JPH08147536A - Card balance adjustment method and card processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To incorporate a subsidiary money amount in the card balance of a prepaid card by considering a card utilization total money amount and the subsidiary money amount and calculating an adjustment money amount at the time of card adjustment. CONSTITUTION: Areas 16a-16k are formed in the magnetic stripe 16 of a card 14 and the card balance X, an initial registration money amount A, a subsidiary accumulation amount B, the final month C of subsidiary money supply and a printing position D, etc., are respectively recorded. Then, at the time of adjustment, the card balance X after respective utilization money amounts are successively subtracted from the initial registration money amount A for which a prepaid card purchase money amount and the supplied subsidiary money amount are totaled for every card utilization is read, and when the utilization total money amount obtained by subtracting the card balance X from the inital registration money amount A is more than the subsidiary money amount, the card balance X is paid as the adjustment money amount corresponding to a card adjustment request. On the other hand, when the utilization total money amount is less than the subsidiary money amount, the money amount obtained by subtracting the utilization total money amount from the subsidiary money amount, is subtracted from the card balance X and the money amount after subtraction is paid as the adjustment money amount corresponding to the adjustment request.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card balance settlement method for settlement of an unused card balance in a prepaid card in which the magnetically recorded card balance is reduced and updated each time it is used, and a card balance settlement method. The present invention relates to a card processing device adopted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large-scale factory or a large office building has a cafeteria used by employees working in the factory or office. In such a cafeteria, the customers who use the cafeteria are generally a limited number of people such as employees of this company or business entity or employees of related companies.

In such a dining room, users are concentrated in a specific time zone such as lunch. In order to efficiently pay the meal price in this specific time period, a system that pays with a prepaid card instead of cash payment is often adopted.

In such a prepaid card system, the customer needs to purchase the prepaid card in advance. However, in many cases, even a cafeteria in a factory or building can be used by non-employees. In other words, if there are offices of multiple companies in one building, the cafeteria can of course be used by employees of multiple companies, as well as by outsiders such as visitors to each office. desirable.

When used by such an outside person,
Even if it is used only once, it is necessary to purchase a prepaid card with a certain face value or more. In this case, since it is rare that the payment amount becomes equal to the card face value with one use, it is necessary to settle the unused card balance by some method and return it to the customer.

In order to meet such a demand, for example, a card vending machine for prepaid cards is provided near the entrance of a cafeteria. Then, a card settlement function is added to the card vending machine together with the card selling function.

Therefore, an outpatient purchases a prepaid card with this card vending machine, pays for the meal with this prepaid card, and when the meal ends and leaves the dining room, an unused card with this card vending machine Just settle your balance.

[0008]

However, the card vending machine having the card selling function and the card settlement function described above still has the following problems to be solved. That is, some companies often take measures to reduce the burden of meal costs on employees as one of the welfare services for employees. For restaurants that are used by an unspecified number of people, the company generally does not provide financial assistance directly to the restaurants, but instead provides employees with meal assistance such as 3500 yen per month. is there. In this case, it is necessary to make sure that the supplementary amount of money is used for the meal,
Payment is made by meal tickets etc. without cash payment.

However, since the meal ticket cannot be used in the cafeteria of the prepaid card system, the supplementary amount such as 3500 yen for one month may be added to the card balance of the prepaid card.

However, if the prepaid card having the card balance to which the subsidy amount is added is settled by the above-mentioned card vending machine, for example, when the meal payment amount for one month is less than the subsidy amount for one month, There is a problem that part of the subsidy is actually paid in cash for the subsidy of food. Therefore, it was not possible to incorporate the subsidy amount into this prepaid card.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. Even when the card is settled, the total amount used by the card and the supplementary amount are taken into consideration to calculate the settlement amount so that Even if the amount is small, it is possible to prevent a portion of the subsidy amount from being paid in cash, and the subsidy amount can be added to the card balance of the prepaid card, further increasing the operational range of the prepaid card system. An object of the present invention is to provide a card balance settlement method that can be further expanded and a card processing device that employs this card balance settlement method.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the card balance settlement method of the present invention, the card purchase amount recorded on the prepaid card and paid by the user of the prepaid card and the subsidy amount to be provided. Read the total initial registration amount and the card balance after each use amount is sequentially reduced for each card use from this initial registration amount, and the total use amount obtained by subtracting the card balance from the read initial registration amount is subsidized. When the amount is more than the amount, the card balance will be paid as the settlement amount in response to the card settlement request. On the other hand, when the total usage amount obtained by subtracting the card balance from the read initial registration amount is less than the subsidy amount, the amount obtained by subtracting the total usage amount from the subsidy amount is subtracted from the card balance according to the card settlement request. Pay later amount as settlement amount.

Further, in the card processing device of the present invention, in response to a card loading request, a card issued by adding the separately inserted amount to the card balance recorded in the prepaid card inserted into the card insertion slot. It has an addition process and a card settlement process for discharging a settlement amount based on the card balance in response to a card settlement request.

Then, for the card addition process, an auxiliary amount adding means for adding an auxiliary amount to be provided in addition to the input amount to the card balance of the prepaid card, and the card balance after the addition as an initial registration amount to the prepaid card. An initial registration amount recording means for recording is added, and a total use amount calculation means for calculating the total use amount obtained by subtracting the card balance from the initial registration amount for the card settlement process, and the calculated total use amount. Is the amount above the subsidy amount, the card balance is the settlement amount, and when the total amount used is less than the subsidy amount, the amount obtained by subtracting the total amount used from the subsidy amount is reduced from the card balance, and the amount after this reduction is the settlement amount Amount calculation means and are added.

Further, in another invention, the subsidy amount adding means in the card processing device of the above-mentioned invention is subsidized based on a subsidy payment instruction recorded in a subsidy card separately inserted into a card insertion slot. The amount of money is added to the card balance together with the amount of money input.

In another invention, the prepaid card of the card processing device of the invention described above includes a card balance,
In addition to the initial registration amount, attribute information indicating the attribute of the holder of this prepaid card is recorded. Then, the value of the subsidy amount to be paid is determined based on this attribute information.

Further, in the card processing device of the present invention, the card loading process is recorded in the prepaid card inserted in the card insertion slot, the initial registration amount, the card balance, and the subsidy amount provided at regular intervals. In the last, the card information reading means for reading the card information such as the final period when the supplementary amount is added to the card balance, the unused supplementary accumulated amount, and the card read when the final period read does not include the current time. A card with a new card balance that is the sum of the amount of money inserted and the amount of subsidy added to the new card balance, and the amount of money that is added to the amount of money read when the final period read includes the current time as the new card balance. The balance update means and when the last period read does not include the current time, and the read card balance is reduced from the read initial registration amount. When the total amount for use exceeds the read accumulated total amount for supplement, the first auxiliary accumulated amount updating means for setting the supplement amount for auxiliary amount, and when the last period read does not include the current time, and the total amount for use Is less than the read supplementary cumulative amount, the second supplementary cumulative amount updating means for updating the total supplementary amount to the sum of the supplementary amount and the new total amount of supplementary amount; The initial registration amount updating means for making the card balance as the initial registration amount, and the final period updating means for making the period including the current time the final period when the last period read does not include the current time, respectively. It is composed of a card issuing means for writing card information such as initial registration amount, card balance, final period, and supplementary accumulated amount on a prepaid card and ejecting it.

Further, the card settlement process is performed when the total amount of usage obtained by subtracting the card balance read from the card information reading unit and the initial registration amount read by the card information reading unit is equal to or more than the read supplementary amount. , The first settlement amount calculation means that uses the card balance as the settlement amount, and when the total usage amount is less than the supplementary cumulative amount, the amount obtained by subtracting the total usage amount from the supplementary cumulative amount is reduced from the card balance, and after this reduction It is composed of a second settlement amount calculation means for making the amount to be the settlement amount and a card balance settlement means for discharging money corresponding to the settlement amount calculated by the first and second settlement amount calculation means.

[0019]

In the card balance settlement method configured as described above, in the card balance of the prepaid card, the initial registration amount obtained by summing the card purchase amount paid by the card user and the subsidy amount provided, and the initial registration amount. The card balance after each usage amount is sequentially reduced from the registration amount for each card usage is recorded.

Therefore, it is possible to grasp the total amount of money used when the settlement request is issued. When the total amount of usage exceeds the supplementary amount, it is determined that the supplementary amount provided by the card user has been used up, for example, for meals. In this case, the card balance may be paid to the card user as the settlement amount.

On the other hand, if the total amount of use is less than the subsidy amount, a part of the subsidy amount is paid in cash when the total amount of the card balance is used as the settlement amount. Judging that it is a part of the amount of money,
By paying the card user the amount obtained by subtracting the subtracted amount from the card balance as a settlement amount, it is possible to prevent a part of the supplementary amount from being paid in cash.

Further, in the card processing device of the present invention, "card addition processing" and "card settlement processing" can be carried out. In the card addition process, the supplementary amount is added to the card balance and the input amount is added. In this case, since it is necessary to calculate the total card usage amount when the settlement request is generated, the initial registration amount is updated every time the card is added, using the card balance after the addition as the initial registration amount.

When a settlement request is issued, the total amount of usage after the current amount of subsidy is paid is accurately calculated using the initial registration amount updated at the time of the previous card entry. Therefore, by calculating the settlement amount by the above-described calculation method, it is possible to prevent a part of the subsidy amount from being paid in cash.

In another invention, as a method of adding the subsidy amount to the card balance of the prepaid card, since the subsidy card is inserted into the card insertion slot from the outside, the subsidy amount is used as the card processing device. There is no need to manage the timing and number of times of addition to the card balance.

In another invention, attribute information of the holder of this prepaid card is stored in the prepaid card, and the value of the subsidy amount is set based on this attribute information. Therefore, in the same prepaid card system, for example, Different amounts of subsidy can be set for each company.

Further, in the card processing device of another invention, generally, the subsidy amount is provided every fixed period, but even if the unused subsidy amount is carried over for a plurality of periods, when the settlement occurs, It is possible to prevent payment of a part of the carried forward subsidy amount, that is, a part of the subsidy cumulative amount.

[0027] For example, in principle, the amount of subsidy provided every fixed period such as one month must be used up within that period. However, some companies allow the unused amount of subsidy to be carried over to the next period. There is a case. in this case,
When this settlement request is generated by properly managing this unused subsidy accumulated amount, not only the subsidy amount paid in the current period but also the amount equivalent to the unused subsidy amount carried over from the previous period You shouldn't pay.

Therefore, in the card processing device of the present invention, the prepaid card has the initial registration amount, the card balance,
The card information such as the final period and the cumulative amount of subsidy is stored. When the above-mentioned card addition occurs, not only the initial registration amount and the card balance but also the final period and subsidy in which the subsidy amount was added to the card balance at the end The cumulative amount is also updated to the correct value at that time.

At the time of settlement, the correct settlement amount is calculated in consideration of not the supplementary amount but the supplementary accumulated amount including this supplementary amount and the present total usage amount. Therefore,
For employees who use this prepaid card, it is possible to carry over the unused subsidy amount in the next period,
A more advantageous prepaid card system incorporating this card processing device can be constructed.

[0030]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of a card vending machine as a card processing device adopting the card balance settlement method of the embodiment.

In this card vending machine 1, an operation panel 3 formed on the front surface of a door 3 of a substantially box-shaped case 2 is provided.
In a, a money insertion slot for inserting banknotes 4, a card insertion slot 5 for inserting a prepaid card being used by a customer, an indicator 6 for electronically displaying various operation guidance and the amount of money to be deposited, and general customers other than employees. Is a sales key 7 for purchasing a new prepaid card, an add-on key 8 for adding the input amount to the card balance of the prepaid card in use, and a settlement key 9 for settlement of the card balance of the prepaid card in use
Is provided.

Further, on the operation panel 3a, a cancel button 10 for canceling the selling operation and the addition operation,
A call button 11 for calling a clerk, a money return opening 12 for returning the settlement amount, a card exit 13 for ejecting a new prepaid card or an added prepaid card, and the like are provided.

The amount of prepaid card that can be sold by this card vending machine 1 is 2000 yen, 3000 yen, 40 yen.
00 yen. The amount of money is in the unit of 1,000 yen, such as 5,000 yen, 10,000 yen,
It is necessary to select three kinds of banknotes that can be inserted into the money insertion slot 4, a 1,000-yen note, a 5,000-yen note, and a 10,000-yen note, which does not cause change. Similarly, the amount of money that can be added is in the unit of 1,000 yen.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a prepaid card 14 that can be handled by the card vending machine 1. As shown in FIG. 2A, names such as “shopping card” and the names of usable cafeterias are printed in advance on the surface of the card body made of polyester or the like. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, a heat-sensitive material forming a printing surface 15 for thermally printing characters such as an initial registration amount is attached to the back surface of the card body. The magnetic stripe 16 is formed inside.

On the printing surface 15, the initial registration amount 17a written when the card is first issued, the "initial amount" message 17b, the "add card" message 17c, the updated initial registration amount 17d when the card is added,
The “payment completed” message 17e or the like is printed.

As shown in FIG. 3, regions 16a to 16k are formed in the magnetic stripe 16 and the region 1
6a, 16b, 16c, 16d are a series of card numbers.
Areas 16e and 16f are recorded with the card type indicating the prepaid card, the date of issue, and the issuing company code.
I specify the holder of this prepaid card 14
D (employee code) and recitation number are recorded. Also,
In the areas 16g, 16h, 16i, 16j, and 16k, the card balance X, the initial registration amount A, the supplementary accumulated amount B,
Last month of subsidy payment C. The printing position D and the like are recorded.

The final month C as the final period is recorded in the form of numbers 1 to 12 for the months from January to December. That is, in the prepaid card system in which the card vending machine 1 is incorporated, a subsidy amount W of, for example, 3500 yen is given to each employee from the company to which the employee belongs. It is paid by being added to the card balance X of the card 14.

The ID and the secret code are used to confirm the identity when the prepaid card 14 is reissued due to loss or the like. Further, the issuing company code and the ID are used when the attributes such as the company to which the holder of the prepaid card 14 belongs and the status thereof are determined as necessary.

The prepaid card 14 sold by the card vending machine 1 to general customers other than employees is
D, recitation number, initial registration amount A, supplementary amount B, and last month C are not recorded.

Then, all the above-mentioned areas 16a-16
The prepaid card 14 in which all information is written in k
It is issued while confirming the person with another card writer at the company to which the employee who uses this cafeteria belongs.

Also in the card vending machine of this embodiment, for example, by inserting an ID card or the like into the card insertion slot and confirming the person himself / herself, all areas 16 described above can be obtained.
It is also possible to automatically sell the prepaid card 14 in which all the information is written in a to 16k.

The card stocker in the card vending machine 1 stores a raw card in which only the card number and the card type have been written in advance. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the card vending machine 1 shown in FIG.

A card reader / writer 19 in which a card reader and a card writer are incorporated in a single device in a control device 18 configured to execute various information processing, for example, a microcomputer, and a printing surface 1 on the back surface of the prepaid card 14.
5, a print control unit 2 for driving a thermal printer 20 for thermally printing various characters 17a to 17e such as initial registration amount.
1, a communication interface 22 for transmitting and receiving various kinds of information to and from a host computer of each company (not shown), an input / output interface 23, a storage unit 24 formed of a RAM and the like, and various devices arranged on the operation panel 3a. An operation panel interface 25, a clock circuit 26 for measuring the current time, and the like are connected.

In the input / output interface 23, a money processing storage unit 27 installed in the case 2, a card stocker 28 for storing a large number of raw cards described above, and a card reader / writer 2 for storing raw cards from the card stocker 28.
A card transport mechanism 29 for transporting to 0 is connected.

Further, the operation panel interface 25 is connected to the display 6, the sales key 7, the settlement key 9, the add-on key 8, the cancel button 10, the call button 11 and the like shown in FIG.

In the storage section 24, the card information from the card number shown in FIG. 3 to the printing position D shown in FIG. 3 read from the areas 16a to 16k of the magnetic stripe 16 of the prepaid card 14 by the card reader / writer 19. Card information memory 24a for temporarily storing the cash Y1 and cash cashing memory 24b for storing the total amount Y2 of the cash Y1 deposited by one customer.
Are formed.

Further, in the storage unit 24, a sales totaling memory 24c for totaling the total sales amount of the prepaid card 14 sold by the card automatic vending machine 1 and the sales amount of cash only, and a raw card for the new prepaid card 14 are stored. Memory 24 for storing the number of newly issued sheets issued as
d, the amount of money (cash) that has been inserted and added to the inserted prepaid card 14 that has been reissued to store the number of additional cards to be issued, and the additional number of issued cards memory 24e, and the settlement of the unused card balance X of the issued prepaid card 14 A settlement totaling memory 24f and the like for totaling the settlement amount in the case of performing.

When the card automatic vending machine 1 is powered on, the control device 18 follows the flow charts of FIGS. 5 to 7 to perform "add-on processing" for the prepaid card 14, "sales processing" for the new prepaid card, and The program is configured to execute a “balance settlement process” of the card balance for the prepaid card 14 in use.

When the flow chart of FIG. 5 is started, the operation guide for [insert card, insert money] is displayed on the display device 6. Then, at S (program step) 1, the operation panel 3a
When some sales operation is executed on the above, the type of the executed operation is checked. Thousands of yen from the cash slot 4 at S2,
When a banknote of 5,000 yen or 10,000 yen is inserted, the amount Y1 of the inserted money read by the money processing storage unit 27 in S3.
Is added to the total amount Y2 of the cash input memory 24b of the storage unit 24. Of course, the total amount Y2 is zero at first. Next, the total amount Y2 of the cash input memory 24b is displayed on the display unit 6.

Then, when the next selling operation is executed on the operation panel 3a and additional bills are inserted in S4,
Returning to S3, the amount of money inserted this time is added to the total amount of money Y2 in the cash insertion memory 24b.

Next, when the selling operation is not a money insertion operation in S2 or S4 and the issued prepaid card 14 is inserted into the card insertion slot 5 in S5, the card reader / writer 19 inserts it in S6. Prepaid card 14
3 of the magnetic stripe 16 of FIG.
Card number recorded in k, card type, date of issue,
The card information including the issuing company code, ID, personal identification number, card balance X, initial registration amount A, supplementary accumulated amount B, final month C, printing position D, etc. is read and stored in the card information memory 24a. Then, the card balance X of the read card information is displayed on the display 6 (S7). Then, the process returns to S1 and waits for the next operation.

If the selling operation executed in S1 is the key operation of the add-on key 8 in S8 in FIG. 6, the process proceeds to S9 and it is confirmed that the card information is stored in the card information memory 24a. Then, the process proceeds to S10 to read the card balance X, the initial registration amount A, the auxiliary accumulated amount B, the final month C, and the printing position D from the card information memory 24a.

Next, the month C _R to which the current time read from the clock circuit 26 in S11 belongs is the card information memory 24.
If it is after the last month C of a ( _CR > C), it is determined that the subsidy amount W of this month has not been paid yet.

In practice, the month C _R to which the current time belongs is January, and the last month C of the card information memory 24a may be December. Information of C _R is, the numbers of the year has been appended to the digits of the month. For example, [95-1] and [94-12] are stored.

Then, the total usage amount E from the time when the subsidy amount W is paid last time to this time is obtained by subtracting the card balance X from the initial registration amount A (S12). Total usage amount E = A−X If the total usage amount E is equal to or more than the auxiliary cumulative amount B (S1
3) By this time, it is judged that the unused subsidy amount carried over from the previous month to this month has been used up. And the subsidy cumulative amount B
The subsidy amount W to be paid this time is set. In addition,
If the card has not been added for two months or more, the amount for the previous month is also added, so the supplementary accumulated amount B is represented by the following formula (S14).

Supplementary accumulated amount B = W (C _R -C) Then, in S15, the last month C is updated to this month C _R (C
= C _R ). If the total amount of use E is less than the cumulative amount of supplement B in S13, it is determined that the unused supplement amount carried over from the previous month to this month has not been used up to this time.
Then, the amount to be carried over to this month, which is obtained by subtracting the total amount of use E from the accumulated amount of supplementary B, is the supplementary amount W newly provided this month.
The supplementary cumulative amount B of this time is calculated by adding to (S16).

[0057] auxiliary cumulative _{B = W (C R -C)} + B-E and, updates the last month C in this month C _R at S17 (C
= C _R ). When the update processing for the auxiliary cumulative B is finished, the card balance X to put the total amount Y2 in the previous W (C _R -
C) is added to update the card balance X (S18).

[0058] card balance _{X = X + W (C R} -C) + Y2 It should be noted that, if the current month C _R is equal to the last month C at S11 (C _R = C) is already subsidy W of this month the card balance X Since the supplementary amount B has already been added, the process proceeds to S18 without updating the supplementary accumulated amount B, and the total deposit amount Y2 is added to the card balance X.

At S19, the initial registration amount A is set to the card balance X.
And the initial registration amount A is updated (A = X).
Then, using the thermal printer 20, as shown in FIG. 2B, on the back surface 15 of the prepaid card 14, a character 17c of "add on" and a character 17d of the updated initial registration amount A are placed at the position indicated by the print position D. Print. Then, the print position D is updated (S21). Then, the updated card balance X, the initial registration amount A. The card information including the accumulated cumulative amount B, the last month C, the printing position D, and the like is written in the inserted prepaid card 14, and the prepaid card 14 is ejected from the card ejection port 13. After that, registration and clear processing for each memory of the storage unit 24 is performed, and a series of card addition processing ends.

The selling operation executed in S1 is shown in FIG.
If it is the key operation of the sales key 7 in S23 in S23, it is a sales operation of the new prepaid card 14 by cash. Therefore, the process proceeds to S24, the activation command is sent to the card transport mechanism 29, and the card stocker 28 is stored. One raw card is conveyed to the card reader / writer 19.

Then, in S25, the cash input memory 24b
The total amount Y2 is written in the area 16g of the magnetic stripe 16 of the raw card as a new card balance X. The initial registration amount A is the card balance X. Note that the other area 16
The auxiliary cumulative amount B and the final month C of i to 16j are not written at all to distinguish from the regular prepaid card 14 carried by the employee, or set to a specific value such as "FFF". It This setting prevents erroneous payment of the supplementary amount W to the prepaid card 14 sold to the general customer by the card vending machine 1.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, the character 1 of the initial registration amount A is printed on the printing surface 15 of the prepaid card 14.
7a and the character 17b of "initial amount" are printed (S2
6). Then, the process proceeds to S21.

The sales operation executed in S1 is shown in FIG.
If it is the key operation of the settlement key 9 in S27 in step S27, it is determined that it is a settlement request operation for the card balance of the prepaid card 14 being inserted. Then, in S28, it is confirmed that the card information is stored in the card information memory 24a, and the card balance X, the initial registration amount A, the auxiliary accumulated amount B, and the printing position D are read (S29).

Then, in S30, the total amount E of use this time is calculated (E = AX). The total amount of use E is the cumulative amount of subsidy B
In the above case (S31), since all the subsidy amount W including the subsidy amount W provided and the subsidy amount carried over from the previous month have been used up, the card balance X is set as the settlement amount F (S3).
2).

Settlement amount F = X On the other hand, in S31, if the total amount of use E is less than the cumulative amount of supplementary amount B, all of the subsidy amounts provided have not been used up, so the unused amount (BE) is set. The amount subtracted from the card balance X is set as the settlement amount F (S38).

Payment amount F = X- (BE) In this case, if the unused amount (BE) is larger than the card balance X (S39), the payment is not permitted and the display 9 indicates A message is displayed (S40).

When the settlement becomes possible, the money corresponding to the settlement amount F is discharged to the cash return port 12 in S33 (S33), and the card balance X, the initial registration amount A, and the supplementary accumulated amount B.
Are set to [0] respectively (S34), and then, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the printing surface 1 of the prepaid card 14
The character 17e of "payment completed" is printed on 5 (S36).
Finally, the card balance X, the initial registration amount A, and the supplementary accumulated amount B, which are respectively set to [0], are written in the prepaid card 14, and the prepaid card 14 is inserted into the card outlet 1.
Discharge from 3.

In the prepaid card system in which the card vending machine 1 configured as described above is incorporated, the employees of each company who uses the cafeteria write all information on the magnetic stripe 16 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The prepaid card 14 is purchased by paying money corresponding to the initial registration amount A. At the time of the first issue, the subsidy cumulative amount B
Indicates the subsidy amount W for one month, and the final month C indicates the purchase month.

The employee pays at the cafeteria using the prepaid card 14. Then, when the card balance X decreases, the prepaid card 14 is inserted into the card insertion slot 5 of the card vending machine 1 of the embodiment arranged near the entrance of the cafeteria, and the required amount is added. The money for use is inserted into the money insertion port 4. Then, when the add-on key 8 is pressed, the prepaid card 14 in which the card balance X to which the total amount of money Y2 to be added is written is inserted into the card outlet 1.
Emitted from 3.

In this case, when the day when the card is inserted is the month following the month in which the card is issued, not only the total amount of money Y2 to be inserted but also the amount of assistance W for the current month is added to the card balance X. If the subsidy amount X for the current month has already been added to the card balance W, it will not be added.

Then, this employee leaves the company,
If you do not want to use this cafeteria because you are transferred to another city, etc., insert the prepaid card 14 that the employee has in use into the card insertion slot 5 of the card vending machine 1 Press. Then, money corresponding to the card balance X recorded in the prepaid card 14 is returned from the money return port 12 as the settlement amount F.

In this case, the amount obtained by subtracting the unused amount from the subsidy amount already paid from the card balance X is finally paid to this employee as the settlement amount F. That is, in the card balance X of the prepaid card 14, an initial registration amount A obtained by summing the card purchase amount paid by the card user and the subsidy amount W provided at a fixed period, and the card usage from the initial registration amount A The card balance X after each usage amount is sequentially reduced, the auxiliary cumulative amount B, and the final month C are recorded for each.

Therefore, even if the unused subsidy amount is carried over for a plurality of months, the carried subsidy amount, that is, the subsidy accumulated amount B can be correctly grasped at the time of settlement. Further, the total usage amount E at the time when the settlement request is generated can be accurately obtained.

Therefore, not only when the total amount of use E is less than the supplementary amount W of the current month, but when the total amount of use E is less than the unused supplementary accumulated amount B accumulated over the past plural months, , The card balance X cannot be paid as it is as the settlement amount F. Then, an amount obtained by subtracting the amount (BE) corresponding to the unused portion from the card balance X is paid as the settlement amount F.

Therefore, even if the unused subsidy amount is carried over for a plurality of periods, it is possible to prevent the carried subsidy amount, that is, a part of the subsidy accumulated amount from being paid in cash when the settlement is generated. It

Since the prepaid card 14 sold directly to the general restaurant user other than the employee by the card vending machine 1 is not added with the subsidy amount W from the beginning, when the prepaid card 14 is settled, Card balance X
All payments are unconditionally paid.

Therefore, it is possible to construct a prepaid card system that can be used by both employees who are provided with the subsidy amount and general customers who are not provided with the subsidy amount at the same time. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a subsidy card used in a card vending machine as a card processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

This subsidy card 31 has the same structure as the prepaid card 14 described above, and it is indicated on the card surface that this card is the subsidy card 31. Then, in the magnetic stripe 32, as shown in FIG. 9, the card number, the card type, the issuing date, the issuing company code, and the supplementary amount W are recorded. This subsidy card 31 is provided once a month as a meal assistance from the company to which each employee who uses this cafeteria belongs.

Further, the magnetic stripe 16 of the prepaid card 14 handled by the card vending machine of this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 10, the last month C of subsidy payment is not recorded therein. The other information is the same as the information of the prepaid card 14 shown in FIG.

Further, an auxiliary amount memory for storing the auxiliary amount W shown in FIG. 9 read from the auxiliary card 31 is formed in the storage unit 24 of the card vending machine of this embodiment. The other hardware configuration is almost the same as that of the card vending machine 1 of the previous embodiment shown in FIG.

Then, the card vending machine of the embodiment processes the card according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5, 11, 12 and 7. Note that the reading process when the prepaid card 14 in FIG. 5 is inserted and the monetary process when money is thrown in are as described above, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. Further, since the settlement process of the prepaid card 14 in FIG. 7 is also as described above, the description will be omitted. Therefore,
Here, the operations of the addition process and the sales process shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 will be described.

When the operation of S1 of FIG. 5 is the insertion of the subsidy card 31 into the card insertion slot 5 in Q1 of FIG. 11, after confirming that the prepaid card 14 is not being inserted (Q2), the subsidy is provided. Magnetic stripe 32 on card 31
The card information is read (Q3), and the supplementary amount W in the card information is temporarily stored in the supplementary amount memory of the storage unit 24 (Q4).

After that, the subsidy amount W is updated to the value [0] (W = 0), and the subsidy amount W updated to [O] is written to the inserting subsidy card 31 (Q5). The gold card 31 is ejected (Q6). That is, it is possible to prevent the once used subsidy card 31 from being used again.

When the add-on key 8 is pressed in Q7, it is confirmed that the card information is stored in the card information memory 24a. Then, the process proceeds to Q8, and the card balance X, the initial registered amount A, the auxiliary accumulated amount B, and the printing position D are read from the card information memory 24a.

Next, in Q9, the total usage amount E from the time when the subsidy amount W is paid last time to this time is obtained by subtracting the card balance X from the initial registration amount A. Total usage amount E = A−X If the total usage amount E is equal to or more than the auxiliary cumulative amount B (Q1
0) By this time, it is judged that the unused subsidy amount carried over from the previous month to this month has been used up. Then, if the subsidy memory W is stored in the subsidy memory (Q11), the subsidy amount W to be paid this time is set for the cumulative subsidy amount B (Q12).

Supplementary Amount B = W If the total amount of use E is less than the supplementary accumulated amount B in Q10, it is judged that the unused supplementary amount carried over from the previous month to this month has not been used up to this time. To do. If the subsidy amount W is stored in the subsidy memory (Q1
4) Addition of the amount to be carried over this month, which is obtained by subtracting the total amount of use E from the accumulated amount of supplementary B, to the amount of supplementary amount W newly provided in this month, to calculate the accumulated amount of supplementary B in the current addition process ( Q15).

Subsidiary cumulative amount B = W + B−E When the updating process for the subsidy cumulative amount B is completed, the total amount Y2 of deposit and the preceding subsidy amount W are added to the card balance X in Q13 to update the card balance X. To do.

Card balance X = X + W + Y2 If the subsidy amount W is not stored in the subsidy memory in Q11 or Q14, it is determined that the subsidy card 31 has not been used in the addition process this time. , The supplementary amount W = 0 and the supplementary accumulated amount B and the card balance X are updated. As a result, the card balance X = X + Y2.

Then, the updated card balance X is set to the initial registration amount A (Q17). Initial registration amount A = X Then, using the thermal printer 20, as shown in FIG. 2B on the printing surface 15 of the prepaid card 14, the character 17c of "add on" and the initial value after the update at the position indicated by the printing position D The character 17d of the registered amount A is printed (Q18). Then, the print position D is updated (Q19). Updated card balance X, initial registration amount A. The card information including the supplementary accumulated amount B, the printing position D, and the like is written in the prepaid card 14 being inserted, and the prepaid card 14 is inserted into the card ejection slot 1.
It is discharged from 3 (Q21). After that, registration and clear processing for each memory of the storage unit 24 is performed, and a series of card addition processing ends.

Further, the sales operation executed in S1 is shown in FIG.
If the key operation of the sales key 7 of Q23 in 2 is a sales operation of the new prepaid card 14 by cash, the process proceeds to Q23, the activation command is sent to the card transport mechanism 29, and the card is stored in the card stocker 28. The one raw card present is conveyed to the card reader / writer 19.

Then, the total amount Y2 of the cash input memory 24b is set as the card balance X, and this card balance X is set as the initial registration amount A. Further, the auxiliary cumulative amount B is set to a specific value such as "FFF" in order to distinguish it from the regular prepaid card 14 owned by the employee (Q24). Next, the initial registration amount A is printed on the printing surface 1 of the prepaid card 14.
5 is printed (Q25), and the print position D is updated (Q2
6).

After that, the card balance X, the initial registration amount A,
The printing position D is written on the magnetic stripe 16 of the new prepaid card 14 (Q27). Then, the new prepaid card 14 is ejected from the card ejection port 13.

In the prepaid card system in which the card vending machine having the above-mentioned structure is incorporated, the subsidy amount W is magnetically recorded on the subsidy card 31 by the company and provided to each employee every month. Therefore, each employee inserts the subsidy card 31 into the card insertion slot 5, and after the subsidy card 31 is ejected from the card ejection slot 13, the prepaid card 14 in use is inserted into the card insertion slot 5. insert. Then, when the add-on key 8 is pressed, the supplementary amount W recorded on the supplementary card 31 is added to the card balance X of the prepaid card 14 being inserted, and the prepaid card 14 is ejected.

In this case, if a banknote is inserted from the money insertion slot 4 before the addition key 8 is pressed, the total amount Y2 of the inserted amount is also added to the card balance X at the same time. In addition, in the card vending machine having such a configuration, the card vending machine itself determines whether or not the subsidy amount W for this month has already been added to the card balance X of the inserted prepaid card 14 in use. You don't have to. Further, it is not necessary to record the final month C in which the supplementary amount W is finally added to the card balance X on the prepaid card 14 itself. Therefore, the software configuration of the card vending machine can be simplified.

Since the payment operation and the calculation method of the payment amount when the employee pays the unused card balance X recorded in the prepaid card 14 being used are the same as those of the vending machine of the previous embodiment. The description is omitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described method and apparatus of each embodiment. In the device of the embodiment, in the process of calculating the settlement amount F of the prepaid card 14, the total amount E of use this time is carried over from the previous month (previous period) in addition to the subsidy amount W provided this month (this period). It is determined whether the amount is equal to or more than the cumulative amount of subsidy B added with the unused subsidy amount or less.

However, generally, the unused subsidy amount carried over from the previous month (previous period) is a small amount, and it is considered that the total usage amount E is not significantly smaller than the subsidy amount W over two months. Therefore, ignoring this carry-over amount, in the process of calculating the settlement amount F of the prepaid card 14, the total usage amount E of this time is equal to or more than the subsidy amount W paid each month (each period) or less. In some cases, it may be sufficient to determine whether or not

In this case, in the formula for calculating the settlement amount F described above, the supplementary accumulated amount B = the supplementary amount W may be set. In this way, by ignoring the carry-over amount of the very small unused subsidy amount, it is not necessary to record the subsidy cumulative amount B in the prepaid card 14, and the "add-on process" and "settlement process" in the card vending machine are possible. Can be simplified.

Further, in the apparatus of the embodiment, the subsidy amount W paid to the employee in each month (period) is assumed to be constant. However, in a cafeteria used by the employees of a plurality of companies, the subsidy amount W may differ depending on each company. In such a case, each company can easily cope with it by arbitrarily setting the subsidy amount W recorded on the subsidy card 31 provided to each employee.

Further, when the subsidy card 31 is not used, the card vending machine 1 makes a prepaid at the time of adding the subsidy amount W to the cumulative subsidy amount B or in the process of adding the subsidy amount W to the card balance X. Attributes such as the name of the company to which the holder of this prepaid card 14 belongs and the status in the workplace are read from the issuing company code and ID stored in the card 14, and the subsidy amount W corresponding to each preset attribute is obtained. The above calculation may be carried out.

Furthermore, in each embodiment of the vending machine,
The settlement amount F in the case of paying the prepaid card 14 to which the subsidy amount owned by the employee is added is directly paid in cash. However, it is also possible to send this settlement amount F to the host computer of the company to which this employee belongs and add it to the salary payment amount of this employee.

[0102]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the card balance settlement method and the card processing device adopted in the prepaid card system in which the prepaid card in which the subsidy amount is added to the card balance is used, the prepaid card When the balance of an unused card is settled, the settlement amount is calculated in consideration of the total amount of money used by this card and the subsidy amount.

Therefore, even if the total card usage amount is less than the subsidy amount paid, it is possible to substantially prevent a part of the subsidy amount from being paid in cash as a settlement amount. As a result, the subsidy amount can be incorporated into the card balance of the prepaid card, and it is possible to construct a prepaid card system that is very convenient for prepaid card users and companies that pay the subsidy amount. It can be expanded further.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a card vending machine adopting a card balance settlement method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a prepaid card used in the vending machine of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing each data recorded on a magnetic stripe of the same prepaid card.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example vending machine.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vending machine of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of the vending machine of the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the vending machine of the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a subsidy card used in a card vending machine according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing each data recorded on the magnetic stripe of the subsidy card.

FIG. 10 is a view showing each data recorded on the magnetic stripe of the prepaid card used in the vending machine of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vending machine of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the operation of the vending machine of the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Card vending machine, 4 ... Money slot, 5 ... Card slot, 6 ... Display, 7 ... Sales key, 8 ... Add-on key, 9
… Payment key, 12… money return slot, 13… card exit slot,
14 ... Prepaid card, 16 ... Magnetic stripe, 18
... control device, 19 ... card reader / writer, 20 ... thermal printer, 22 ... communication interface, 24 ... storage unit, 26 ... clock circuit, 31 ... subsidy card

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An initial registration amount recorded on a prepaid card, the sum of the card purchase amount paid by the prepaid card user and the subsidy amount provided, and the use amount for each card use from the initial registration amount. The card balance after being sequentially reduced is read, and when the total amount of usage obtained by subtracting the card balance from the read initial registration amount is equal to or more than the subsidy amount, the card balance is settled in accordance with a card settlement request. When the total usage amount obtained by subtracting the card balance from the read initial registration amount is less than the subsidy amount, the amount obtained by subtracting the total usage amount from the subsidy amount is requested by the card in response to a card settlement request. A card balance settlement method, which is characterized by deducting from the balance and paying the amount after deduction as the settlement amount. 2. In response to a card addition request, a card addition process of issuing by adding the separately inserted amount to the card balance recorded in the prepaid card inserted into the card insertion slot, and responding to the card settlement request In the card processing device that executes a card settlement process for discharging a settlement amount based on the card balance, the card addition process adds a supplementary amount to be paid to the card balance of the prepaid card in addition to the input amount. Subsidy amount adding means to
An initial registration amount recording means for recording the card balance after addition as an initial registration amount on the prepaid card, wherein the card settlement process calculates a total amount of use obtained by subtracting the card balance from the initial registration amount. Total amount calculation means, and when the calculated total usage amount is greater than or equal to the subsidy amount, the card balance is settled, and when the total usage amount is less than the subsidy amount, the total usage amount is reduced from the subsidy amount. A card processing apparatus, comprising: a settlement amount calculation means for reducing the amount of money from the card balance and setting the reduced amount as a settlement amount. 3. The subsidy amount adding means adds the subsidy amount to be paid based on a subsidy payment instruction recorded on a subsidy card separately inserted in a card insertion slot to the card balance together with the input amount. The card processing device according to claim 2, wherein the card processing device is a card processing device. 4. The prepaid card records attribute information indicating an attribute of a holder of the prepaid card, in addition to the card balance and the initial registration amount, and is provided based on the attribute information. The card processing device according to claim 2, wherein the value of the subsidy amount is determined. 5. In response to a card addition request, a card addition process of adding a separately inserted amount of money to a card balance recorded in a prepaid card inserted in a card insertion slot and issuing it, and a card settlement request In the card processing device that executes a card settlement process for discharging a settlement amount based on the card balance, the card addition process is recorded on a prepaid card inserted into a card insertion slot, an initial registration amount, a card A card information reading unit for reading card information such as a balance, a final period in which the subsidy amount to be provided at regular intervals is added to the card balance, and an unused subsidy accumulated amount, and the read. When the final period does not include the current time, the amount of the added card and the supplementary amount is added to the read card balance as a new balance. Card balance updating means for making a new card balance an amount obtained by adding the input amount to the read card balance when the read final period includes the current time, and the read final period When does not include the current time,
When the total usage amount obtained by subtracting the read card balance from the read initial registration amount exceeds the read auxiliary cumulative amount, first auxiliary cumulative amount updating means for setting the auxiliary cumulative amount as the auxiliary cumulative amount. And when the last period read does not include the current time,
When the total usage amount is less than the read supplementary amount, the sum of the supplementary amount and the supplementary amount is subtracted from the total utilization amount to obtain a new supplementary amount. Auxiliary accumulated amount updating means, initial registration amount updating means for making the updated card balance as an initial registration amount, and when the last period read does not include the current time, the period including the current time is the final period. And a card issuing means for writing card information such as the updated initial registration amount, card balance, final period, supplementary accumulated amount, etc. to the prepaid card and discharging the final period, the card settlement process. , The card information reading unit, and the total amount of usage obtained by subtracting the card balance read from the initial registration amount read by the card information reading unit is equal to or more than the supplementary accumulated amount read. At this time, a first settlement amount calculation means for setting the card balance as a settlement amount, and when the total usage amount is less than the supplementary accumulated amount, an amount obtained by subtracting the total utilization amount from the supplementary accumulated amount is calculated from the card balance A second settlement amount calculation means that reduces the amount and uses the reduced amount as a settlement amount; and a card balance settlement that discharges money corresponding to the settlement amount calculated by the first and second settlement amount calculation means. And a card processing device.