PREPAID CARD SYSTEM, MASTER INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AND RECORD MEDIUM

• Main Authors: YABUMOTO TAKESHI, KATO KIMIHIRO, MORIMOTO TOSHIHIKO, HOSHIKAWA TOMOYUKI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 04.12.1998
• Edition: 6
• Subjects: CALCULATING; CHECKING-DEVICES; COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS; COMPUTING; COUNTING; DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FORADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORYOR FORECASTING PURPOSES; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS; PHYSICS; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECOGNITION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE,COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTINGPURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the prepaid card system, master information management system, etc., which can reduce the load on traffic by efficiently decentralizing a master file containing management information on prepaid cards or IC cards. SOLUTION: When an IC card 18 is used at a store A, the host computer 11 installed in the store A sends a request signal to another host computer 11 equipped with master information on the IC card 18 through a network 19 if the master information is not present in a master information management data base 21 on the host computer 18. The host computer 11 having received the request signal sends the requested master information to the host computer 11 as the request source. The host computer 11 having received the requested master information stores the master information in the master information data base 21 to update the data base.