WO2002005057A2

WO2002005057A2 - Settlement system and method using cyber money

Info

Publication number: WO2002005057A2
Application number: PCT/KR2001/001184
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jung-Han Chae
Original assignee: Chae Jung Han
Priority date: 2000-07-10
Filing date: 2001-07-10
Publication date: 2002-01-17
Also published as: AU2001271093A1; WO2002005057A3; KR100444213B1; KR20020005995A

Abstract

Disclosed is a settlement system and method using cyber money. When a settlement request and corresponding money are input by a user terminal, settlement states are determined acording to loan limits assigned to the user"s account, and when a request for expanding the loan limits is provided by the user terminal in the case the settlement money is greater than the loan limits, the loan limits assigned to the user"s account is expanded. When the settlement is possible within the initial loan limits or the loan limits are expanded, the settlement is executed within the loan limits using the cyber money. After this, an advertisement is transmitted to the user terminal through which the cyber money is loaned to the user, and when an advertisement receipt confirmation signal is transmitted by the user terminal, a predetermined portion of the cyber money loaned by the user is returned.

Description

Settlement System and Method using Cyber Money

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a settlement system. More

specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for settling

for electronic commerce or off-line transactions using cyber money.

(b) Description of the Related Art

As techniques have developed for enabling information communication, financial services and entertainment on the Internet, its

popularity has grown dramatically. According to Internet activation figures, sites that sell products and provide various fee or free services to network

users have greatly increased. A few years ago, most Internet services were provided free of charge, but because earning rates of Internet service providers (ISPs) have

worsened, many sites are gradually switching their services to fee services.

However, users tend to refuse to pay for using contents such as

games and movies, and because of the users' refusals, many service

providers hesitate to switch their free sites to fee sites.

Small money payment methods used for settling on line for

purchased contents of around $1 -2 include a first method of previously

buying electronic money to be used on line with cash, a second method for settling for desired contents using a mobile phone number and billing the fee

to the mobile phone, and a third method for settling for the contents using

cyber money.

Here, since the first and second methods require users to pay with

actual money, many users hesitate in using these methods. Further, in the

first settlement method using electronic money, the user must first buy the

electronic money using an account transfer or a credit card before using the service, and in the second settlement method, a user who does not carry a

mobile phone cannot use the service. Since the third settlement method using cyber money does not

require cash, users are not reluctant to purchase contents, but this method requires acquiring cyber money before any purchases can take place. That is, it is required by the service providers for the user to reserve cyber money by

performing predetermined actions, such as advertisement clicking, member registration, advertisement receipt, and product buying before using the

service, so when the user wants to use the cyber money, they generally lack

the required amount, and hence this settlement method has not yet been

popularized.

This kind of difficulty in small money settlement on line and the

users' hesitation against paid contents are equally generated on the wireless

Internet.

Current wireless Internet users number more than 18 million, and the wireless Internet is expected to lead the next Internet markets as corresponding techniques are developed. Wireless Internet services using mobile phones were provided free of charge in their early stages, but now they are gradually being switched to be pay services. Since the wireless Internet services have difficulty in displaying advertisements, differing from the wire Internet, it is absolutely required for the contents providers to charge for their contents to generate earnings, but the wireless Internet cannot provide various services in the like manner of the wire Internet, and many users do not deign to use the service when they must pay for it with real money.

The above description is evident considering that most Internet users are teenagers and pre-teens.

As described, on-line contents are not easily activated because of the user's refusal to pay for contents. Further to the on-line settlement method, that is, the cyber money, a user can receive the real money only when the cyber money reaches a predetermined amount. Therefore, since much time and effort is needed to reserve the predetermined amount of cyber money, many users abandon doing so. Also, since the cyber money is only used on line, sufficient services for providing it to users and facilities to redeem it have not been activated.

Some services for providing cyber money when a user receives a predetermined advertisement are now performed, but the user does not greatly feel the need to reserve the cyber money through receipt of advertisement mail since they cannot determine when to use it, and accordingly, they hesitate to request the above-noted advertisement mail, and therefore the advertisement impacts are lessened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cyber money loan service to perform convenient on-line settlement. It is another object of the present invention to loan cyber money by the user's request, and to redeem the loaned money when checking the

user's receipt of a push advertisement so that the user may freely use the cyber money.

It is still another object of the present invention to redeem the loaned cyber money according to the user's receipt of the push advertisement so as to increase advertisement impacts.

It is further another object of the present invention to enable the user to use the cyber money provided on line at off-line stores.

In one aspect of the present invention, a settlement system using cyber money, connected to a user terminal on a network, comprises: an account database to which cyber money is assigned within a line of credit for a user's account; and a processing server including: a settler for executing a settlement based on the cyber money assigned to the account when a

settlement price and a settlement request are input from the user terminal;

an approver for loaning the cyber money according to the user's request and

assigning the cyber money to the user's account; an advertisement

transmitter for transmitting advertisements to the user terminal to which the

cyber money is loaned; and an advertisement receipt checker for redeeming

a portion of the cyber money loaned to the user when an advertisement receipt checking signal is transmitted from the user terminal.

The settlement system further comprises: a basic information database for storing information on locations for receiving the

advertisements for respective users; an interests information database for storing advertisements that the user is interested in or advertisement information that the user desires to receive for each user; and an

advertisement database for storing a plurality of advertisements, and the advertisement transmitter of the processing server searches the interests

information database and the advertisement database to find the advertisements that the user who has received the loaned cyber money is

interested in or desires to receive, and transmits the corresponding

advertisements to an advertisement address stored in the basic information

database.

In another aspect of the present invention, in a settlement system

connected to a wireless terminal through a network, cooperated with a plurality of chain stores that sell products off line to settle for transactions, a

settlement system using cyber money, comprises: an account database for

assigning cyber money to each user's account; a chain store database for

storing chain store information including account information for each chain

store; and a processing server including a settler for transferring cyber

money corresponding to a settlement price to the chain store's account from

the user's account when the settlement price and a cyber money settlement

request are input from the wireless terminal or the chain store's

communication device, and compensating for the cyber money transferred to each chain store with real money.

In a still another aspect of the present invention, In a settlement method of a system connected to a user terminal through a network and

including an account database for storing cyber money for each user's

account, a settlement method using the cyber money comprises: (a)

determining whether a settlement is possible within a line of credit assigned to the account when a settlement price and a settlement request are input

from the user terminal; (b) updating the line of credit of the account

according to the user's credibility when the settlement price exceeds the line

of credit and a request for expanding the line of credit is provided by the user

terminal; (c) performing a settlement using the cyber money within the line of

credit assigned to the user account when the settlement is possible within

the line of credit stored in the account or when the line of credit is expanded; (d) transmitting an advertisement to the user terminal to which the cyber

money, is loaned; and (e) redeeming a portion of the cyber money loaned to

the user when an advertisement receipt checking signal is transmitted from

the user terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the

invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of

the invention:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a settlement system using

cyber money according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of an operation of a settlement system using

cyber money according to a first preferred embodiment of the present

invention;

FIGs. 3(a) and 3(b) show flowcharts of cyber money loan process in

a settlement method using the cyber money according to a first preferred

embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of redeeming loaned cyber money in a

settlement method using the cyber money according to a first preferred

embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an operation of a settlement system using the cyber money according to a second preferred embodiment of the

present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a relation between the settlement system using the

cyber money according to a second preferred embodiment and cooperated

sites; and

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for applying the cyber money to a real

product using the settlement system according to a second preferred

embodiment and cooperated sites.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, only the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by the inventor(s) of carrying out the

invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention.

Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in

nature, and not restrictive.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a settlement system using

cyber money according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the settlement system 10 using the cyber money

according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is connected

to a plurality of user terminals 30, cooperated sites 40 and off-line chain stores 50 through a network 20 (including wire and wireless networks such

as the Internet, wireless communication networks and future networks).

The user terminal 30 is a communication device for settling for

products bought on line or off line by the user using the cyber money, and it

can be a computer that uses a web browser such as MS Internet Explorer or

Netscape Navigator, a mobile communication terminal, a PDA or an Internet

TV, and in detail, it can be a wire terminal such as a network-accessible computer or the Internet TV, or a wireless terminal such as a mobile phone

or a PDA that is wirelessly accessible to the network 20.

The cooperated site 40 provides various services to the users on line, and it provides the users with the cyber money according to the user's use of

desired services or receiving predetermined advertisements. In particular, the cooperated site is cooperated with the settlement system according to

the preferred embodiment to settle for the pay services provided by the

cooperated site 40.

The chain store 50 is managed by a seller who executes off-line

transactions, and in particular, it can be a communication device such as a computer or a wireless terminal for accessing the settlement system 10 and

requesting settlement of transactions executed off line.

The settlement system 10 connected to the user terminals 30,

cooperated sites 40, and chain stores 50 through the network and settling for

the on-line and off-line transactions comprises, as shown in FIG. 1 , an interface server 1 1 , a mail server 12, a processing server 13, and a database

server 14.

The interface server 1 1 enables a plurality of devices to access the

settlement system 10 through the network, and it converts various kinds of

information provided by the processing server 13 to fit communication

standards and provides the same to the user terminal 30, the cooperated site

40, or the chain store 50, or it receives information from the respective

systems 30 to 50 and provides it to the processing server 13. It also comprises a common gateway interface (CGI) for transmitting/receiving information to/from a web server or other system. The mail server 12

transmits/receives electronic mail to/from the systems 30 to 50.

The database server 14 comprises a member basic information database 141 , a member interests information database 142, a member

credit information database 143, a cooperated site information database 144, a chain store database 145, an account database 146, an advertisement

database 147, and a service database 148.

The member basic information database 141 stores basic identity

information on the users who can receive the settlement service using the cyber money according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

For example, basic identity information can include a log-in password

corresponding to a member ID assigned to the user, an electronic mail

address or a wireless terminal number (or a mobile phone number) to which an advertisement for redeeming loaned money will be transmitted, a

residence registration number, a name, a postal address and a wire

telephone number.

The member interests information database 142 stores the

registered user's interests information for target advertisements, for example,

user's desired categories (e.g., arts, politics, society and culture), desired

products, desired advertisement categories, desired methods for receiving

the advertisements, a buying history of using the cyber money, and a cyber

money use history for each user ID. The member credit information database 143 stores user credit

information for determining the user's credibility when the user desires to

borrow the cyber money, for example, a cyber money use record for showing

how much cyber money the user has borrowed and used, a received advertisement checking record for showing how much the user has

responded to push advertisements transmitted after the user has been

loaned the cyber money, and the user's access frequency number.

The cooperated site database 144 that is cooperated with the

settlement system 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present

invention stores information on the cooperated sites that enable the user to

receive loaned cyber money and use the services provided by the

cooperated sites from the settlement system 10, for example, the cooperated

sites' uniform resource locators (URLs), categories of the corresponding sites, provided service categories, and account numbers for settling for

transactions.

The chain store database 145 that is cooperated with the settlement

system 10 stores information on the off-line chain stores that enables the

user to settle for the transactions by using the loaned cyber money through

the settlement system. Examples of the information include service categories that show what products the corresponding chain stores sell,

account numbers for settling for transactions, information on the reserve

accumulated for each chain store, each chain store's bank account

information, off-line addresses, contacting points, and persons in charge for each registration number provided to the chain store.

The account database 146 stores account information for using the cyber money for each user, for example, cyber money account numbers for storing cyber money, a cyber money line of credit, loan history (loaned

money and date), an accumulated sum of cyber money without loaning, and total cyber money, for each user ID.

The advertisement database 147 stores various categories of

advertisement data for redeeming the loaned money, for example,

advertisement data and advertisement provider information for each

advertisement.

The service database 148 stores service information provided by the

settlement system, for example, products sold by the settlement system or paid contents.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, information

stored in the database server 14 is separated and stored in a plurality of the

databases 141 to 148, and further, the information stored in the respective

databases 141 to 148 can be stored in a single database, being not limited to

the above description.

The processing server 13 for settling for use of the cyber money

based on the information stored in the database server 14 comprises a

member manager 131 , an account manager 132 and an advertisement

manager 133.

The member manager 131 manages information on a plurality of

users, cooperated sites and chain stores, and comprises a member register unit 131 1 for performing registration for settlement by using the cyber money, a member authenticator 1313 for performing member authentication of the

member-registered users, cooperated sites and chain stores using the information stored in the member basic information database 141 or the

cooperated site database 144, and a chain store manager 1312 for

managing the off-line chain stores.

The account manager 132 opens an account according to a user's

request, determines whether to loan the cyber money according to the user's

credit, processes loaning and redeeming of the loaned money, and settles

for the on-line/off-line transactions. For this, the account manager 132 comprises a cyber money loan approver 1321 for opening an account

according to the user's loan request and performing loaning according to

credibility, a cyber money settler 1322 for performing settlement of the on¬

line/off line transactions using the cyber money and processing the

redemption of the loaned money, and a cyber money reserver 1323 for

providing the cyber money according to the user's using the service and

managing the reserving of the cyber money provided by the cooperated sites.

The advertisement manager 133 provides advertisements to the user who requests to borrow the cyber money so as to redeem the loaned money according to receiving and checking the advertisements. For this, the

advertisement manager 133 comprises a member information analyzer 1331 for finding the user's interests information using the member interests

information database 142, and searching the member interests information

database 142 to check the user's request of advertisement transmission,

such as whether to receive the advertisements by electronic mail or by a wireless terminal 32; a dispatch advertisement searcher 1332 for searching

the advertisement database 147 based on the searched user's interests

information, and finding adequate advertisements; and an advertisement

receipt checker 1333 for checking whether the user has received the

transmitted advertisements and checked them, and providing checking

results to the cyber money settler 1322 to perform redeeming of the loaned

money. In addition, the advertisement manager 133 can further comprise a service provider 134 for providing the user with various services such as selling products and contents using the information stored in the service database 148, and the services can provide cyber money when the user uses the corresponding services.

Here, the respective units 131 to 133 are illustrated to be operated within the processing server 13, but without being restricted to this, the respective units can be implemented as independent servers and perform corresponding functions. For ease of description, the functions of the units are separated, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration.

Next, various methods for settling cyber money based on a settlement system using the cyber money according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First, a first preferred embodiment when a user is loaned cyber money and settles for a product using the loaned cyber money when the user has no cyber money initially will now be described.

FIG. 2 shows an operation of a settlement method using the cyber money according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, in the cyber money settling according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, when a user requests a cyber money loan so as to use various services provided on line and off line, the settlement system estimates the user's credibility, and loans cyber money. The settlement system provides predetermined advertisements to a user

terminal under the loan condition, and in particular, when the sum of the

account to which the cyber money is reserved shows a negative state before

the loan due date has expired, a predetermined advertisement (an

advertisement selected by the user or an advertisement selected by the

settlement system according to the user's interests information) is provided

to the user terminal. Accordingly, when the user clicks the received advertisement to watch it, the settlement system redeems a predetermined

portion of the loaned money in return for the user's receiving the

advertisement and checking it.

Therefore, the user can receive a loan of cyber money from the settlement system when they have none, and they can repay the loaned cyber money through receiving and checking advertisements without

additional payment. Based upon this concept, a settlement method using the cyber

money according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention

will be described in detail.

FIGs. 3(a) and 3(b) show flowcharts of loaning cyber money in the

settlement method using the cyber money according to the preferred

embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3(a), when the user drives a program (e.g., a web

browser) for accessing the Internet through the wire terminal 31 and inputs a URL for accessing the settlement system 10, the URL information is

converted by the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) on the web browser,

converted into packets, and transmitted to the settlement system 10 through

the Internet.

Further, the user can access the settlement system 10 using the

wireless terminal 32, and in this case, the URL information of the settlement system 10 is converted to the wireless markup language (WML) through the

wireless application protocol (WAP) gateway, and is transmitted to a mobile

communication service system (not illustrated) through the wireless network, and the mobile communication service system connects the wireless terminal

32 to the settlement system 10 according to the URL information.

As described, the user can access the settlement system 10 through

the wire or wireless network in various ways in step S100, the interface server 1 1 of the settlement system 10 transmits the web page corresponding

to the URL information to the user terminal 30, and the web page is

converted to fit the window format and is displayed on the web browser. Therefore, the user checks various kinds of information provided by the

settlement system 10 on the web page displayed on the screen of the

terminal 30. The member authenticator 1313 of the member manager 131

provides ID and password input windows for checking membership to the

terminal 30 of a user who desires to use the services (e.g., borrowing cyber money, settling for goods, selling products or providing contents) provided

by the settlement system 10, and the user inputs an ID and a password

through the user terminal 30, and the input ID and the password are

authenticated as to whether they are registered to the member basic information database 141 .

The member authenticator 1313 transmits an error message such as

an access denied display to the user terminal 30 when the input ID and the password are not registered to the member basic information database 141 .

In this instance, the member register unit 131 1 provides member registration information to the user terminal 30 so that a non-member buyer may be registered as a new member in step S1 10.

After the access and the authentication are completed, the user selects a pay service, then selects cyber money settlement for settling for the pay service, and the account manager 132 of the settlement system 10

settles for the service.

In detail, the cyber money loan approver 1321 of the account manager 132 searches the account database 146 based on the user ID and

determines whether an account is opened, and when the account is not

opened, the cyber money loan approver 1321 informs the user terminal 30 of

that in steps S120 to S150.

Accordingly, when the user requests a line of credit (a )for the cyber

money loan in step S160, the cyber money loan approver 1321 requests account opening information from the user, and when the user provides basic member information (name, residence registration number, account password, and electronic mail address or a wireless terminal number for receiving advertisements for redeeming the loaned money), interests information (categories, products or desired specific categories of advertisements), and amount of money already borrowed, the cyber money loan approver 1321 opens an account and registers it to the account database 146 in steps S170 and S190. In this initial account opening, the cyber money loan approver 1321 establishes the account's line of credit

(which can be fixed according to credibility determined based on the user's basic information), that is, a minus line of credit and accordingly, the user can freely use the cyber money within the credit limit. An account number is randomly provided, or it can be a telephone number including the user's

wireless terminal (e.g., a mobile phone) number. The user's basic information and interests information are individually stored in the member basic information database 141 and the member interests information database 142, respectively.

The user who requested the loan receives push advertisements periodically as a method for redeeming the loaned money, thereby agreeing to balance the loaned money with each predetermined amount of money, and they can select delivered advertisement categories, advertising methods and receipt numbers. The above-noted information is stored in the member interests information database 142 to be used for redeeming the loaned

money. The member register unit 131 1 determines the line of credit

according to the user's basic information and interests information.

When the opening of a line of credit account for a minus loaning is

completed, the cyber money settler 1322 of the account manager 132 settles

for the pay service requested by the user within the line of credit assigned to

the account, and stores settling results in the account database 146 in step

S200. For example, when $1 is settled according to the user's settlement

request in the case the user's line of credit is $5, the balance of -$1 is

recorded to the user account of the account database 146. When the

settlement is completed, the user uses the pay service in step S210.

When the account is found to have previously been opened to the user who requests the pay service in the previous step S140, the cyber money settler 1322 of the account manager 132, as shown in FIG. 3(b),

determines whether the settlement can be performed within the line of credit

assigned to the account in step S220. When the settlement money exceeds the line of credit, the cyber money settler 1322 informs the user terminal 30

through a settlement denied message in step S230.

As described, when the settled money exceeds the line of credit

assigned to the current account, the user can request expansion of the line

of credit.

When the user requests expansion of the line of credit, the cyber money loan approver 1321 searches the member credit information

database 143 based on the user's ID, and checks the user's service use

history, access frequency, product buying history, cyber money loan history

and redemption history to determine the user's credibility, and in addition,

the cyber money loan approver 1321 checks the user's credibility with

respect to the user's basic information, levels of interests information, and

checking states of received advertisements, to determine whether to expand

the line of credit and corresponding amount of money in steps S240 and

S250. When the expansion of the line of credit is not approved, the cyber money loan approver 1321 informs the user terminal 30 through an expansion approval denied message in steps S260 and S270, and when the

expansion of the line of credit is approved, the cyber money settler 1322 settles for the price corresponding to the service use within the expanded

line of credit as described above so that the user may use the corresponding

service in steps S280 and S290.

When the settling money exceeds the line of credit of the account,

the user can request a temporary settlement approval regarding the

exceeded money, differing from the expanded line of credit.

In this case, the cyber money loan approver 1321 determines the

credibility according to the user's request of a temporary settlement approval,

and temporarily approves the user's settlement without expanding the line of credit so that the user may use the service.

In the above-described first preferred embodiment, when the user accesses the settlement system 10 and requests pay services, the user charge is settled by the cyber money loan, and further, in the case the user desires to use the pay services of the cooperated site 40, the first preferred embodiment can identically be applied.

That is, when the user accesses the cooperated site 40, selects one of the pay services provided by the corresponding sites and selects a cyber money settlement method, the cooperated site 40 requests a cyber money settlement from the settlement system 10, and the settlement system 10 performs a settlement within the user account's line of credit so that the user

may use the service of the cooperated site.

Next, a process for redeeming the minusloaned cyber money will be described. In the first preferred embodiment, the user redeems the loaned money through the push advertisements. In general, push advertisements are advertisements forcibly transmitted to electronic mail addresses, and messages including the advertisements forcibly transmitted to a user having a wireless terminal such as a mobile phone. Since the push advertisements are forcibly transmitted to the user against the user's will, they are

considered to be spam. Hence, the service provider cannot get great advertisement impact through push advertisements. Also, when mail-sending service providers send the push advertisements to the users without

previous agreements with the users, the mail sending service providers are

legally responsible for the spam. In addition, the users frequently delete the

spam without reading it, and even when the users read it, they may feel

uncomfortable regarding it being sent without consent, and therefore, the

impact of the mail advertisements is lowered.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, since the user receives loaned cyber money and earns it by receiving the advertisements

and checking them, the advertisements transmitted to the user are permission advertisements, and for the same reason, the advertisement

impacts can be improved.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of redeeming the loaned cyber money in a settlement method using the cyber money according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

After the cyber money loan, the advertisement manager 133 of the

settlement system 10 checks the users' features, and selects an appropriate

advertisement or transmits an advertisement previously selected by the user to the user terminal 30.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cyber money settler 1322 of the account

manager 132 checks the balance of the user's account, and when the

balance is found to be negative, (that is, minus)that is, when the user has

used cyber money within the established line of credit and has not yet redeemed all the loaned money, the cyber money settler 1322 requests an

advertisement transmission from the advertisement manager 133 in steps

S300 to S320.

According to the request for the advertisement transmission, the

member information analyzer 1331 of the advertisement manager 133

searches the member basic information database 141 to determine whether

the user has requested a particular advertisement transmission, and when the user is found to have requested one, the dispatch advertisement

searcher 1332 searches the advertisement database 147 to find the advertisement requested by the user. When the user has not requested a particular advertisement transmission, the member information analyzer

1331 searches the member interests information database 142, analyzes the

users' interests information, and selects target advertisements to be

transmitted in steps S330 and S340. The dispatch advertisement searcher 1332 searches the

advertisement database 147 for the specific advertisement requested by the

user or the target advertisement selected according to the user's interests

information, and provides it to the mail server 12 or the interface server 1 1 so that the corresponding advertisement may be transmitted to the user

terminal 30 in step S350.

In this instance, the dispatch advertisement searcher 1332 searches

the member basic information database 141 , and when the user has selected an electronic mail receipt method for receiving the advertisements,

the dispatch advertisement searcher 1332 transmits the corresponding

advertisement to the mail server 12 so that the advertisement may be

transmitted to the user's electronic mail address. Alternately, when the user

has selected a wireless terminal (e.g., mobile phone) receipt method, the

dispatch advertisement searcher 1332 transmits the corresponding advertisement to the interface server 1 1 , and the interface server 1 1

provides it to a mobile communication system (not illustrated) so that it may

be transmitted to the user's wireless terminal 32. In addition, the

advertisements can be provided to the user in various other ways.

When an advertisement is transmitted to the user terminal 30 from

the settlement system 10, the user selectively clicks the received advertisement to check it in step S360. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, only when the user clicks the received advertisement and

checks it is the loaned money redeemed. Whenever the loaned balance

indicates a negative state (i.e., minus state), the advertisements can be transmitted, and accordingly, the user checks the advertisement transmitted

by the settlement system. Therefore, the user sees the advertisements

transmitted by the settlement system in most cases, and thereby the

advertisement impacts increase.

When the user clicks the received advertisement, or clicks the same

and then clicks a receipt check button provided to the top of the advertisement, the corresponding receipt check information is transmitted to

the settlement system 10, and the advertisement receipt checker 1333 of the

advertisement manager 133 determines that the user has checked the

transmitted advertisement on the basis of the receipt check information in

step S370. The advertisement receipt method is not restricted to the above

description.

When the user receives the transmitted advertisement and checks it,

the advertisement receipt checker 1333 requests that the account manager 132 balance the account in steps S380 and S390, and the cyber money settler 1322 of the account manager 132 deducts a predetermined amount of

money from the user's loaned money according to the receipt and check of

the advertisement, and updates the account database 146 as to the balancing of the loaned money. The member manager 131 records the

^• user's receiving and checking state of the advertisement in the member

credit information database 143 so that the user may obtain better credibility when subsequently desiring to expand the line of credit or receive new

loaned money in steps S400 to S420.

Hence, the user can redeem the loaned cyber money only through

watching the advertisements without additional payment, and the

advertisement provider can be absolved from legal liability for spam

dissemination since the user receives the advertisements after agreeing to

do so as a method for earning the loaned money. Also, since the user always checks the advertisements, the advertisement impacts increase.

In the above-described first preferred embodiment, the cyber money is provided as a line of credit, and the user redeems credit used by receiving the push advertisements. Further, when the cyber money is provided in a general loan form, the above-described redemption can also be performed.

For example, when the user requests a cyber money loan of a predetermined amount of money, the settlement system reserves the requested money to the user's account so that the user may use it, and periodically or sporadically provides push advertisements to the user terminal so that the user may redeem the loaned money by receiving and checking the advertisements.

Next, a settlement system for using loaned cyber money or cyber money provided by the settlement system or cooperated sites and accumulated as an off-line settlement method according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 5 shows a brief operation of the settlement system using the cyber money according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

First, the settlement system 10 on the network 20 such as the Internet provides corresponding services (e.g., sells products and provides advertisements) to the network users using wire or wireless terminals, and provides cyber money to the users in return for using services such as making purchases or receiving advertisements.

As an example of a transaction, the user accesses the settlement system 10 using a wireless terminal 32, and pays with cyber money for a desired product at an off-line chain store 50. Here, the chain store 50 is an off-line real product chain store that is cooperated with the settlement system

10, and it provides formed products (i.e., goods) and formless products (i.e., services) off line. For example, such chain stores can be shops, travel agencies, airlines, bus companies, subway companies and railway stations.

Hence, when desiring to make a purchase at a chain store 50, the user seeks authorization from the shopkeeper of the chain store 50 to pay for the product with cyber money, and when the shopkeeper agrees to this, the user transfers the corresponding cyber money to the chain store through the user's wireless terminal 32 or through an Internet terminal at the chain store. In this instance, it is desirable to transfer the cyber money from the user account in the members' account database managed by the settlement

system to the chain store's account in the chain store database.

After this, the settlement system 10 provides real money corresponding to the cyber money value provided by the members to each chain store 50 directly by account transfer or by Internet banking, or instruments of value corresponding to the actual value such as gift certificates, airplane tickets, stocks, bonds, or advertisement services for the corresponding chain store. The settlement system 10 can cooperate with other sites to expand

the range of sites for providing the cyber money. FIG. 6 shows a connection

between the settlement system and cooperated sites.

As shown, the network user accesses the settlement system 10 and

other sites A to N that are cooperated with the settlement system 10 through

the network using wire and wireless terminals 31 and 32 such as personal

computers (PC), notebook computers, PDAs, cell phones and PCSs. The

Internet users receive corresponding services such as banner clicking, web surfing, advertisement exposing, and product buying from the settlement

system 10 or the cooperated sites A to N, and they receive cyber money in return for accessing the services. The settlement system 10 or the

cooperated sites A to N then store the users' cyber money in a database to

reserve it.

In order for the network user to use the cyber money in an integrated

way, the settlement system 10 periodically reads the cyber money amount for each user stored in the cooperated sites A to N, integrates it with the

cyber money provided by the settlement system 10, and accumulates and

manages it.

Therefore, when desiring to buy real products using the wireless

terminal 32, the user checks their cyber money that is managed by the

settlement system 10, and transfers it as a payment for the product price to

the chain store 50. In this instance, the settlement system 10 obviously includes a database for storing values transferred to each chain store 50.

In this second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the

advertisement manager 133 of the settlement system 10 is not operated, but

rather the member manager 131 and the account manager 132 are operated

in order for the user to use the cyber money on line and off line.

In particular, the cyber money reserver 1323 of the account manager

132 accumulates the cyber money corresponding to the user's using of the

services in the user account of the account database 146, and calculates the

value of the accumulated cyber money in real-time so that the user may use

it for making purchases. In other words, the cyber money reserver 1323 determines the value of the cyber money assigned to the service provided to the user, and when the user requests to check the reserve, the cyber money reserver 1323 receives cyber money from a cooperated site, accumulates it with the cyber money already provided to the user, and sums them.

The chain store manager 1312 authenticates the chain stores that are cooperated in the settlement, and pays real money based on the reserve

accumulated to the corresponding chain store in the case of real money

settlement. When the network user asks of the chain store's location, or of

chain stores that sell corresponding products, the chain store manager 1312

provides corresponding chain store information so that the user may easily

buy goods using the cyber money.

When a transfer request of the cyber money is transmitted from the user terminal, that is, the wireless terminal 32, the cyber money settler 1322

of the account manager 132 reads transfer service information from the

service database 148 and provides it to the user, and when a chain store ID

and a password are input and a transfer settlement is requested, the cyber

money is transferred to the account assigned to the corresponding chain

store.

Next, a settlement method using the cyber money according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described, referring to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for applying the cyber money to a real product using the settlement system according to the second preferred

embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, a method for using cyber money as an off-line

settlement method will be briefly described. A subsequent operation shows a process for a user to reserve the cyber money from the settlement system 10

using a wire or wireless terminal.

When a user accesses the settlement system 10 using the wire or

wireless terminal 31 or 32 in the like manner of the first preferred

embodiment in step S410, the member authenticator 1313 authenticates the

user in steps S500 and S510. When the user is authenticated, the user can

use all the services provided by the system of the present invention. When

the user requests a corresponding service such as making purchases or exposing advertisements in step S520, the service provider 134 determines

a service category desired by the user, finds corresponding information from

the service database 148, and provides it to the user in step S530. In this

instance, when the service accumulates the cyber money to the user, the

service provider 134 transmits a service code signal for detecting service

categories, to the cyber money reserver 1323.

The cyber money reserver 1323 of the account manager 132

determines a service category provided to the user, and the value of the

cyber money assigned to this service, and reserves the cyber money in the user account of the account database 146 in step S540.

In this instance, when periodically providing the cyber money each

time, according to a request of the user, or by the user's use of the service,

the cyber money reserver 1323 searches the cooperated sites 40 on which the user is registered, finds the value of the cyber money provided to the

user, and accumulates it to the user account in the account database 146 in

step S550.

Therefore, the user can use the cyber money provided by the

settlement system or other cooperated sites in real product transactions.

Below is a case for a user to make a purchase off line using a

wireless terminal 32.

When the user attempts to make a purchase using the cyber money

at a chain store 50 that is cooperated with the settlement system of the present invention and the chain store 50 agrees with it in steps S560 and

S570, the user accesses the settlement system 10 through the wireless

terminal 32 and checks the amount of cyber money possessed by the user.

The user enables the chain store 50 to check the user's reserved

cyber money and selects a desired product. The chain store 50 then inputs

the chain store's ID and password through the user's wireless terminal 32 or

the chain store's communication device, and the chain store manager 1312

searches the chain store database 145 using the transmitted chain store's ID

and password to check whether it is a cooperated chain store, and determines that the user is currently buying a product at the chain store in

steps S580 and S590.

In this state, when the user requests a cyber money settlement, that is, a cyber money j transfer service through the wireless terminal 32, or a

seller of a chain store requests a cyber money transfer service by using a

chain store device or the user's wireless terminal 32, the cyber money settler

1322 of the settlement system 10 provides the user's wireless terminal 32 or

the chain store 50 with a window for inputting a value of the cyber money to

be transferred (settlement price) and an ID of the chain store to receive the

transferred cyber money, and transfers the cyber money corresponding to

the input settlement price to the account of the chain store that has an ID

from the user's account in steps S600 to S620.

After the transfer, the cyber money settler 1322 provides transfer results to the user's wireless terminal 32 or the chain store 50 so that the

user and the chain store may check them. For a simpler process, the user can input the chain store's account number instead of inputting the chain

store's ID and password. In this instance, the chain store's account number can be the chain store's telephone number.

Therefore, when the user's accumulated cyber money reaches a level that enables them to buy a desired product, the user can perform real product transactions with the cyber money, and the chain store receives the cyber money for the product price, and accordingly, the sum of the cyber money possessed by the chain store becomes greater. Here, the chain store can access the system of the present invention to check the value of the cyber money possessed by the chain store and information on the history of received cyber money.

On a predetermined day, that is, a settlement day, the cyber money settler 1322 determines the amount of reserved cyber money possessed by each chain store and stored in the chain store database 145, finds a bank account number registered to the chain store, transfers real money corresponding to the reserved cyber money to the bank account, and hence, provides the actual price for the products that the users have bought using cyber money in steps S630 and S640.

Therefore, the chain store obtains business profits by being paid with real money even when the chain store sells the real products for cyber money.

In this instance, persons or corporations related to the service

provided by the settlement system of the present invention can exchange the

cyber money for real money. When the chain store requests advertising of

the chain store instead of receiving real money, the cyber money reserver

1323 provides advertisements in response to this request. Also, when the chain store requests gift certificates (e.g., entertainment gift certificates and

department store gift certificates), stocks, bonds or service tickets, the cyber money reserver 1323 receives this request and leads a system manager of

the present invention to perform an operation in response to this.

In the above-described second preferred embodiment, the cyber money provided by the settlement system or the cooperated sites is used for settling for off-line transactions, and in the like manner of the first preferred

embodiment, the cyber money loaned in the condition of receiving and

checking the advertisements can be identically applied to off-line

transactions.

That is, when the user makes a purchase at an off-line chain store,

accesses the settlement system and requests a settlement, the settlement

system checks the cyber money, and when the settlement price exceeds the

cyber money reserved in the user's account, the settlement system transmits

the user a balance short message together with another message to ask

whether they want to receive loaned cyber money under the condition of receiving the push advertisements in the like manner of the first preferred

embodiment. When the user requests a loan, the cyber money is loaned to

the user (including a line of credit (such as the minus loan)and a general

loan) in the like manner of the first preferred embodiment so that the user

may easily make purchases off line.

According to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the

user can receive loaned cyber money and freely settle for on-line and off-line

transactions of a small amount of money through the wire and wireless networks.

Also, the user can freely use cyber money within the line of credit assigned by the minus loan in on-line and off-line transactions, and redeem the loaned cyber money by receiving and checking advertisements.

In particular, the user can redeem the loaned cyber money by merely

watching the advertisements without paying additional money, and accordingly, the pay services on the network can be used more.

Since the user agrees to responsibly check the received

advertisements and redeem the loaned money when the user receives a

loan and the balance of the corresponding loan account indicates a negative

state, the corresponding advertisements are not processed as spam. In

addition, since the loaned money is redeemed only when the user checks

the received advertisement, the user must check the advertisement, thereby

improving the advertisement impact. Specifically, according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the advertisements are not randomly provided to users without their previous consent nor deleted without the users' checking them, thereby improving the advertisement impact. Also, the present invention enables the user to use cyber money provided from the Internet sites at off-line stores, buy real products, and use small amounts of cyber money, and the present invention introduces the Internet users to off-line stores, thereby widening the Internet application ranges. While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1 . A settlement system using cyber money, connected to a user

terminal on a network, comprising:

an account database to which cyber money is assigned within a

line of credit for a user's account; and

a processing server including: a settler for executing a settlement

based on the cyber money assigned to the account when a settlement price

and a settlement request are input from the user terminal; an approver for

loaning the cyber money according to the user's request and assigning the

cyber money to the user's account; an advertisement transmitter for

transmitting advertisements to the user terminal to which the cyber money is

loaned; and an advertisement receipt checker for redeeming a portion of the cyber money loaned to the user when an advertisement receipt checking

signal is transmitted from the user terminal.

2. The settlement system of claim 1 , wherein the approver loans

the cyber money in a line of credit loan form according to the user's request

and provides a line of credit to the user account, and the settler performs a

settlement using the cyber money within the line of credit assigned to the

user's account and updates balance information of the user's account

according to the settlement.

3. The settlement system of claim 2, wherein when the balance of

the user's account indicates a negative state such that a portion of the cyber money is used within the line of credit according to a settlement, the

advertisement transmitter transmits an advertisement to the user terminal so

that the user may redeem the loaned money by receiving and checking the

advertisement.

4. The settlement system of claim 1 , wherein the settlement

system further comprises: a basic information database for storing information on locations

for receiving the advertisements for respective users;

an interests information database for storing advertisements that the user is interested in or advertisement information that the user desires to

receive for each user; and an advertisement database for storing a plurality of advertisements, and the advertisement transmitter of the processing server searches

the interests information database and the advertisement database to find

the advertisements that the user who has received the loaned cyber money is interested in or desires to receive, and transmits the corresponding

advertisements to an advertisement address stored in the basic information

database.

5. The settlement system of claim 4, wherein a location for

receiving the advertisements is an electronic mail address.

6. The settlement system of claim 4, wherein a location for receiving the advertisements is a mobile phone number.

7. The settlement system of claim 1 , wherein the settlement system further comprises a credit information database for storing user credit information including the user's cyber money loan history, loaned money redemption history and access frequency for each user, and the approver of the processing server sets loan states and credit limits based on the credit information stored in the credit information database when a loan request or a request for expanding the line of credit is provided by the user terminal, and the loaned money redemption history represents how many times the user receives and checks the advertisements transmitted by the settlement system.

8. The settlement system of claim 1 , wherein the user terminal clicks the advertisement transmitted to the settlement system so as to transmit an advertisement receipt checking signal to the settlement system.

9. The settlement system of claim 1 , wherein the user terminal clicks an advertisement receipt checking button included in the advertisement transmitted to the settlement system so as to transmit an advertisement receipt checking signal to the settlement system.

10. The settlement system of claim 1 , wherein the user's account number is a telephone number including a mobile phone number.

11. In a settlement system connected to a wireless terminal through a network, cooperated with a plurality of chain stores that sell products off line to settle for transactions, a settlement system using cyber money, comprising: an account database for assigning cyber money to each user's

account; a chain store database for storing chain store information including account information for each chain store; and a processing server including a settler for transferring cyber money corresponding to a settlement price to the chain store's account from the

user's account when the settlement price and a cyber money settlement request are input from the wireless terminal or the chain store's communication device, and compensating for the cyber money transferred to each chain store with real money.

12. The settlement system of claim 11 , wherein the processing server further comprises an approver for loaning the cyber money according to the user's request when the settlement price exceeds the cyber money in

the user's account, and providing the cyber money to the user's account.

13. The settlement system of claim 12, wherein the loan is a negative (or )loan, and the approver performs settlement according to the cyber money settlement request within the line of credit assigned to the user's account.

14. The settlement system of claim 11 , wherein the processing server further comprises a cyber money reserver for providing services requested by the user through a wireless terminal, and providing the cyber money to the user in return for the user's using the corresponding service so that the cyber money is accumulated in the user's account.

15. In a settlement method of a system connected to a user terminal through a network and including an account database for storing cyber money for each user's account, a settlement method using the cyber money comprising:

(a) determining whether a settlement is possible within a line of credit assigned to the account when a settlement price and a settlement request are input from the user terminal;

(b) updating the line of credit of the account according to the user's credibility when the settlement price exceeds the line of credit and a request for expanding the line of credit is provided by the user terminal;

(c) performing a settlement using the cyber money within the line of credit assigned to the user account when the settlement is possible within the line of credit stored in the account or when the line of credit is expanded;

(d) transmitting an advertisement to the user terminal to which the cyber money is loaned; and

(e) redeeming a portion of the cyber money loaned to the user when an advertisement receipt checking signal is transmitted from the user terminal.

16. The settlement method of claim 15, wherein in (d), when the cyber money account of the user to whom the cyber money is loaned

indicates a negative (or )state showing that a portion of the cyber money is

used within the established line of credit, the advertisement is transmitted to

the user terminal so that the user redeems the loaned money by receiving

and checking the advertisement.

17. The settlement method of claim 15, wherein in (d),

advertisements desired by the user to whom the cyber money is loaned or

advertisements that the user desires to receive are selected and transmitted

to the user terminal.

18. The settlement method of claim 15, wherein the settlement method further comprises determining whether to loan the cyber money and determining the line of credit on the basis of user credit information including

the user's cyber money loan history and loan redemption history, which

shows how many times the user has received and checked the

advertisements transmitted by the settlement system.

19. In a settlement method of a system connected to a wireless

terminal through a wireless network, which is cooperated with a plurality of

off-line chain stores and settles for transactions, a settlement system using

cyber money comprising:

providing a user's terminal with services requested by the user

who is accessed through the network, and accumulating cyber money

assigned to the provided service in a user's account; transferring cyber money corresponding to a settlement price to the chain store's account from the user's account when a cyber money settlement request including the settlement price is input from the user's wireless terminal or a chain store's communication device, so as to settle for the transaction executed by the user at the chain store; and paying for the reserved cyber money deposited to the chain store's account with instruments of value corresponding to its actual value.

20. The settlement method of claim 19, wherein the settlement method further comprises checking whether a corresponding chain store is a chain store that is cooperated with respect to the settlement on the basis of a chain store ID included in a request signal when a cyber money settlement request is provided by the user's wireless terminal or the chain store's communication device.

21. The settlement method of claim 19, wherein the settlement method further comprises periodically reading an amount , of cyber money provided by other sites and accumulating the cyber money in the user's account when the user registers location information of the sites from which the user receives the cyber money.

22. The settlement method of claim 19, wherein the instruments of value corresponding to the actual value are real money, stocks, bonds, services for advertising the corresponding chain store, gift certificates, or service using tickets.