Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ELECTRONIC-MONEY COLLECTING SYSTEM
The present invention relates to an electronic
money collecting system which is used for electronically
collecting a lost IC card containing electronic money.
As a system which allows an IC card for recording
money data issued by a banking institution to be used as
an electronic purse, so far, there has been provided a
'Value Transfer System' disclosed by International
Publication No. W091/16691 (or Japanese Patent Laid-open
No. Hei 5-504643). Electronic purses each implemented
by an IC card compose the 'electronic purse' system in
conjunction with an account settling means for loading
money onto an electronic purse and controlling exact
calculation. The 'electronic purse' system
electronically loads money data from a bank account into
a memory in an IC card, treating the IC card like an
'electronic purse'. In this case, since money (or
strictly speaking, money data) stored in the IC card is
in actuality neither a bill nor a coin, the term
'electronic money' is used in order to distinguish the
money stored in an IC card from a bill or a coin. Money
can be transferred from an IC card to another IC card
through an account settling means. In a transfer of
money, it is not necessary for the user to confirm the
transferred money with a banking institution. As a
result, the processing to transfer money can be carried
out in the same way as transferring cash to another
person. In addition, at a banking institution,
electronic money can be transferred and withdrawn as is
the case with a cash transaction.
At any rate, in many cases, transaction processing
using an 'electronic purse' implemented by an IC card is
carried out without the need for confirmation with a
banking institution. As a result, when an IC card is
lost, the money stored in the IC card is also lost and
it is impossible to recover the money stored in the lost
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IC card unless the IC card itself is found. In
addition, even if the lost IC card is found by a third
person, the amount of money stored therein is not
visible, giving rise to a problem that the probability
that the lost IC card is returned to the owner or
reported to an institution issuing the IC card or a
police station is very low. There has been thus a
problem that money stored in an electronic purse is
wasted in comparison with cash.
In addition, even if the lost IC card is reported
to the institution issuing the IC card, the institution
needs to follow a procedure for finding the legitimate
owner of the reported IC card and returning the IC card
to the owner or re-issuing a new IC card in answer to a
request made by the owner of the IC card, giving rise to
a problem that these procedures and difficulties
involved therewith must be borne by the institution and
the owner who has lost the IC card.
It is thus an object of the present invention to
provide an electronic-money collecting system capable of
returning a lost 7.C card serving as an 'electronic
purse' to the owner or an institution issuing the lost
IC card with a high degree of efficiency without giving
rise to a troublesome load to the lost-IC-card finder of
the IC issuing institution.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide an electronic-money collecting system capable of
enhancing the rate of collection of money stored in a
lost IC card by giving a finder of the lost IC card a
predetermined amount of reward money.
It is a still. further object of the present
invention to provide an electronic-money collecting
system capable of preventing a bad faith finder of a
lost IC card from being given a reward money.
In order to achieve the objects described above,
the present invention provides an electronic-money
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collecting system wherein, as a found IC card having
money data or the like recorded is entered to a terminal
unit installed at an institution such as a bank or a
public facility, money stored in the IC card is
electronically collected; information read out from the
IC card is transmitted to a central apparatus by way of
a transmission line; information on the legitimate owner
of the IC card such as the address of the owner is used
by the central apparatus for automatically searching for
the owner; and the owner is notified by a communication
means of the processing to collect the IC card.
Accompanying the electronic collection of the money, the
IC card itself may or may not be physically collected.
As described above, in order to increase the rate
of collection, a predetermined amount of reward money is
given to a finder of a lost IC card. The reward money
is given to a finder of a lost IC card by adding money
data corresponding to the reward money to money data
stored in IC card of the lost-IC-card finder. For
example, when an IC card with an unknown owner is found,
the lost-IC-card finder can go to an institution such as
a bank or a public facility at which a terminal unit is
installed and enter the found IC card to the terminal
unit. Then, information is read out from the IC card
automatically and collection processing is carried out.
At the same time, reward money is given to the lost-IC-
card finder. When the collection processing has been
completed, the owner of the IC card is notified by the
communication means of the completion of the collection
processing by telephone, letter or electronic mail.
After notification, the owner of the IC card follows a
procedure to get back the amount of money stored in the
found IC card. In this case, the reward money given to
the finder of the IC card is subtracted from the
original amount.
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In this way, the electronic-money collecting
system is capable of returning or collecting a lost IC
card to the owner or an institution issuing the lost IC
card with a high degree of efficiency without putting
undue difficulties on the finder of the IC card or the
institution. Further, since the predetermined amount of
reward money is added to money data stored in the IC
card of the lost-IC-card finder, the rate of collection
or the returning rate can be increased.
It should be noted that, when reward money is to be
paid to a finder of a lost IC card, a bad faith person
such as a person who stole an IC card of another person
may make an attempt to get some reward money by
pretending to be a finder of a lost IC card. In order
to avoid such a bad faith, the number of times an
incorrect password is entered, the ID of equipment used
by the bad faith person or other information are
recorded. When the incorrect password has been entered
a number of times exceeding a predetermined maximum
number, the collection processing is terminated and the
IC card of the bacl faith person is revoked.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the entire
configuration of an embodiment implementing an
electronic-money collecting system provided by the
present embodiment;
Fig. 2 is a diagram showing external views of an IC
card 30 and a wallet 20 used in conjunction with the IC
card 30;
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of
the IC card 30 and the structure of data stored therein;
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of
the wallet 20 and the structure of data stored therein;
Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a typical detailed
structure of IC-card information table 500 stored in a
storage unit 51;
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Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a typical detailed
structure of an IC-card-finding-record table 600 stored
in the storage unit 51;
Fig. 7 is a diagram showing details of a reward-
money-rate table X00 stored in the storage unit 51;
Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed structure of
IC-card-revocation-condition table 800 stored in the
storage unit 51;
Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing a money transfer
processing procedure using the wallet and the IC card
30;
Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing a money transfer
processing procedure using the wallet and the IC card 30
at a terminal unit;
Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing a operation
procedure to collect a found IC card 30 carried out at
the terminal unit;
Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing a continuation of
that shown in Fig. 11; and
Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing
procedure for transferring money data of a found IC card
30 to a new IC card 30.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will
be described with reference to the accompanying
diagrams.
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the entire
configuration of an embodiment implementing an
electronic-money collecting system provided by the
present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the
electronic-money collecting system provided by the
present embodiment comprises a plurality of terminal
units 1, 2 and 3, a central apparatus 5 and a
communication line 4 for connecting the terminal units
1, 2 and 3 to the central apparatus 5. A plurality of
telephones 6a to 6n to communicate with owners of IC
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cards who are called individually from the central
apparatus.
In this embodiment, there are provided three
different types of_ terminal units: terminal units l, 2
and 3. In Fig. 1, only one unit is installed for each
terminal unit type. In actuality, however, a plurality
of terminal units can be installed for each type. The
terminal unit 1 is typically a dedicated terminal unit
installed at a financial institution such as a bank.
The terminal unit 1 comprises a communication unit 11
for carrying out communication with the central
apparatus 5, an IC-card R/W (read/write) unit 12 for
reading out and writing information from and to a memory
in an IC card, an input unit 14 such as a keyboard used
by the user to enter among other data, information on
the type of usage of the terminal unit, a display unit
15 for showing a variety of messages to the user, an IC-
card collecting unit 16 for collecting a found IC card,
a cash paying machine 18 for changing electronic money
stored in an IC card inserted thereto to cash and paying
the cash to the user and a control unit 19 for
controlling all the components constituting the terminal
unit 1.
The terminal unit 2 is installed at places like a
banking institution, a police station, a public
institution such as a city hall, a train station, a
school and a department store. Even though a detailed
configuration of the terminal unit 2 is not shown in the
figure, basically, the terminal unit 2 has the same
configuration as the terminal unit 1. Depending upon
the place at which the terminal unit 2 is installed,
however, the cash paying machine is of the terminal unit
1 is omitted from the configuration of the terminal unit
2 to disable cash transactions.
The terminal unit 3 is a terminal unit installed at
the home of the owner of an IC card for dedicated use.
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Typically, the te~__°minal unit 3 is a personal computer
equipped with an _CC-card R/W unit 13. A detailed '
configuration of the terminal unit is not shown in the
figure. However, the terminal unit 3 has the same
configuration as the terminal unit 1 except that the IC-
card collecting unit 16 and the cash paying machine 18
are eliminated from the configuration.
The central apparatus 5 comprises a storage unit 51
for storing various kinds of information such as
information on owners of IC cards, money transaction
record information, information on reward-money rates to
be given to lost-IC-card finders and IC-card-finding-
record information of lost-IC-card finders, a timer 52
for computing the present time, a communication unit 53
for carrying out communication with the terminal units
1, 2 and 3 and the telephones 6a to 6n through the
communication line 4, a printer 54 for printing a
message for use in notifying the owner of a lost IC card
that the IC card has been found and a control unit 55
for controlling all the components constituting the
central apparatus 5. The central apparatus 5 is
typically installed at an institution such as a bank at
which the issuance of IC cards is controlled.
The IC card 30 is a medium for storing money data.
The IC card 30 is used for electronically storing money
data in place of cash. What is stored in the IC card 30
is information indicating the amount of money.
Electronic money can be transferred to and from the IC
card 30 by entering the IC card to the IC-card R/W unit
12 or 13 of the terminal unit 1, 2 or 3 or to a wallet
to be described later.
Fig. 2 is a diagram showing external views of an
IC card 30 and a wallet 20 used in conjunction with the
IC card 30. The wallet 20 is used by a person who owns
the IC card 30. when the IC card 30 is inserted to the
wallet 20, the wallet 20 plays roles of an intermediate
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means such as confirming the amount of electronic money
stored in the IC card 30 and transferring electronic
money from an IC card to another. The wallet 20 also
controls an operation to lock and unlock electronic
money stored in an IC card 30 by means of a lock
function which is used for locking electronic money
stored in the IC card 30 so that a third person cannot
check the amount of the electronic money or withdraw the
electronic money from the IC card 30 at his/her own
pleasure. The external appearance of the wallet 20 can
be made similar to that of a small portable calculator.
As shown in the figure, the wallet 20 comprises a
liquid-crystal display unit 21, function keys 22, ten-
keys 23 and an IC card insert window which is not shown
in the figure.
On the surface of the IC card 30 to be inserted to
the wallet 20, various kinds of information such as an
ID number 31 of the IC card can be printed if necessary.
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of
the IC card 30 issued by a banking institution and the
structure of data stored therein. An input/output unit
34 is an interface for transferring information to and
from an inserted IC card using one of two methods. In
one of the methods, information is exchanged
electrically by contact with a metallic contact point
provided on the IC card. The other method is a non-
contact method whereby the IC card 31 is inserted into
the wallet 20 and information is exchanged in a wireless
way between the IC.' card and the input/output unit 34.
In the case of the non-contact method, the protection of
information confidentiality can be strengthened by
setting the distance from the input/ output unit 34 to
the IC-card R/W un.it 12 at about 0.1 to 10 mm. A memory
unit 33 is used for recording the amount of electronic
money and transaction record of money. A non-volatile
memory is typically used as the memory unit 33. A
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microprocessor 32 is used for controlling transfers of
information between the input/output unit 34 and the
memory unit 33 and operations to produce the transaction
record.
As shown in an enlarged form in Fig. 3, the memory
unit 33 is used for storing, among other things,
information on the legitimate owner of the IC card. The
information includes the name 301 of the owner, an
address 302, a telephone number 303, an IC-card ID
number 304 and a wallet ID number 305 of the wallet
owned by the owner of the IC card. In addition, a.
password 306 is used for transferring electronic money
from the IC card. The amount of money 307 is money data
on which a transfer of money or an exchange of money is
carried out. The amount of money 37 indicates a balance
on which a cash settlement can be carried out by using
the IC card 30. 1'he amount of money 37 is nucleus
information on the electronic money. A money record 308
is used for recording information on transactions made
in the past. Personal information 309 is information
written and read out personally by the owner of the IC
card. The personal information 309 can be used as a
memo by the user. The pieces of information 301 to 309
described above are stored for use in electronic-money
transactions while other information described below is
used to prevent i7_legal use of the IC card.
A pseudo password 310 is used for early detection
of a third person who makes an attempt to illegally
withdraw electronic money from the IC card. The pseudo
password 310 is typically a number which is likely to be
suggested to the mind of an unauthorized user. An
example of such a number is the birthday or the
telephone number of the legitimate user of the IC card.
If such a number is entered by a person, the person will
be detected as an unauthorized user and processing to
collect the IC card 30 will be forcibly carried out. An
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unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311 is a wallet ID
number acquired during an attempt made by an
unauthorized user,to withdraw electronic money, that is,
the ID of a wallet owned by the unauthorized user. A
password-input count 312 is the number of times an
incorrect password has been entered. Each time an
incorrect password is entered, the password-input count
312 is incremented by one. When a correct password is
entered, however, the password-input count 312 is
cleared to zero. A password-input time 313 is a most
recent time at which a password was entered. An
incorrect-password-input-count upper limit 314 is an
upper limit of the number of times the IC card allows an
incorrect password to be entered consecutively. In the
example shown in Fig. 3, the IC card allows an incorrect
password to be entered up to 3 times. Thus, when the
password-input count 312 is incremented to 4, the
operation to withdraw money from the IC card is
terminated.
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a detailed
configuration of the wallet 20 shown in Fig. 2. A
display control unit 42 includes the liquid-crystal
display unit 21 shown in Fig. 2. The display control
unit 42 is used for displaying various kinds of
information such as operation procedures and
instructions/guidance to the user. An IC-card R/W unit
43 is used for reading out and writing information from
and to the memory unit 33 of an IC card 30 inserted
therein. An input. control unit 44 which comprises
function keys 22 and ten-keys 23 is used for inputting
information required for control of the wallet 20. A
timer 45 is used for recording a time at which the
password of a found IC card 30 was input from the wallet
20. A memory unit 46 is a storage means which is
externally accessible. The memory unit 46 is used for
storing pieces of information such as the name 461 of
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the owner of the wallet 20, an address 462, a telephone
number 463, a wallet ID number 464, an amount of money
465, a password-input count 466 and a password input
time 467, a time at which a password was entered from
the input control unit 44 when an attempt was made to
use a found IC card 7 illegally. The amount of money
465 recorded in the memory unit 46 is stored temporarily
in the wallet 20 from the IC card. A control unit 41
fetches data from the other components, stores the data
and controls operations of the other components in
accordance with a program stored internally.
Next, details of information stored in a storage
unit 51 of the central apparatus 5 are explained by
reference to Figs. 5 to 9. The storage unit 51 includes
four tables: an IC card-information table 500, an IC-
card-finding-record table 600, a reward-money-rate table
700 and an IC-card-revocation-condition table 800.
Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a typical detailed
structure of the IC-card-information table 500 stored in
the storage unit 51. The IC-card-information table 500
contains information on a plurality of IC card owners.
As shown in the figure, the information on each IC card
owner includes the name 501 of the IC card owner, an
address 502, a telephone number 503, an IC card ID
number 504 serving as a unique identification of the IC
card owner, a wallet ID number 505 serving as an ID
number of a wallet 20 owned by the IC card owner, a
password 506 for protecting the confidentiality of the
IC card.owner, an amount of money 507 left in the
account of the IC card owner, an account number 508 and
a pseudo password 509 for avoiding unauthorized use of
the IC card. Here, since a transfer of electronic money
provided by the present embodiment can be carried out
without the need for confirmation with a banking
institution, the amount of money 507 is not the amount
of money 307 stored in the IC card. Instead, the amount
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of money 507 is the amount of money in an account in a
bank or the like, that is, the amount of money that can
be stored in the IC card.
Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a typical detailed
structure of the IC-card-finding-record table 600 stored
in the storage unit 51 employed in the central apparatus
5. The IC-card-finding-record table 600 contains IC-
card-finding-record information on a finder of a lost IC
card 30 including the name 601 of the lost-IC-card
finder, an address 602, a telephone number 603, the IC
card ID number 604 of the lost-IC-card finder,-the
wallet ID number X05 of the lost-IC-card finder. The IC-
card-finding-record table 600 also contains information
on the owner of a lost IC card which was found by the
lost-IC-card finder including the name 610, an address
611, a telephone number 612, an IC card ID number 613, a
wallet ID number 614, a password 615, money data 616, a
money record 617, personal information 618 and a pseudo
password 619 to prevent unauthorized use of the IC card.
Here, the money data 616 corresponds to the amount of
money 307 stored in the IC card 30. The IC-card-
finding-record table 600 also includes additional
information on each lost-IC-card finder such as a
center-transmission time 620 at which the finding of the
lost IC card was reported to the center, an illegally
used wallet ID number 630 used in an attempt to
illegally withdraw electronic money, an illegal-
password-input count 640 indicating the number of times
an incorrect password has been entered in an attempt to
illegally withdraw electronic money and a password-input
time 650 at which the password was entered. In the
figure, only two lost-IC-card finders and two IC card
losers are shown. In actuality, however, the storage
unit 51 has a recording area for storing a plurality of
lost-IC-card finders and IC card losers.
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Fig. 7 is a diagram showing details of the reward-
money-rate table 700 stored in the storage unit 51
employed in the central apparatus 5. The reward-money-
rate table 700 includes standards used for computing the
amount of reward money to be given to a lost-IC-card
finder independent of the amount of money 307 recorded
in a found IC card 30.
In this example, the amount of money 701 is divided
into a plurality of levels. The larger the amount of
money 701, the smaller the rate 702. Further stored in
the reward-money-rate table 700 is a first multiplier
704 which serves as a first parameter used for changing
the rate. The magnitude of the first multiplier 704 is
dependent upon an illegal-password-input count 703
indicating the number of times a password has been
entered to a wallet 20 in an attempt to illegally use
the found IC card., Also stored in the reward-money-rate
table 700 is a second multiplier 706 which serves as a
second parameter used for changing the rate. The
magnitude of the second multiplier 704 is dependent upon
the time interval at which the passwords have been
entered. The rate 702 is corrected by multiplying it by
the first and second multipliers 704 and 706.
Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed structure of
the IC-card-revocation-condition table 800 stored in the
storage unit 51. As shown in the figure, the IC-card-
revocation-condition table 800 includes an annual
illegal-IC-card-usage count upper limit 801 indicating
the maximum number of times a found IC card can be
reported in one year, a finding time interval 802 and a
maximum number of times 803 a found IC card can be
reported within the finding time interval 802.
The IC-card-revocation-condition table 800 is
provided to limit the number of misconducts for
illegally taking an IC card 30 of another person and
illegally receiving reward money for the IC card 30.
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For example, in the case of a lost-IC-card finder who
has found IC cards 30 more than 10 times in a year, the
IC card 30 of the lost-IC-card finder itself is revoked
in addition to the collection of the found IC cards 30.
By the same token, if IC cards 30 are found a number of
times exceeding the maximum number of times 803 a found
IC card can be reported within the finding time interval
802, the IC card 30 of the lost-IC-card finder itself is
revoked in addition to the collection of the found IC
cards 30. In this way, misconduct aimed at collection
of reward money can be distinguished from a truly good
conduct of finding a lost IC card, allowing the number
of misconducts of illegally taking reward money to be
limited.
Next, processing to transfer electronic money from
an IC card 30 to another IC card through a wallet 20 is
explained by referring to Fig. 9.
As shown in the figure, the processing begins with
a step 901 at which the user inserts an IC card 30 to a
wallet 20. The processing flow then goes on to a step
902 at which processing to transfer electronic money
from an IC card to another is requested by pressing a
function key 22. As the function key 22 is pressed, a
message saying: "Enter a password" is displayed on the
display unit 21 of. the wallet 20. In response to the
message, the user enters a password. After a password
has been entered by the user, the processing flow
proceeds to a step 903 at which the microprocessor 32
compares the entered password with a password 306
recorded in the IC card 30 to find out whether or not
the former matches the latter.
If the former matches the latter, the processing
flow continues to a step 907 at which a wallet ID number
305 of the owner of the IC card recorded in the IC card
is compared to a wallet ID number 464 stored in a wallet
20 to find out whether or not the former matches the
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latter. If the former does not match the latter, it is
feared that the IC card 30 is used illegally. In this
case, the processing flow goes on to a step 908 at
which, before the money data 307 recorded in the memory
unit 33 of the found IC card 30 and other data are
transferred to a transfer-destination IC card,
information such as the wallet ID number 464 stored in
the wallet 20 is appended to the money data 307 and the
information is recorded in the money data 465 of the
wallet 20.
If the result of the comparison carried out at the
step 907 indicates that the wallet ID number 305 matches
the wallet ID number 464, on the other hand, the user
who inserted the IC card 30 to the wallet 20 is regarded
as the legitimate owner of the IC card 30. In this
case, the processing flow goes on to a step 909. At
this step, the unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311 of
the IC card 30 is cleared whereas the password-input
count 312 and the password-input time 313 of the IC card
30 as well as the password-input count 466 and the
password-input time 467 of the wallet 20 are reset to
zero. A message saying: "Enter the amount of money to
be transferred" is then displayed on the display unit
21. In response to this message, the user enters the
amount of money to be transferred. Then, the specified
amount of money is transferred from the IC card 30
serving as a transfer source to the memory unit 46 of
the wallet 20. As the specified amount of money is
transferred, the amount of money 465 is increased
temporarily. Then, the transfer-source IC card is
removed from the wallet 20 and the transfer-destination
IC card is inserted into the wallet 20. The electronic
money temporarily transferred to the wallet 20 is then
transferred to the memory unit 33 of the tran.sfer-
destination IC card 30, completing the processing.
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If the result of the comparison carried out at the
step 903 indicates that password entered via the ten--
keys 23 does not match the password 306, on the other
hand, it is feared that the IC card 3p is being used
illegally. In this case, the processing flow goes on to
a step 904 at which the entered password is compared
with the pseudo password 310 that is most likely used by
an unauthorized person making an attempt to illegally
draw electronic money from the IC card to find out
whether or not the former matches the latter. If the
entered password matches the pseudo password 310, the
user is detected as an unauthorized user instead of the
legitimate owner of the inserted IC card. In this case,
the processing flow proceeds to a step 910 at which the
request to transfer electronic money from the inserted
IC card 30 is rejected.
If the result of the comparison carried out at the
step 904 indicates that the entered password does not
match the pseudo password 310, on the other hand, the
processing flow goes on to a step 905 at which: the
wallet ID number 464 of the wallet 20 is recorded in the
unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311; the number of
times an incorrect password has been entered via the
ten-keys 23 for the unauthorized use is counted; the
count valve is recorded in the password-input count 312;
and a time at which a password was entered for the first
time is obtained from the timer 45 of the wallet 20 and
recorded in the password-input time 313.
Then, the processing flow goes on to a step 906 at
which the password-input count 312 produced by the
wallet 20 is compared with the incorrect-password-input-
count upper limit 314 indicating the number of times the
IC card allows an incorrect password to be entered
consecutively to find out whether or not the former
exceeds the latter. If the former has exceeded the
latter, the processing flow goes on to the step 910 at
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which the request to transfer electronic money from the
inserted IC card is rejected. If the former has not
exceeded the latter, on the other hand, the processing
returns to the step 902.
As described above, in this embodiment, at the step
905, the password-input count and the password-input
time are stored in the memory 33 of the IC card 30. It
should be noted, however, that they can also be stored
at areas 466 and 467 respectively of the memory unit 46
employed in wallet 20.
Next, operations which are carried out to render a
variety of services using an IC card 30 are explained
with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 10. Such
services typically include conversion of electronic
money stored in the IC card 30 into cash by means of a
terminal unit 1, a transfer of electronic money to and
from the IC card 30 and purchasing of a commodity by
using electronic money stored in the IC card 30.
As shown in the figure, the flowchart begins with a
step 1001 at which the user inserts an IC card 30 into a
terminal unit 1 used by the user and IC-card R/w unit 12
reads out information from the memory unit 33 of the IC
card 30. The processing flow then goes on to a step 1002
at which a password 306 reads out from the memory unit
33 is compared with a password entered from the input
unit 14 to find out whether or not the former matches
the latter. At that time, values are set in the
password-input time 313 and the password-input count 312
of the IC card 30.
If the former matches the latter, the processing
flow proceeds to a step 1005 to find out whether or not
an unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311 is recorded in
the IC card 30. If an unauthorized-use wallet ID number
311 is not recorded, there is no record indicating that
the inserted IC card 30 has been illegally used. In
this case, (the processing flow goes on to a step 1007
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at which) the password-input time 313 of the IC card 30
is cleared and the password-input count 312 of the IC
card 30 is reset to zero prior to the processing to
transfer money from the IC card.
If an unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311 is
found recorded at the step 1005, on the other hand, the
unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311 indicates that the
inserted IC card 30 has been illegally used. It is thus
quite within the bounds of possibility that this
transaction is also unauthorized. In this case, the
processing flow goes on to a step 1006 at which
transaction information is recorded in a processing
record for processing to transfer electronic money. For
example, information such as the IC card ID number 304
stored in the IC card 30 is appended to money data
recorded in a host. The information is also recorded in
the money data 30'7 of the flow IC card 30 so that the
money data 307 includes additional information on a
transaction which was done in the past.
Then, the processing flow goes on to the step 1007
at which, after the password-input time 313 of the IC
card 30 is cleared and the password-input count 312 of
the IC card 30 is reset to zero as described above, the
processing to transfer electronic money from the IC card
30 is allowed.
If the comparison carried out at the step 1002
indicates that the password 306 read out from the memory
unit 33 does not match the password entered from the
input unit 14, on the other hand, it is feared that the
IC card 30 is being used illegally. In this case, the
processing flow goes on to a step 1003 at which the
entered password is compared with the pseudo password
310 that is used for preventing unauthorized use of the
IC card to find out whether or not the former matches
the latter.
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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If the former matches the latter, the use of the IC
card is considered to be illegal. In this case, the
processing flow proceeds to a step 1010 at which the IC
card 30 is collected by the IC card collecting unit 16
and put into the terminal unit 1. Then, the processing
flow goes on to a step 1011 at which a message
explaining a reason why the IC card was collected and a
message saying: "Please, visit a window at the IC card
issuing institution" are displayed on the display unit
15, completing the processing.
If the result of the comparison carries out at the
step 1003 indicates that the entered password does not
match the pseudo password 310, on the other hand, the
processing flow goes on to a step 1008 at which the
password-input count 312 is recorded in the IC card 30
is incremented by one then, the processing flow proceeds
to a step 1009 at which the password-input count 312 is
compared with the annual-illegal-IC-card-usage count
upper limit 801 indicating the number of times an IC
card has been used illegally so far stored in the IC-
card-revocation-condition table 800 shown in Fig. 8. In
addition, the IC-card-finding-record table 600 stored in
the storage unit 51 is checked to find out whether or
not the number of times an IC card has been found within
the finding time interval 802 exceeds the maximum number
803.
If the maximum values used as standards are
exceeded, the processing flow goes on to the step 1010
at which a signal to collect the IC card 30 is
transmitted to the terminal unit 1. The IC card 30 is
then collected by the IC card collecting unit 16 and put
into the terminal unit 4. The processing flow then goes
on to the step 1011 at which a message explaining a
reason why the IC card was collected and a message
saying: "Please, visit a window at the IC card issuing
institution" are displayed on the display unit 15. If
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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the maximum values are found not exceeded at the step
1009, on the other hand, the processing flow continues
to a step 1012 at which the IC card is returned.
Next, operations carried out by the present
embodiment to collect a found IC card are explained by
referring to a flowchart shown in Figs. 11 and 12 are
explained. The flowchart shows processing to collect a
found IC card at the terminal unit 2.
As shown in the figures, the flowchart begins with
a step 1101 at which, first of all, a person finding a
lost IC card 3o goes to a place at which a terminal unit
2 is installed to return the IC card to the owner.
There, as a user of the terminal unit l, the lost-IC-
card finder enter operations to request collection of
the found IC card from the input unit 14. The control
unit 19 displays a message on the display unit 15 to
request the user of the terminal unit 1 (the lost-IC-
card finder) that first, the found IC card 30 be entered
to a predetermined insert window and, then, the IC card
30 of the user itself (the lost-IC-card finder itself)
be entered to the predetermined insert window. In
response to the message, the lost-IC-card finder inserts
the IC card 30 of the lost-IC-card finder itself and the
found IC card 30 to the IC-card R/W unit 12. It should
be noted that an IC card 30 may be locked in order to
prevent other persons from withdrawing or checking
electronic money without permission. For this reason,
the found IC card 30 which was inserted therein is
checked to find out whether or not the IC card 30 is
locked. If locked, the control unit 19 automatically
unlocks the IC card 30 before carrying out processing to
collect the IC card 30. If the IC card 30 is not
locked, on the other hand, the control unit 19 transmits
information read out by the IC-card R/W unit 12 from the
two IC-cards, that is, pieces of information denoted by
reference numerals 301 to 314 in Fig. 3, to the central
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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apparatus 5 by way of the communication unit 11 and the
communication line 4 at the step 1102. In the case of
the IC card information of the lost-IC-card finder
itself, information for identifying the lost-IC-card
finder is enough. It is thus sufficient to transmit
only the name 301, the address 302, the telephone number
303, the IC card ID number 304 and the amount of money
307 to the host 5. It should be noted that the lost-IC-
card finder may not have an IC card 30. In this case,
the lost IC card finder can request an employee of a
banking institution to carry out operations to collect
the found IC card. As an alternative, the lost-IC-card
finder can request that a new IC card 30 for the lost-
IC-card finder be issued and that processing to collect
the found IC card 30 by using the newly issued IC card
30 be carried out.
After the IC card information of the person who
lost an IC card and the finder of the IC card has been
received from the terminal unit 1, the processing flow
then goes on to a step 1103 at which the control unit 55
of the center apparatus 5 searches the storage unit 51
for the IC-card information table 500 by using
information such as the name 301, the address 302, the
telephone number 303, the IC card ID number 304 and the
password 306 recorded in the found IC card 30 received
from the terminal unit 1 as a key in order to find out
whether or not information matching these pieces of
information is stored in the storage unit 51.
If a result of the search carried out at the step
1103 indicates that no information stored in the storage
unit 51 matches the information received from the
terminal unit 1, the found IC card 30 is determined to
be an IC card not cataloged in the central apparatus 5,
that is, an invalid IC card such as a false IC card or
an IC card with the usage thereof invalidated. In this
case, the processing flow goes on to a step 1109 at
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which an error message saying: "This IC card cannot be
used" is sent to the terminal unit 1 to be displayed on
the display unit Z5 of the terminal unit 1, and the
found IC card as well as the IC card of the lost-IC-card
finder itself are returned.
If the result of the search carried out at the step
1103 indicates that information stored in the storage
unit 51 matches the information received from the
terminal unit 1, that is, the found IC card 30 is
recorded in the central apparatus 5, on the other hand,
the processing flow proceeds to a step 1104 at which the
control unit 55 of the central apparatus 5 records
information such as the names 601 and 610 of the finder
of the IC card and the person losing the IC card in the
IC-card-finding-record table 600. At the same time, the
control unit 55 also records the wallet ID number 305
stored in the found IC card 30 into the wallet ID number
630, the unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311 stored in
the found IC card 30 into the illegally used wallet ID
number 630 used in an attempt to illegally withdraw
electronic money and the password-input count 312 stored
in the found IC card 30 into the illegal-password-input
count 640 indicating the number of times a password has
been entered in an attempt to illegally withclraw
electronic money. In addition, the control unit 55
obtains information on the present time from the timer
52, storing the information as the center-transmission
time 620 at which the finding of the lost IC card was
reported to the center.
Then, the processing flow continues to a step 1105
at which the control unit 55 of the central apparatus 5
transmits an initialization requesting signal and a
collection requesting signal to initialize and collect
the found IC card to the terminal unit 2. In response
to these signals, the found IC card 30 which was
inserted to the IC-card R/W unit 12 is initialized and
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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then the found IC card 30 was collected by the IC card
collecting unit 16 into the terminal unit 2. It should
be noted that since the collected IC card 30 has been
initialized, it can be used as a new IC card.
Then, the processing flow goes on to a step 1106 at
which the control unit 55 searches information of the
person losing the IC card stored in the IC-card-finding-
record table 600 for information for contacting the IC
card loser such as the name 610, the address 611 and the
telephone number 612.
The processing flow then goes on to a step 1107 at
which the legitimate owner of the IC card is notified
that the lost IC card has been found. The owner of the
lost IC card can be contacted by electronic mail if the
lost-IC-card owner has a dedicated terminal unit 3.
Otherwise, a letter is printed on the printer 54 and
sent to the owner through the post or the owner is
contacted by telephone 6a. It should be noted that
determination as to whether or not electronic mail is
used is based on the availability of an electronic-mail
address in the telephone number 612 of the person losing
the IC card in the IC-card-finding-record table 600
shown in Fig. 6.
The processing flow then proceeds to a step 1108 at
which the control unit 55 searches the IC-card-finding-
record table 600 for the name 601, the address 602, the
telephone number 603 and the IC card ID number 604 of
the lost-IC-card finder in order to examine past records
of finding IC cards for the lost-IC-card finder who
requested the processing to collect the found IC card,
that is, to examine the number of requests for
processing to collect a lost IC card made so far and the
finding time interval.
The processing flow then continues to a step 1201
at which results of the search operation carried out at
the step 1108 are compared with conditions prescribed in
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the IC-card-revocation-condition table shown in Fig. 8
to find out wheth~=_r or not the number of requests for
processing to collect an IC card made so far exceeds the
annual-illegal-IC-card-usage count upper limit 801 of
the number of times an IC card can be found in a year
and whether or noi= the number of times an IC card can be
found within the finding time interval 802 exceeds the
maximum number 803. The number of requests for
processing to collect an IC card made so far exceeding
the annual-illegal-IC-card-usage count upper limit 801
or the number of times an IC card can be found within
the finding time interval 802 exceeding the maximum
number 803 is regarded as an indication that it is
feared that the lost-IC-card finder has illegally taken
the IC card of another person. In this case, the
processing flow goes on to a step 1205 at which a
collection requesting signal is transmitted to the
terminal unit 2 to collect the IC card of the lost-IC-
card finder by means of the IC card collecting unit 16.
Then, the processing flow continues to a step 1206 at
which a message explaining the reason why the IC card
was collected and a message saying: "Please, visit a
window at the IC card issuing institution" are displayed
on the display unit 15. That is to say, since the
number of times the lost-IC-card finder found an IC card
so far exceeds the reference value prescribed in the IC-
card-revocation-condition table 800, the IC card 30
owned by the lost-IC-card finder itself is also
collected and the reason for the collection is also made
known to the lost-IC card finder.
If the number of requests for processing to collect
an IC card made so far is found smaller than the annual-
illegal-IC-card-usage count upper limit 801 set in the
IC-card-revocation-condition table 800 or the number of
times an IC card can be found within the finding time
interval 802 is found smaller than the maximum number
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
- 25 -
803 in the same IC-card-revocation-condition table 800
at the step 1201, on the other hand, the processing flow
goes on to a step 1202 at which the unauthorized-use
wallet ID number 311 recorded in the IC card 30 of the
lost-IC-card finder in an attempt to illegally use the
IC card 10 is compared with the wallet ID number 305
recorded in the found IC card to find out whether or not
the former matches the latter. If the former does not
match the latter, the processing flow goes on to a step
1207 at which the password-input count 312 and the
password-input time 313 of the found IC card 30 are
reset to zero.
Then, the processing flow proceeds to a step 1208
at which the control unit 55 searches the IC-card-
finding-record table 600 for the wallet ID number 311
which is recorded in an IC card in an attempt to
illegally use the IC card 30. The processing flow then
continues to a step 1209 at which the result of the
search operation is compared with the contents of the IC
card-IC-card-revocation-condition table stored in the
storage unit 51 to find out whether or not the number of
times an IC card was used illegally so far exceeds a
warning number. For example, the number of times an IC
card was used illegally so far exceeding half the
annual-illegal-IC-card-usage count upper limit 801
indicating the number of times an IC card can be used
illegally per year indicates that the lost-IC-card
finder or the person making an attempt to use the IC
card illegally (or the owner of the unauthorized-use
wallet ID number 311) did not request processing to
collect the IC card immediately. In this case, the
processing flow goes on to a step 1210 to give a caution
to the lost-Is-card finder or the owner of the
unauthorized-use wallet ID number not to use the IC card
for other purposes or use the IC card illegally at a DM
or similar places. Here, in the warning prior to
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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revocation of the IC card 30 of the lost-IC-card finder,
the conditions required for giving a caution are set by
using half the reference value stored in the IC-card-
revocation-condition table 800 as a criterion. As an
alternative, a separate warning condition table can also
be provided.
If the unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311
recorded in the IC card 30 of the lost-IC-card finder in
an attempt to illegally use the IC card 30 is found the
same as the wallet ID number 305 recorded in the found
IC card at the step 1202, on the other hand, the
processing flow goes on to a step 1203 at which the
control unit 55 searches the IC-card-finding-record
table 600 for the unauthorized-use wallet ID number 311
recorded in the IC card 30 of the lost-IC-card finder in
an attempt to illegally use the IC card 30.
The processing flow then proceeds to a step 1204 at
which results of the search operation are compared with
contents of the IC-card-revocation-condition table 800
to find out whether or not the number of times an IC
card was used illegally so far exceeds the annual
illegal-IC-card-usage count upper limit 801 indicating
the number of times an IC card can be used illegally per
year or the number of times an IC card was found within
the finding time interval 802 exceeds the maximum number
803. The number of times the IC card was used illegally
so far exceeding the annual-illegal-IC-card-usage count
upper limit 801 or the number of times an IC card was
found within the finding time interval 802 exceeding the
maximum number 803 indicates an attempt made by the lost
IC card finder to use the IC card illegally and
indicates that the lost-IC-card finder did not request
processing to collect the IC card immediately. In this
case, the processing flow goes on to the step 1205 at
which the control unit 55 transmits a collection
requesting signal to the IC card collecting unit 16 to
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collect the IC card 30 inserted in the IC-card R/W unit
12. Then, the processing flow continues to the step
1206 at which a message explaining the reason why the IC
card was collected and a message saying: ~~Please, visit
a window at the IC card issuing institution~~ are
displayed on the display unit 15.
If the comparison of the result of the search
operation of the step 1208 with contents of the IC card-
IC-card-revocation-condition table 515 carried out at
the step 1209 indicates that the collection conditions
set in the IC card-IC-card-revocation-condition table
515 are not satisfied, on the other hand, the processing
flow goes on to a step 1211 at which the password-input
count 312 is extracted from the found IC card 30 and a
first multiplier 704 is set from this password-input
count 312 and the illegal-password-input count 703
stored in the reward-money-rate table 700 indicating the
number of times an illegal password has been entered.
In addition, the time interval of the center-
transmission time 620 transmitted to the control unit 55
employed in the central apparatus 5 is calculated and a
second multiplier 706 is calculated from the time
interval.
Then, the processing flow goes on to a step 1212 at
which the control unit extracts money data 307 read out
from the found IC card 30 and multiplies the money data
307 by a fixed rate 702, the first multiplier 704 and
the second multiplier 706.
The processing flow then proceeds to a step 1213 at
which the result of the multiplication is added to the
amount of money 307 stored in the IC card 30 of the
lost-IC-card finder and the result of the addition is
transmitted to the terminal unit 2. The control unit 19
of the terminal uses the result of the addition to
update the amount of money 307 stored in the memory unit
33 of the IC card 30 of the lost-IC-card finder by means
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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of the IC-card R/~ unit 12. In addition, the money data
616 of the IC-card loser is read out from the IC-card-
finding-record table 600 and the reward money is
subtracted from the money data 616. The result of the
subtraction is then recorded as new money data 615. The
processing flow then continues to a step 1219: at which
an IC-card-returning requesting signal is transmitted to
an IC card returning unit 47 of the terminal unit 4 in
order to return the IC card 30 of the lost-IC-card
finder. At the step 1214, the processing is ended.
Next, a processing procedure for use by a person,
who is notified that the lost IC card has been found,
for transferring the money data stored in the found IC-
card 30 to a new IC card 30 is explained by referring to
the flowchart shown in Fig. 13.
As shown in the figure, the flowchart begins with a
step 1301 at which the person, who is notified that the
lost IC card has been found, makes a request for a
transfer of the money data stored in the found IC card
30 to the new IC card 30 via the input unit 14 at the
terminal unit 3 (or the terminal unit 1 or 2). In
response to this request, the control unit 19 displays a
message on the display unit 15, requesting the person,
who is notified that the lost IC card has been found,
that information for identifying the person be entered.
The identification information includes the name, the
address, the telephone number and the ID number of the
owner of the found IC card.
In response to the message, the person who is
notified that the lost IC card has been found, enters
the name, the address, the telephone number and the ID
number of its own to the input unit 14. The control
unit 19 then transmits these pieces of information to
the central apparatus 5 by way of the transmission line
4.
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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The central apparatus 5 searches the IC-card-
finding-record table 600 for the name, the address, the
telephone number and the ID number transmitted thereto.
If the name, the address, the telephone number and the
ID number are found catalogued in the IC-card-finding-
record table 600, the processing flow goes on to a step
1302 at which the name, the address, the telephone
number and the ID number and a message saying: "A lost
IC card has been collected" are transmitted to the
terminal unit 3. The terminal 3 displays the pieces of
information and the message on the display unit 15.
The processing flow then proceeds to a step 1303 at
which the person who is notified that the lost IC card
30 had been found enters a new IC card to the terminal
unit 3. In the new IC card 30, the name, the address,
the telephone number, the ID number and a password have
been recorded as identification information that can be
used for proving l.hat the person is the owner of the
lost IC card.
The processing flow then continues to a step 1304
at which the person who is notified that the lost IC
card 30 has been found enters a password of its own to
the input unit 14 of the terminal unit 3. In this case,
the entered password has to be the same as the password
set in the lost IC card.
The processing flow then goes on to a step 1305 at
which the control unit 19 examines whether or not the
password entered via the input unit 14 matches the
password catalogued in the new IC card 30. If the
passwords do not match each other, the processing flow
proceeds to a step 1309 at which an error message
saying: "Do the operations once again" is displayed on
the display unit 15 and the IC card is returned to the
IC-card R/W unit 7_2.
If the password entered via the input unit 14
matches the passward cataloged in the new IC card 30,
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
- 30 -
that is, if the password entered via the input unit 14
is found correct at the step 1305, on the other hand,
the processing flow continues to a step 1306 at which
the control unit 19 issues a read instruction to the IC-
card R/W unit 12, requesting the IC-card R/W unit 12 to
read the name, the address, the telephone number, the ID
number and the password recorded in the new IC card 30.
The name, the address, the telephone number, the ID
number and the password read out from the new IC card 30
are then compared with the identification information
received earlier from the central apparatus 5. If they
do not match each other, the processing flow proceeds to
the step 1309 at which the error message saying: "Do the
operations once again" is displayed on the display unit
45 and the IC card is returned to the IC-card. R/W unit
12.
If the outcome of the comparison carried out at the
step 1306 indicates that the name, the address, the
telephone number, the ID number and the password read
out from the new TC card 30 match the identification
information received earlier from the central apparatus
5, on the other hand, the processing flow goes on to a
step 1307 at which the control unit 19 requests that the
central apparatus 5 transmit the amount of money
resulting from the subtraction of the reward money from
the amount of money recorded in the found IC card 30, a
money record, and a password for unauthorized-use
prevention to the terminal 3. When these pieces of
information are received from the central apparatus 5,
the processing flow continues to a step 1308 at which
the control unit 19 writes them into the new IC card 30
by means of the IC-card R/W unit 12.
In this way, information stored in the lost IC card
30 is transferred to the new IC card. It should be
noted, however, that the reward money was subtracted
from the amount of money.
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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It is also worth noting that, since the amount of
money resulting from the subtraction of the reward money
from the amount of money 726 recorded in the found IC
card 30 has already been recorded on the IC-card-
finding-record table 600, it is not necessary to do
subtraction once again.
Finally, the control unit 19 ejects the new TC card
30 containing the updated information, completing the
processing.
It should be noted that a person who is notified
that the lost IC card has been found via one of the
telephones 6a to ~n or a letter through the post may
carry out the same operations at a terminal 1 or one of
terminals 2a to 2n installed at a banking institution or
other public institution.
By the way, if the conditions set in the IC-card-
revocation-condition table 800 must be taken into
consideration in the collection of an IC card 30
requested by a lost-IC-card finder, a problem may arise
in the case of a number of IC cards found at a school or
a police station. This is because, in this case, the
processing to collect a found IC card is requested by a
special person who is typically a responsible person
such as a schoolmaster or the chief of the police
station. Since the responsible person may request such
processing a number of times within a short period of
time, the IC card owned by the person inevitably
satisfies the revocation condition and is inadvertently
revoked by the terminal unit used for requesting the
processing.
In order to solve the problem described above, in
the case of a responsible person of a facility or an
institution at which a number of IC cards may be found,
a specific code is added to the IC card 30 of the
responsible person so that the IC card 30 is not revoked
even if a limit recorded in the IC-card-revocation-
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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condition table 800 is exceeded. As an alternative, an
IC-card-revocation-condition table different from the
IC-card-revocation-condition table 800 is set separately
so that such a problem will not arise. In this way, a
responsible person of a facility or an institution at
which a number of IC cards may be found can collect a
batch of IC cards found in the area under his
responsibility.
As described above, in the case of the present
embodiment, the rate of reward money is set at a value
which varies depending upon the amount of money 307
recorded in found a IC card. It should be noted,
however, that reward money can always be calculated by
using a fixed rate. At any rate, it is possible to
adopt any technique for calculating reward money as long
as the technique falls within a range allowable by law
or a contract made in conjunction with a banking
institution.
In addition, it is possible to cancel the payment
of reward money to a person who has received reward
money a number of times exceeding a standard reference.
Moreover, it is possible to invalidate and revoke
or collect an IC card itself of a person who has
collected an IC card a number of times exceeding a
standard reference.
As described above, according to the present
invention, a lost IC card used as an 'electronic purse'
can be returned to the owner of the IC card or to an
institution issuing the IC card in a short period of
time and with a high degree of efficiency without
difficulty for the lost-IC-card finder, the lost-IC-card
owner or the Ic-card issuing facility during the work of
collecting the lost IC card.
In addition, since a reward is given to a lost-IC-
card finder for the contribution thereof to the work of
collecting a lost IC card without the need to follow a
CA 02206631 1997-06-02
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complex procedure, an increase in IC card collection
rate can be expected.
Moreover, since a collected IC card is initialized
and recycled, the IC card can be used repeatedly as a
source.
Furthermore, a request for collection processing
solely aimed at reward money can be avoided, making it
possible to prevent the number of misconducts carried
out by unauthorized persons from increasing.
