JPH08190598A - Electronic check system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an electronic check system which can be circulated in the same manner as securities by using an electronic information storage medium easy to carry like an IC card or an optical IC hybrid card. CONSTITUTION: A payment requester writes the amount of money set for the use, a rewrite authority limit key, and the initial value of the allowable amount of money in an IC chip 11 of an optical IC hybrid card 1 and transfers this card 1 to a person requested to pay. The rewrite authority limit key is a secret key which only the payment requester knows, and this key cannot be accessed by persons other than the payment requester. The amount of money set for the use can be rewritten by only the payment requester who knows the rewrite authority limit key. The person requested to pay sets the card 1 to a payment processing device 7 in a shop and input the amount of money to be paid to issue an electronic check.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to an IC card, an optical / IC
The present invention relates to an electronic check system that issues an electronic check that can be used as a security such as a check by using an easily portable electronic information storage medium such as a hybrid card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There have been many proposals for using an IC card, an optical / IC hybrid card, etc. as a tool for conducting various commercial transactions and financial transactions.
However, as a tool for paying money without using cash, in particular, the above electronic card is used as a means for issuing electronic information (hereinafter referred to as electronic check) that can be handled similar to securities such as checks. The proposal to use is not yet known.

By the way, conventionally, securities such as checks and travelers' checks, credit cards and the like have been used as simple tools for paying money without holding cash. Each tool has the following characteristics.

When issuing a check, the payment amount is written,
You can freely decide the payment amount. Since it is securities, it has the advantage that once issued, it can be distributed to unspecified persons.

Traveler's Check The upper limit of the payable amount can be determined by the amount payable by one sheet and the number of sheets. Therefore, it is possible to limit the payment amount. A type of simple check.

Credit Card Payment can be made according to the payment amount. Since it is not a securities, it has no circulation and can be used only by the holder, and the signature of the holder is required at the time of use.

[0007] These tools have the following conveniences when the payer himself / herself asks another person for the procedure of monetary payment. That is, if you give a check or credit card with no face value to another person, even if you can not decide the payment amount on the spot, other people will write the payment amount on the spot and issue it, or By using it, the procedure for payment can be performed on your behalf.

[0008]

However, in the case where the payment procedure is performed by another person as described above, each tool has the following problems.

Checks There is no limit to the amount of money that can be used. Therefore, if the requested person commits fraud, there is a risk that the person will be used indefinitely. There is a similar risk in case of theft or loss.

Traveler's Check Since the amount of money that can be used with one piece has been decided since the beginning,
If you limit the number of sheets to be handed to others, there is no fear that they will be used indefinitely. However, it is not possible to make a payment that perfectly matches the payment amount, and the fraction generated at the time of payment is repayable in cash, which is troublesome because it is necessary to dispose of the cash.

Credit card Since the signature of the holder is required, for example, even if the payment account is a company account, not all employees of the company can use it, and only a specific individual who is a holder can use it. . In other words, since there is no distribution like securities, users are limited and cannot be used with a high degree of freedom.

In view of the above circumstances, a general object of the present invention is to use an easily portable electronic information storage medium such as an IC card or an optical / IC hybrid card to distribute securities like securities. It is to provide a system for issuing electronic checks without problems.

Further, a specific object of the present invention is to provide a case-by-case payment amount by allowing another person other than the payer to carry the card in a system for issuing an electronic check by an electronic card. It is possible to ask another person to issue a check with a matched face value, and to limit the risk of the payer to a certain amount or less even in the case of cheating.

[0014]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a system for issuing an electronic check in which a check is represented by electronic data, in which a usable amount and a use setting that defines an upper limit of the usable amount are set. An IC card having an IC chip that stores the amount of money, a card issuing device for writing the set amount of money to be used in the IC chip of this IC card, and the amount of payment is input, and this amount of payment can be used in the IC card. Only when the amount of money is not exceeded, issuance of an electronic check of the amount of payment from the IC card is accepted, and a payment processing device for subtracting the amount of payment from the usable amount in the IC card is provided. Then, the IC chip of the IC card sets a rewriting restriction on the set amount of use, and the rewriting restriction cannot be unlocked unless a rewriting authority restriction key known only to the payment client is used.

Desirably, the IC chip also sets another rewriting restriction on the usable amount of money, and this other rewriting restriction is unlocked for devices other than the card issuing device and the payment processing device. It is supposed not to be done.

Preferably, the IC card further comprises an auxiliary recording medium for additionally recording an issuance history including at least the payment amount of the issued electronic check, and the payment processing device receives the issuance of the electronic check. The issuing history of the issued electronic check is written in the auxiliary storage medium of the IC card.

The present invention also provides an IC card and a payment processing device used in the above system.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the usable amount and the set use amount are stored in the IC chip of the IC card. The usable amount of money is the upper limit of the face value of one electronic check that can be issued from this IC card. Further, the set usage amount is the upper limit value of the usable amount. Further, the set usage amount cannot be rewritten by anyone other than the payment requester (payer).

First, the payer writes the set amount of money on the IC chip of the IC card using the card issuing device, hands the IC card over to another person, and purchases it at a store or the like by electronic check. You can ask to pay. The requested other person (payee) purchases at the store as requested, sets the IC card in the payment processing device installed in the store, and inputs the payment amount, thereby checking the electronic check. Can be issued. At that time, the payment processing device accepts issuance of an electronic check for the payment amount only when the input payment amount is less than or equal to the usable amount in the IC card. After that, the payment processing device deducts the payment amount from the usable amount in the IC card.

Therefore, every time an electronic check is issued, the IC
The usable amount of money in the card is decremented. And 1
The face value of a single electronic check is limited to less than or equal to the reduced usable amount. In addition, the upper limit of the usable amount of money is limited to the use set amount of money initially written in the IC card by the payer. As a result, the total face value of electronic checks that can be issued using the IC card is limited to the use set amount or less. Moreover, only the payment requester can rewrite this set usage amount, and the payee cannot rewrite it.

As a result, the risk burden of the payment requester does not exceed the initially set use set amount. on the other hand,
The payee can conveniently issue an electronic check with a face value corresponding to the amount to be paid on a case-by-case basis within the range of the usable amount of money, so that it is not necessary to use cash at all.

If the usable amount of money is also subject to rewriting restrictions, the payee cannot rewrite the amount of money without permission, which further enhances safety. In addition, if the issuance history is added to the auxiliary recording medium, it is possible to check if the check is issued as requested by matching this history with the available amount of money, thus further improving safety. To do.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of an electronic check system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

There are three parties that handle electronic checks: the payer, the payee, and the payment store. Here, the payment requester is a person who actually pays money by the settlement of an electronic check. The payee is a person who has been requested by the payer to issue an electronic check. The payment store is a person who receives an electronic check from the payee and receives actual money from the payer by the settlement process.

As a medium for issuing electronic checks,
An IC / optical hybrid card 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a card) is prepared. If this card 1 is compared to a paper check, it functions like a blank check, and is issued by the payment requester and carried by the payee.

As will be described later in detail, this card 1 is provided with an IC chip 11 having an excellent security function and a large-capacity optical recording medium 13 on its surface. The electronic check issuing medium of the present invention does not necessarily have to be the IC / optical hybrid card 1.
As long as it has a C chip, it is a narrowly defined IC card or IC.
It may be a magnetic hybrid card or the like. That is, any broadly defined IC card may be used.

The payment requester side is equipped with a card issuing device 3 for writing the information necessary for issuing an electronic check on the card 1. The requested person side is equipped with a content confirmation device 5 for confirming the recorded content of the card 1. Also,
The payment store is equipped with a payment processing device 7 that performs processing for issuing an electronic check from the card 1 and for settlement of the received electronic check.

The card issuing device 3, the content confirmation device 5,
The payment processing device 7 may be configured as a dedicated machine, or may be configured by connecting a card reader / writer to a general-purpose machine such as a personal computer and installing application software for each purpose. A person skilled in the art can easily implement the specific configuration from a known technique, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic flow of the procedure from card issuance to check settlement in this system.

First, the payment requester inserts the card 1 into the card issuing device 3 (S1), and writes predetermined necessary items from the device 3 to the IC chip 11 of the card 1 (S2). The required items to be written here are at least the set usage amount,
There are three items: the rewrite authority restriction key and the usable amount initial value. The set usage amount indicates the upper limit of the total face value of electronic checks that can be issued from this card 1. The usable amount of money indicates the upper limit of the face value of one electronic check that can be issued at the present time, and as will be described later, the issued amount of money is decremented each time the electronic check is issued. The initial usable amount of money is an initial value of the usable amount of money set when the card is issued, and an appropriate amount less than the set usable amount of money is set. The rewrite authority restriction key is a secret code known only to the payment requester, and as will be described later, unless the secret code is input, the IC chip 1
No. 1 does not allow rewriting of the usage set amount. Upon completion of writing these necessary items, the card 1 as the electronic check binding is issued.

Next, the card 1 is handed to the payee (S3). The payee carries the card 1 and goes to the payment store (S4), and purchases an article, for example, according to the request. Then, the purchase price is paid by an electronic check as follows. That is, first, the card 1 is set in the payment processing device 7.
Is inserted (S5), and then the payment amount (= purchase price) is input to the device 7 (S6). Then, the payment processor 7 issues an electronic check of the payment amount based on the set use amount and the usable amount recorded in the card 1 and the input payment amount according to the procedure described in detail later. To determine whether it is possible. As a result, if it is possible,
An electronic check of the payment amount is issued from the card 1 to the payment processing device 7 (S7).

Upon receipt of this electronic check, the payment processor 7 rewrites the usable amount in the IC chip 11 to the remaining amount obtained by subtracting the amount paid from the original amount, and at the same time the store code, issue date and payment. The electronic check issuance history such as the amount of money is written in the optical recording medium 13 of the card 1, and then the card 1 is ejected. After that, at a desired time, the payment processor 7 transmits the received electronic check to the processor of the payment requester (or the settlement financial institution),
It is possible to settle money (S8).

On the other hand, the payee makes one payment by electronic check, and if necessary, continues to use the card 1
You can use to repeat payments by electronic check. In that case, each time an electronic check is issued, the usable amount of money recorded on the card 1 decreases, and when this amount becomes zero, the card 1 cannot be used as an electronic check binding. The payee receives the card 1 from the content confirmation device 5
By inserting the card into the card 1 (S9), the current available amount of money and the history of use up to the present can be read and confirmed from the card 1 (S10).

When the usable amount of money is zero or the remaining amount is low, or when it is necessary to change the set amount of use,
If necessary, the payee returns the card 1 to the payer (S11). The payment requester inserts the card 1 into the card issuing device 3 (S12) and inputs the rewriting authority restriction key. Then, in the IC chip 11 of the card 1, the entered rewriting authority restriction key is compared with the first registered one (S13), and if they match, the rewriting restriction of the set usage amount is unlocked. Subsequently, the payment requester freely rewrites the use set amount and the usable amount initial value by increasing or decreasing as necessary (S1).
4). Upon completion of this rewriting, the card 1 as the electronic check binding is reissued with the new set amount.

FIG. 3 shows the overall structure of a card 1 used as an electronic check binding, and FIG. 4 shows the IC chip 11 thereof.
The internal structure of is shown.

As shown in FIG. 3, an IC chip 11 and an optical recording medium 13 are arranged on the surface of the card 1. The optical recording medium 13 records information by forming fine holes called pits with a laser beam or the like, and can be freely read and written, but cannot be rewritten. As described above, the history of issuing electronic checks, that is, the store code, the issuing date, the amount paid, and the like are recorded on the optical recording medium 13. By reading this issuance history, the payment requester and the payee can confirm whether or not the electronic check was issued correctly. In that case, since the data cannot be rewritten, there is no possibility that the history is tampered with, which is disadvantageous to the payment requester.

As shown in FIG. 4, the IC chip 11 includes a serial interface 111, a CPU 113 and a mask R.
OM115, work RAM117, EEPROM11
9, a one-chip microcomputer including a data bus 121, an address bus 123, and the like.

The serial interface 111 includes a card issuing device 3, a content confirmation device 5 and a payment processing device 7 (hereinafter,
(Collectively referred to as a terminal device).

The operation program of the CPU 113 is stored in the mask ROM 115. In this operation program,
The EEPROM 119 contains a program for controlling access when the terminal devices 3, 5, 7 access, a memory management program, an authentication procedure program, and the like. The work RAM 117 is a work area of the CPU 113.

The EEPROM 119 is provided with a common information file 125 and an application file 127. In the common information file 125, this card 1
Information that is common to all of the various applications that can be used by the user (for example, a memory management address table and the identification number of the cardholder (= payment requester)) is stored, and application-specific information is stored in the application file 127. Is stored. The purpose of issuing an electronic check is positioned as one of the various applications that can be used by this card 1, and the above-mentioned set use amount, rewrite amount limit key, available amount, etc. are the electronic checks in the application file 127. It will be recorded in the use area.

Now, what is important here is the IC chip 1
1 is the security function. There is a security function in terms of hardware and a security function in terms of software.

The security function in terms of hardware is IC
The chip 11 is composed of one chip, and the EEPROM 119
And reading information from the mask ROM 115
Unless 113 is operating normally, it is impossible. That is, the memory 11 does not need to go through the CPU 113.
It is impossible even if the information is directly read out from 9, 115 or the information is rewritten.

Further, the software security function is as follows.
Various access restrictions such as read restrictions and rewrite restrictions can be applied to specific areas of the EEPROM 119 and the mask ROM 115, and the restrictions cannot be unlocked at all, or unless a specific secret key is used. The point is that the regulations cannot be unlocked.

Specifically, the program in the mask ROM 115 and the rewrite authority restriction key in the EEPROM 119 are read-restricted and cannot be read out of the IC unit 3 at all. That is, these information are I
It is used only inside the C section 3 and is not known to the outside. In addition, the set amount of money and the rewriting authority limit key in the EEPROM 119 are rewritten.
These rewrite restrictions are not unlocked unless the same key as the rewrite authority restriction key is input. Further, another rewriting regulation is applied to the usable amount updated each time the electronic check is issued, and the content confirmation device 5 of the payee cannot unlock the rewriting regulation.

Due to the above-mentioned access restrictions, only the payment requester can rewrite the use set amount, and the payee and the payment store cannot change the set amount. Further, the payable amount, which is changed each time, cannot be arbitrarily changed by the payee. Furthermore, since the history of the optical recording unit 14 cannot be tampered with, the legitimacy of these data can be checked by matching this history with the set usage amount, the available amount of money, etc., so that even higher security is ensured. .

As described above, in the card 1, a clever access regulation is applied with respect to the set usage amount and the usable amount. Then, when issuing an electronic check from this card 1, the electronic check is issued safely so as not to cause unexpected damage to the payment requester by performing the processing described below. As a result, the merit that a check can be issued according to the payment amount can be obtained.

FIG. 5 shows the flow of processing performed by the payment processing device 7 when issuing an electronic check.

When the card 1 is inserted (S21), the IC
The set use amount and the usable amount (the usable amount initial value for the first time) are read from the chip 11 (S22). Then, first, it is checked whether the usable amount of money exceeds the set amount of money for use.

If the usable amount of money is less than or equal to the set amount of money for use, next, the input of the amount of payment is accepted from the payee (S24), and the amount of payment is compared with the usable amount of money (S25). As a result, if the payment amount exceeds the usable amount, the card 1 is discharged as an error (S3).
0).

On the other hand, if the payment amount is less than or equal to the usable amount, it is determined that the electronic check may be issued, and the electronic check including information such as the store code, the issue date, and the payment amount is issued (S26).

Next, the payment amount is subtracted from the usable amount to calculate the usable amount for the next time (S27), and the card 1
The usable amount of money in the IC chip 11 is rewritten (S2
8). Subsequently, the issuing history is additionally recorded on the optical recording medium 13 of the card (S28), and the card 1 is finally ejected.

With the above processing, the denomination of one electronic check is always limited to the usable amount of money or less, and the total denomination of all the electronic checks that can be issued is limited to the use set amount of money or less. Then, the set usage amount cannot be rewritten by anyone other than the payment requester. For these reasons, even if the card 1 is illegally used, the payment requester does not suffer damage beyond the set amount of money. Also,
As a payee, it is convenient as long as it is within the usable amount, it is possible to issue a check with a face value matched to the amount paid without having any cash.

In the process of FIG. 5, particularly step S2
With respect to 2, S23, S25, S27 and S28, if the payment amount is notified from the payment processing device 7 to the IC chip 11 so that these steps are performed inside the IC chip 11, the use set amount and the use amount are set. Since the possible amount of money is not handled by the payment processing device 7, it is completely handled only by the payer, and the security is further improved.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to issue electronic checks that can be distributed like securities using an electronic card that is easy to carry.
It is possible to request someone other than the payer to issue an electronic check with a face value that matches the payment amount on a case-by-case basis. Further, even if the requestee has an illegal act or an accident such as theft or loss, it is possible to limit the risk of the payer to a certain amount or less.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an electronic check system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of a procedure flow from card issuance to payment completion in this system.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of an IC / optical hybrid card 1 used as electronic check binding.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an IC chip 11 of the card.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the payment processing device when issuing an electronic check.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 IC / optical hybrid card 3 Card issuing device 5 Content confirmation device 7 Payment processing device 11 IC chip 13 Optical recording medium 119 EEPROM

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A system for issuing an electronic check in which a check is represented by electronic data, wherein an IC chip storing a usable amount of money and a set use amount of money which defines an upper limit of the usable amount of money is provided. An IC card that the user has, a card issuing device for writing the set usage amount in the IC chip of the IC card, and a payment amount that is input and the payment amount does not exceed the usable amount in the IC card. And a payment processing device that accepts issuance of an electronic check of the payment amount from the IC card and deducts the payment amount from the usable amount in the IC card, wherein the IC chip of the IC card is the There is a rewrite regulation for the set amount of use, and this rewrite regulation is unlocked unless a rewrite authority restriction key known only to the payer is used. Electronic check system, characterized in that there is no. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the IC chip sets another rewriting restriction on the usable amount of money, and the other rewriting restriction is:
An electronic check system wherein the devices other than the card issuing device and the payment processing device are not unlocked. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the IC card further comprises an auxiliary recording medium for additionally recording an issuance history including at least a payment amount of an issued electronic check, and the payment processing device An electronic check system, wherein when the electronic check is issued, the issued history of the issued electronic check is written in the auxiliary storage medium. 4. An IC card that functions as a spelling of an electronic check in which a check is represented by electronic data, and the usable amount of money that defines the upper limit of the face value of one electronic check that can be issued, and the usable amount of money. Has an IC chip that stores a set usage amount that defines the upper limit of the rewriting authority, and this IC chip sets a rewriting restriction on the usage setting amount. This rewriting restriction is only known to the payment client. An electronic check spell card that is unlocked only by using a key. 5. An IC having an IC chip that stores a usable amount of money for which the upper limit of the face value of one check that can be issued and a set amount of use for which the upper limit of the usable amount of money is set are stored.
A payment processing device for issuing an electronic check in which a check is represented by electronic data from a card, and when the payment amount is input and the payment amount does not exceed the usable amount in the IC card. A payment processing apparatus comprising: means for accepting issuance of an electronic check of the payment amount from the IC card; and means for subtracting the payment amount from the usable amount in the IC card.