with the prepaid card and prints a payment history on the prepaid card, the printing head area of the prepaid card is set as a statement printing area 21 and a guide mark.

A counting means 23 with a frame for counting the number of lines remaining in the printing area in the prepaid card payment machine, a threshold setting means 24 for setting a threshold value to be compared with the balance, and a threshold value setting means 24 for setting a threshold value for comparing the balance with the above-mentioned threshold value. By providing a balance printing section 25 that prints the balance in the guideline printing area 22 when the balance falls below the threshold value, the number of lines remaining in the printing area is counted by the counting means 23 and the remaining lines are printed in the detail printing area 21. When there is no remaining number of lines, the threshold value setting means 24 sets a plurality of threshold values to be compared with the balance, and the balance printing means 25 selectively compares the balance with the plurality of threshold values each time a payment is made to determine the balance. The balance is configured to be printed in the standard printing area 22 when the balance falls below the threshold value.

[For production]

The number of remaining lines in the printing area is counted by the crosspiece counting means 23, and when there is no remaining number of lines in the detail printing area 21, the threshold value setting means 24 sets a plurality of threshold values to be compared with the balance, and the balance printing means 25
Each time a payment is made, the balance is selectively compared with the plurality of threshold values, and when the balance falls below the threshold, the date and balance are printed in the standard printing area 22.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. 23 in the figure
24 is a threshold setting unit that sets a threshold value to be compared with the balance based on the balance; 25 is a threshold value setting unit that compares the balance with the threshold value and determines whether the balance exceeds the threshold value; This is a leftover item printing section that prints an H mark and the balance in the guideline printing area 22 when the amount is exceeded. Other parts with the same symbols as in FIG. 6 are the same.

The counting unit 23, the threshold value setting unit 24, and the balance printing unit 25 are provided in the payment function of the application block 7 Gram 7.

FIG. 3 shows a control flow of the crosspiece counting section 23, the threshold value setting section 24, and the balance printing section 25. In addition, the printing area of the prepaid car F is as shown in Fig. 4(a) - Soda printing part (3 lines,
27 digits), a detail printing section (35 lines, 12 digits), a guideline printing section (5 lines, 12 digits), and a till printing section (1 line, 27 digits).

The following operation shows the operation when the print area of the standard print section has only 5 lines, and the number changes depending on the number of lines in the print area.

First, in step 60, the remaining printing area is calculated by counting the number of lines to be printed on the details printing section 21, and it is checked whether the remaining number of lines is O. If the remaining number of lines is O, the process goes to step 61. Return to the flow.

In step 61, it is determined whether the balance of 115 is recorded. If it is not recorded, proceed to step 62; if it is recorded, proceed to step 64. When the remaining number of lines becomes 0, the balance of 115 at that time is Record it and use it as a threshold for subsequent printing.

In step 62, the balance M is divided into five equal parts and M15 is stored.

In step 63, n is set to 4 and stored. Step 6
2 and step 63 are initial settings for the guideline display.

In step 64, the balance obtained by subtracting the current payment amount from the old balance written on the card, that is, the new balance and nX
M15, that is, the first threshold value is compared, and if the threshold value is not exceeded, the process proceeds to step 67, and if it is below the threshold value, the process proceeds to step 65.

In step 67, the payment is settled, but the result is not printed. And it ends.

In step 65, the new balance and date are set at 5 of the guide printing section 22.
-Print on the nth line.

Next, in step 66, the value obtained by subtracting 1 from n is stored as n, and the process ends. In both step 65 and step 67, the calculation results are written into the card, displayed on the display unit 3, recorded in the logging file in the file 5, and printed in the journal print unit 4.

An example of card printing when this control is performed is shown in Figure 4 ('b
).

As mentioned above, as long as the prepaid card has the statement printing section 21, it will be printed on the card every time you pay with the card, but even if the statement printing section 21 is gone, you can still get a rough estimate by looking at the printing on the guideline printing section 22. You can get an idea of how much money you have left by looking at the number of lines printed and the balance printed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, by looking at the printing in the guideline printing area of a prepaid card, it is possible to obtain an estimate of how much balance there is from the number of lines of guideline printing.
There is an effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
The figures show a control flow of an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 shows card printing in an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 5 shows conventional prepaid card printing, and Fig. 6 shows the configuration of a conventional prepaid card payment machine. In the figure, 1 is a control unit, 3 is a display unit, 5 is a file, 6 is a card reader/writer, 2 is an operation unit, 4 is a journal print unit, is an application program, 1 is a detail print area or a detail print unit, 2 is a guideline printing area or a guideline printing section; 3 is a counting means with crosspieces; or a counting section with crosspieces; 4 is a threshold setting means or a threshold setting section; 5 is a balance printing means or a balance printing section; 0 to 67 are operation steps. , Figure 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 of the embodiment of the present invention (Question 4 (a) 0) of a conventional prepaid card. Prepaid card payment machine configuration

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a prepaid card payment system comprising a prepaid card and a prepaid card payment machine that performs payment settlement using the prepaid card and prints a payment history on the prepaid card, the printing area of the prepaid card is a detailed printing area. (21) and a standard printing area (22), and the remaining line counting means (2) counts the number of remaining lines in the printing area in the prepaid card payment machine.
3), threshold setting means (24) for setting a threshold value to be compared with the balance, and balance printing for comparing the balance with the threshold value and printing the balance in the guide printing area (22) when the balance is below the threshold value. By providing means (25) and, when the number of remaining lines in the printing area is counted by the forced counting means (23) and there is no remaining line in the detail printing area (21), the threshold setting means (24) Set a plurality of threshold values to be compared with the balance, and use the balance printing means (25) to selectively compare the balance with the plurality of threshold values each time a payment is made, and when the balance falls below the threshold, the guide print area is displayed. (22) A prepaid card payment system characterized by printing the balance on the board.