JPH10302155A - Electronic Funds Transfer Meter and Funds Transfer Method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To provide an electronic money transfer meter and method using an IC card by increasing the efficiency of utility charge operation, measuring usage amount by period, calculating usage fee and displaying usage fee. With the goal. SOLUTION: The present invention relates to an IC card reading unit 200 for reading an IC card, an LCD module 210 for displaying an operation menu and a processing result, a keypad unit 230 for inputting with various keys, a public service institution and a financial institution. Communication module 260 for transmitting and receiving data, and the memory unit 24 for storing a remote control and operation program of a measuring instrument from a public service organization and a financial institution through a communication network.
0, IC card reading unit 200, LCD module 2
10, a keypad unit 230, a memory unit 240, and a communication module 260, and a scale control unit 220 that executes a program stored in the memory unit 240.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a measuring instrument, and more particularly to an electronic fund transfer having an IC card-based fund transfer function in addition to a function of measuring usage amount by period, calculating a usage fee and displaying a usage fee. It relates to a measuring instrument and a fund transfer method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, various utility metering devices (electricity, gas, water, etc.) are constituted by an accumulation counter for simply calculating a usage amount. The consumer knows the usage amount from the accumulation counter, but does not know the fee for the usage amount. The procedure for paying the usage fee is as follows. First, the measurement staff of the public service organization measures the amount used by the consumer and performs remote meter reading for a certain period of time. Thereafter, the measured data is converted into a computerized data so that the measured data can be processed electronically, the usage amount is converted into a usage fee, and an individual bill for the usage fee is sent to the consumer. The consumer checks the billing details of the bill and pays the bill individually through a bank counter within the designated time limit.

[0003] As described above, since the present utility meter comprises only a cumulative counter for displaying only the usage amount, it is often necessary to charge individual monthly usage fees as described above. Management personnel and various procedures are required. In addition, the inspection and self-diagnosis functions of the utility meter are insufficient. In other words, when there is a partial defect or error in the measuring meter, there is no way to remotely check for abnormalities or make adjustments. should not.

[0004] There is a problem in the procedure for billing and paying the usage fee. In other words, due to the complexity of the current utility billing and payment procedures, bills may not be issued or may not arrive within the designated payment deadline, and during the process of delivering the bill to the consumer. If lost, the invoice should be reissued, and if the usage fee is not paid within the specified time limit, there is the inconvenience of paying a late fee.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in using a measuring instrument, and is intended to improve the current utility management system and utility measuring instrument. In order to improve the efficiency of utility service operation by public service institutions and to make it easier for consumers to use, it provides functions for measuring usage by period, calculating usage fees and displaying usage fees, and using IC cards. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic fund transfer measuring instrument and a fund transfer method having a fund transfer function.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic fund transfer meter according to the present invention is an IC card reading section for reading an IC card so that funds can be transferred for a usage fee through an IC card. A display unit for displaying the operation menu of the measuring instrument and the processing result to the user, a function key for selecting the operation menu of the measuring instrument, a number key, and a fund transfer processing key, and the user inputs through the keys. A keypad unit for receiving data, a communication module for transmitting and receiving data to and from a public service organization and a financial institution, a memory unit for storing a remote control and operation program of the measuring instrument from the public service organization and the financial institution via a communication network, Controlling an IC card reading unit, a display unit, a keypad unit, a memory unit, and a communication module; It is desirable to include a meter control unit for executing the program stored in.

[0007] The operating program of the memory unit calculates and records a fee for use, and means for calculating and recording the fee for use;
It comprises electronic fund transfer means for electronically processing fund transfers and security maintenance and self-check means for maintaining the security of the user and for checking the meter itself.

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, a fund transfer method using an electronic fund transfer meter has a step of checking whether or not a card has been input, and a step of checking a password of the card and a password of the meter. Preferably, the method includes a step of checking whether they match, a step of processing the payment of the usage fee, and a step of communicating with the value-added communication network and displaying a result of processing the corresponding amount on a screen.

In the step of processing the payment of the usage fee, it is checked whether or not the date is the date of payment of the usage fee. If not, check whether you paid last month, display the current usage fee on the screen if you paid last month, and defer the last month's usage fee if you did not pay last month And displaying the result on the screen.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to configure an electronic fund transfer meter to solve the problems in the usage fee processing system using the current utility meter, first of all, the amount of usage and the fee for each period should be calculated and universalized. A weighing instrument that can perform the function of transferring funds for prepaid, direct-payment, and postpaid cards should be widespread, and this weighing instrument can be used for existing public telephone lines or special dedicated lines (PSTN, ISD).
N) It should be connected to a central control system such as a public institution (public service institution, financial institution) or the like through a network so as to be conveniently used by consumers.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an overall system configuration diagram to which the present invention is applied. The overall system includes an IC card 100, an electronic money transfer meter 1 and the like.
10, a central system 120 of a corresponding financial institution and a central system 130 of a public service institution. IC card 10
Numeral 0 is a prepaid, direct-pay, and postpaid card that is becoming increasingly popular, and has a larger storage capacity and security than a magnetic card. The electronic fund transfer meter 110 calculates the usage amount and the charge for each period, performs the fund transfer processing function of the IC card, and uses the existing public telephone line or the special dedicated line (PSTN, ISD).
N) It is interconnected with a central system such as a public institution (public service institution, financial institution) through a network.

[0012] The central system 120 of the financial institution is connected to the electronic fund transfer meter 110 through a PSTN or ISDN network to transfer the usage fee through the relevant financial institution. In order to manage the storage, the central system 130 of the public service institution and the PSTN or ISD
It is connected through N. The public service agency central system 130 refers to a central control system provided in public service agencies such as the Electricity Safety Corporation, the Water Resources Corporation, and the Gas Corporation, and shares information through the PSTN and ISDN networks.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electronic money transfer meter according to an embodiment of the present invention. An IC card reading unit 200, an LCD module 210, a meter controller 220, a keypad unit 230, and a memory are shown. It comprises a unit 240, a DC power supply unit 250, and a communication module 260.

The IC card reading section 200 is an interface device conforming to the international standard IC card standard.
The IC card is read out so that funds can be transferred for the usage fee through the IC card. The LCD module 210
Is a display unit for displaying the operation menu of the measuring device and the processing result to the user. The keypad unit 230 includes a function key for selecting an operation menu of the scale, a number key, and a fund transfer processing key, and receives a user's input through the keys. The communication module 260
Transmits / receives data to / from public service institutions and financial institutions through a telephone line and a dedicated line using a modem.

The memory unit 240 stores a remote control and operation program of the measuring instrument from a public service organization and a financial institution via a communication network, and provides a storage area for modifying or supplementing the operation program. The meter control unit 220 is a block that totally controls the electronic money transfer meter, and includes the IC card reading unit 200,
It controls the LCD module 210, the keypad unit 230, the memory unit 240, and the communication module 260, executes the operation program stored in the memory unit 240, and internally stores the ROM 222, the RAM 224, and the controller 2
26. The DC power supply unit 250 receives an AC power supply and supplies a necessary DC power to the measuring instrument.

The remote control and operation program of the measuring instrument stored in the memory unit 240 from a public service organization through a communication network includes a function for calculating and recording a fee for use, an electronic fund transfer function, a security maintenance function, and a self-check function. Having. The calculation and recording function of the usage fee is configured to calculate and record the monthly usage of the measuring instrument (basic fee, tax saving, late payment fee, etc.), and to record the total usage and the fee for the last month. If the payment is not completed within the usage fee payment deadline, the late charge calculation method automatically calculates and displays the late charge.

The electronic fund transfer function outputs the usage fee and the payment status to the display screen itself during the payment period of the usage fee, and clears the usage amount and the fee of the measuring instrument when the user has completed the payment. It is a function that can inform the fund transfer status while referring to the transaction and processing details for a certain period.

In addition, the security maintenance and self-check function notifies the user of the situation of the communication failure when the system of the financial institution is down or the central system of the public service organization has a communication failure in the process of processing the payment of the usage fee. This function performs card security maintenance, processing details, backup, and self-checking functions.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of mounting and initializing the measuring instrument, which will be described as follows.
First, it is checked whether the password of the measuring instrument is specified (step 300). If the password is specified, it is checked whether the password is changed (step 310). If the password has not been specified, it is checked whether the card has been entered (step 320), and if it has been entered, all the memories in the weighing device where the initial data are stored are cleared (step 330). Thereafter, an initial value is set (step 340). The initialization is as follows. Date of installing the measuring instrument, used amount (used before installing the measuring instrument), setting the card password as the measuring instrument password, setting the arrearage charge setting ratio, setting the basic fee, the date of payment of the usage fee, etc. It is.

When the initial values of the measuring device are set as described above, the operation and processing of the measuring device will be described with reference to FIG. 4 which shows a flowchart of the operation and processing of the measuring device. First,
It is checked whether the card has been input through the IC card reading unit 200 (step 400). When the card is input, the password of the card is input through the keypad unit 230, and it is determined whether the password of the card matches the password of the measuring instrument. Check (step 410).

If the passwords match, it is checked whether it is the usage fee payment date (step 420). If the password is the payment date, the amount for the usage fee for this month is converted and displayed on the screen (step 460). If it is not the usage fee payment date, it is checked whether the usage fee was paid last month (step 430),
If the user does not pay the usage fee, after calculating the sum of the usage fee for the last month and the delinquent fee, this is used for the LCD module 21.
0 on the screen (step 450), and if the fee is paid, the current fee is displayed on the screen (step 44).
0) End. Meanwhile, it is checked whether the fee displayed on the screen in steps 450 and 460 is to be paid (step 47).
0) If paying, the communication module 260 communicates with the bank through the value-added communication network to process the corresponding amount, and displays the processing result on the screen (step 480), and ends.
If the user does not pay the fee, the process ends immediately.

[0022]

According to the present invention, a weighing device for simply measuring a usage amount is provided with a function of measuring a usage amount per period, calculating a usage fee, displaying a usage fee, and using an electronic card using an IC card which is gradually becoming universal. By implementing a network system in which relevant institutions (public services, finance) are interconnected using a public telephone line or a specific dedicated line by constructing a measuring instrument with a transfer function, the number of operators of public institutions etc. And more efficient public fund management and more convenient use for consumers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of an overall system configuration diagram to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of an electronic money transfer meter according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of mounting and initializing an electronic money transfer meter according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation and a process of an electronic fund transfer meter according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 IC card 110 Electronic money transfer meter 200 IC card reading unit 210 LCD module (display unit) 220 Meter control unit 230 Keypad unit 240 Memory unit 260 Communication module

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An IC card reading unit for reading an IC card so that funds can be transferred for a usage fee through the IC card; a display unit for displaying an operation menu of a measuring instrument and a processing result to a user; A keypad unit having a function key for selecting a key, a number key, and a fund transfer processing key, and receiving a user's input through the key; a communication module for transmitting / receiving data to / from a public service institution and a financial institution; A memory unit for storing a remote control and operation program of the measuring instrument from an institution and a financial institution via a communication network; and a program for the memory unit for calculating a fee for use and electronic fund transfer, and reading out the IC card. A display unit, a keypad unit, a memory unit, and a scale control unit for controlling the communication module. Electronic funds transfer meter, wherein Mukoto. 2. The operation program of the memory unit includes: a usage fee calculation and recording unit for calculating and recording a usage fee; an electronic fund transfer unit for electronically processing a fund transfer; and maintaining a user's security. 2. The electronic money transfer meter according to claim 1, further comprising security maintenance and self-checking means for checking the meter itself. 3. In a fund transfer method using an electronic fund transfer meter, a step of checking whether a card has been input and a step of checking whether a password of the card matches a password of the meter. A method for processing an electronic money transfer meter, comprising: a step of processing a payment of a fee for use; and a step of communicating with a value-added communication network and displaying a result of processing the amount on a screen. 4. The step of processing the payment of the usage fee includes checking whether the date is the payment date of the usage fee, and displaying the usage fee for the current month on the screen if the date is the payment date of the usage fee; If not, check whether you paid the last month, if you paid the last month, display the current usage fee on the screen, and if you did not pay the last month, use the last month 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of: adding an overdue fee to the fee and displaying the fee on a screen.