JP7526595B2 - Transportation expense payment system and transportation expense payment method. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a transportation fee payment system and a transportation fee payment method.

When companies interview students as potential employees, they often either pay the students' travel expenses in cash on the day of the interview in exchange for a receipt, or the students apply for the expenses via the Internet at a later date.

Patent document 1 describes a technology that allows a person in charge of payment to easily determine whether the name of the financial institution, account number, and other information have been entered correctly, and that recognizes the user using a user ID converted from the company code and the user's email address when the user logs in to the URL of a travel expense payment site, and supports the payment of the specified amount of travel expenses from the company.

JP 2014-203438 A

The technology described in Patent Document 1 is a technology that supports companies in paying a set amount for travel expenses, but if an inappropriate application is made, the company representative or the person in charge of payment must check and exclude it, leaving room for improvement in terms of administrative efficiency.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide technology that efficiently supports the payment of travel expenses in the prescribed amount to an unspecified number of payment recipients.

This application includes multiple means for solving the above problems, examples of which are as follows:

In order to solve the above problem, a transportation expense payment system according to one aspect of the present invention is a transportation expense payment system comprising a user computer operated by a user, a company computer of a company that encourages the user to use a public transportation network with a specified destination, a payment computer of a payment officer in charge of paying transportation expenses to a specified account of a financial institution specified by the user at the company, and a transportation expense payment device connected to the payment computer via a network and comprising a processing unit and a storage unit, the user computer is operated by a user who claims transportation expenses using a public transportation network from a departure point to the destination, the transportation expense payment device supports the task of transferring the transportation expenses from the departure point to the destination to a specified account of a financial institution specified by the user, the processing unit stores in the storage unit the name of the financial institution, the account number of the financial institution, and the account name entered by the user operating the user computer, accepts an application for payment of the prescribed transportation expenses based on the departure point and the destination entered by the user, and, when the payment computer checks the application and receives an input indicating that there is an error in the application, it sends an email to the user urging the user to resubmit the application.

The above-mentioned transportation expense payment system may also be characterized in that, when the user computer receives one or more applications for payment of the standard transportation expense based on the departure point, the destination point, and the date and time of use of the public transportation network input by the user, it stops accepting inputs from the user that overlap with the date and time.

The above-mentioned transportation expense payment system may also be characterized in that, when the processing unit of the transportation expense payment device receives a notification that an error occurred in the transfer process to a specified financial institution in response to the application for payment of the specified transportation expense, the processing unit sends an email to the user urging the user to resubmit the application.

The above-mentioned transportation expense payment system may also be characterized in that, when the processing unit receives an application for payment of the specified transportation expense, and receives an input from the payment computer indicating that the application is duplicated as a result of checking the application against past applications, the processing unit sends an email to the user urging the user to resubmit the application.

The above-mentioned transportation expense payment system may also be characterized in that, even when the processing unit receives an input indicating that the application is duplicated, if the duplicate previous application is an application that resulted in an error because the account was closed or the account name was changed, the processing unit does not send an email to the user urging the user to resubmit the application.

In order to solve the above problem, a transportation expense payment method according to another aspect of the present invention is a transportation expense payment method used in a transportation expense payment system that includes a user computer operated by a user, a company computer of a company that encourages the user to use a public transportation network with a designated destination, a payment computer of a payment officer in charge of paying transportation expenses to a designated account of a financial institution designated by the user at the company, and a transportation expense payment device that is connected to the payment officer computer via a network and includes a processing unit and a memory unit, and the user computer is operated by a user who is claiming transportation expenses using the public transportation network from a departure point to the destination. The transportation fee payment device assists in the task of transferring the transportation fee from the departure point to the destination to a designated account of a financial institution designated by the user, and the processing unit performs the steps of storing in the memory unit the name of the financial institution, the account number of the financial institution, and the account name entered by the user through the user computer, accepting an application for payment of the specified transportation fee based on the departure point and the destination entered by the user, accepting an input from the payment computer indicating that there is an error in the application as a result of checking the application, and sending an email to the user urging the user to resubmit the application.

The present invention provides technology that efficiently supports the payment of travel expenses to an unspecified number of payees at a set amount.

Problems, configurations, and advantages other than those described above will become clear from the description of the embodiments below.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of a transportation expense payment system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a company master. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a list of data structures of transportation expense master data. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a business establishment master. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a venue master. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a data structure of a user master. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a person in charge master. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of a transfer information DB. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a transportation expense payment device. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a transportation fee payment process. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a return notification process.

Below, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 shows an example of the functional blocks of a transportation fee payment system.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the transportation expense payment system 1 according to this embodiment, the transportation expense payment process is carried out by a transportation expense payment device 100, a computer of a student who is a prospective employee such as a new graduate, a company device 200 which is a computer of a company in charge of conducting company interviews when hiring students and training after a job offer, and a payment processing device 400 which is a payment computer in charge of paying the prescribed amount of transportation expenses to the prospective employees of the company.

The travel expense payment system 1 is connected via a network 90 such as the Internet to a financial processing device 300, which is a device of a financial institution that transfers travel expenses to a designated account at a financial institution specified by the student, in response to instructions from a payment processing device 400, which is a computer responsible for paying travel expenses. The travel expense payment system 1 transfers the specified travel expenses from the location requested by the student (for example, the location of the prefectural capital or the location of the school) to the location of the interview venue or training venue specified by the company to the designated account of the financial institution specified by the student.

In this embodiment, the transportation expenses are not actual expenses, but a set amount that takes into account the approximate cost of regular public transportation to the location applied for by the student and the company's designated location (for example, 1,000 yen round trip for travel within the same prefecture, 2,000 yen round trip for travel within an adjacent prefecture, 50,000 yen for travel from Hokkaido to Tokyo, etc., an amount determined by company regulations).

The travel expense payment device 100 according to this embodiment includes a processing unit 110 that performs various processes, a storage unit 130 that includes multiple masters and databases referenced by each processing unit, an input unit 150 that accepts input, an output unit 160 that creates a screen to display an output screen, and a communication unit 170 that is communicatively connected to other devices via a network 90 such as the Internet. The travel expense payment device 100 also includes a Web function unit (not shown) that provides a travel expense payment site (Web page) via the Internet to the computers of students, company representatives, and payment representatives, and a control means (not shown) that controls these.

The processing unit 110 includes a plurality of processing units. Specifically, the processing unit 110 includes an email sending/receiving unit 112 that sends and receives emails to and from students via the network 90, a user application unit 111 that performs an acceptance process for travel expense applications submitted by students using a travel expense payment site (web page) described below, an approval unit 114 that performs a process for obtaining approval for the travel expense application from the company's person in charge, a payer transfer unit 115 that notifies the payment processing device 400, which is the company's payment person's computer, of the travel expense payment approved by the approval unit 114, a management data creation unit 113 that creates management data for the payment of travel expenses, a transfer data creation unit 116 that creates transfer data related to the transfer, and a workflow management unit 117 that manages business processing related to the payment of travel expenses on a computer system.

The email sending and receiving unit 112 is used for sending and receiving emails, such as when a company representative sends a notice to a student when a student's application is returned due to approval or application errors, when receiving and receiving inquiry emails from students, when a student has forgotten their password or login key, when a return is made due to an account check result being NG due to a duplicate billing, when a return is made due to an error notified by a financial institution during transfer processing, such as when the designated account at the financial institution has already been closed or the name has been changed, and when a return is made. When a student has forgotten their password, the student applies via the user application unit 111 including the company code, user ID, and login key, and the email sending and receiving unit 112 sends an email notification, and when a student has forgotten their login key, the student applies via the user application unit 111 with the company code, user ID, and password, and the email sending and receiving unit 112 sends an email notification.

The storage unit 130 includes a company master 131 that stores the company name corresponding to the company code, the payment method for the prescribed amount of transportation and accommodation expenses, and other information; a transportation expense master 132 that stores the transportation expense category and prescribed transportation expenses for the departure point (departure) and arrival point (arrival) corresponding to the company code; a business establishment master 133 that stores the business establishment code and business establishment name of the company corresponding to the company code; a venue master 134 that stores the venue code, venue name, and location code of the interview or training site corresponding to the company code; a user master 135 that stores the user ID (basically an email address) and password of the student who is the user who will interview the company, etc.; a person in charge master 136 that stores information on the person in charge corresponding to the company code for each person in charge of the company; an application information database (hereinafter, database may be abbreviated to DB) 137 that stores application information on transportation expenses from users (students); and a transfer information DB 138 that stores transfer information such as payment dates and transfer amounts for past correspondence with companies.

Figure 2 shows an example of the data structure of corporate master data. The company master 131 is configured to store information on each of the following items: company code, company name, payment category for distinguishing whether the company has its own payment function (system) and whether it is an agent payment, payment company code representing the company code of the agent company, login category for distinguishing whether the ID is registered or not, initial password representing the password at the first login, login display category for distinguishing the initial screen at login, login display data for distinguishing the screen at login, transportation fee payment method representing the type of master (prefecture, business establishment, route designation, fixed amount) that specifies the transportation fee payment method, fixed amount payment representing the amount paid when the transportation fee payment method is a fixed amount, accommodation fee payment method representing the type of accommodation fee payment method (no payment, actual cost payment, fixed amount payment), fixed accommodation fee representing the amount paid when the accommodation fee payment method is a fixed amount payment, registration deadline category representing the presence or absence of a deadline for registration in this company master, registration deadline representing the number of days when the registration deadline is a deadline, fee representing the payment fee, other reserve 01 to reserve 10, and the update date and time of each item.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the transportation expense master. The transportation expense master 132 stores company codes, transportation expense categories, and standard transportation expenses, and is configured to classify the transportation expense category into transportation expenses between the prefecture and business establishment that is the user's (student's) departure point (departure) and the prefecture and business establishment that is the destination (arrival), transportation expenses between the prefecture and business establishment that is the departure point and the prefecture that is the destination, transportation expenses between the prefecture and business establishment that is the departure point and the prefecture and the destination, transportation expenses between the prefecture and business establishment that is the destination, and transportation expenses between the prefecture of the departure point and the prefecture of the destination, and to store the standard amount of transportation expenses corresponding to the category.

For example, transportation cost category "1" is a category that designates the transportation cost between the departure point and the destination as the transportation cost between the two business locations of the relevant company, transportation cost category "2" is a category that designates only the departure point as the business location and the destination as the transportation cost between prefectures, transportation cost category "3" is the opposite of category "2", and transportation cost category "4" is a category that designates the transportation cost between the departure point and the destination as the transportation cost between the prefectures where the relevant company is located. These categories are set in advance by each company.

Figure 4 shows an example of the data structure of the establishment master. The establishment master 133 is configured to store information for each item, such as the company code, the establishment code of the company, the name of the establishment where interviews etc. are conducted at the company, other reserves 01 to 03, the initial input date and time of each item, and the update date and time when the item is updated.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the venue master. The venue master 134 is configured to store the company code, the venue code of the venue where the company's interviews etc. are held, the venue name, the location code indicating the location of the venue, reserve 01 to 03, the initial input date and time of the item, and the update date and time when the item is updated.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the user master. The user master 135 stores the user ID (basically, email address) and password of a student who is a user who interviews a company, etc., and is configured to store each item of information including the user ID, the password used to log in using the user ID, the user's name (first name, last name), the name of the school to which the student belongs, the location code of the school, the user's email address, home phone number, mobile phone number, transfer bank code indicating the bank to which the travel expenses are to be transferred, transfer bank name, transfer branch code, transfer branch name, account type, account number, account name, account name in kana, account file indicating the file name of the account file, login key using a selection number uniquely assigned at the time of the interview, login flag indicating whether or not the user has already logged in, other reserves 01 to 03, input date and time, and update date and time according to the company code.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the person in charge master. The person in charge master 136 stores information on the person in charge corresponding to the company code of each person in a company, and is configured to store information on each item, including the company code to which the person in charge belongs, the establishment code to which the person in charge belongs, the person in charge's user ID, the password the person in charge uses to log in to the system, the person in charge's name, the person in charge's name in kana, the person in charge's authority, the person in charge's email address, a login flag, other reserves 01 to 03, the input date and time, and the update date and time.

Figure 8 shows an example of the data structure of a transfer information DB. The transfer information DB 138 stores transfer information such as payment dates and transfer amounts for past companies, and is configured to store, corresponding to a company code, the payment date of transportation expenses, the planned transfer amount to be transferred, the number of planned transfers to be transferred, the amount of transfers that have been transferred, the number of transfers, the number of account errors in which transfers were not made due to differences in account numbers, the confirmed transfer amount indicating the confirmed transfer amount, the number of transfer errors in which transfers were not made due to factors other than differences in account numbers (differences in name, bank name, branch name, account type, etc.), the status indicating the state from the creation of the transfer information to the completion of payment (transfer data created, downloaded, account uploaded, account checked, payment uploaded, paid), the payment file name when the transfer information is created, account check completion detail data indicating the details of the checked account, the financial institution's fees required for the transfer, other reserve 01 to 05, input date and time, and each item information of the update date and time.

The above is the configuration of the travel expense payment device 100. Like a typical computer system, the travel expense payment device 100 thus configured includes a CPU as a control means, memory as a temporary storage means, basic software (operating system), various software for executing the various functions of the system, browser software, data storage means such as a magnetic disk device for storing data, a display unit, input/output devices such as a keyboard, and various interface devices, and the same is true for the computers of students, company representatives, payment representatives, and financial institutions.

The travel expenses payment system 1 also includes a corporate device 200, which is a company's computer that conducts company interviews when hiring students and training after a job offer is made, a payment processing device 400, which is a payment computer that is responsible for paying the specified amount of travel expenses to prospective employees at the company, and a financial processing device 300 of a financial institution that actually transfers the travel expenses after receiving firm banking instructions for processing from the payment processing device 400.

The corporate device 200 includes a processing unit 210, an input unit 240, an output unit 250, and a communication unit 260. The processing unit 210 includes an application processing unit 211. The application processing unit 211 has a function as a web browser, accesses the web page of the transportation fee payment device 100 via the communication unit 260, outputs a list of transportation fees applied for by students for reference via the output unit 250, and accepts separate inputs of approval or rejection of each application via the input unit 240. In this transportation fee payment system 1, when the corporate device 200 accepts an input of whether or not to approve the payment of transportation fees applied for by the student, it passes it to the approval unit 114 of the transportation fee payment device 100. The communication unit 260 is connected to other devices via a network 90 such as the Internet so as to be able to communicate with them.

The payment processing device 400 includes a processing unit 410, a storage unit 430, an input unit 440, an output unit 450, and a communication unit 460. The processing unit 410 includes a transfer request processing unit 411 and an FB data generation unit 412. The transfer request processing unit 411 has a function as a web browser, accesses the web page of the transportation fee payment device 100 via the communication unit 460, outputs the screen created by the payer transfer unit 115 via the output unit 450 so that it can be referenced, and if there is a discrepancy with the account information for each application, it is accepted from the payment person via the input unit 440 (account check). In this transportation fee payment system 1, when the payment processing device 400 accepts an input indicating that there is no discrepancy between the content of the transfer process of the applied transportation fee and the account information registered in advance by the user application unit 111, it passes it to the transfer data creation unit 116 of the transportation fee payment device 100.

The FB data generation unit 412 accesses the transportation expense payment device 100 via the communication unit 460, generates FB data (data for transfers in a firm banking service that allows balance inquiries and transfer requests via the Internet) in a specified format from the transfer data created by the transfer data creation unit 116, stores the data in the firm banking information 431 in the memory unit 430, and delivers it to the financial processing device 300 via the network 90 on a specified date.

The storage unit 430 includes firm banking information 431. The firm banking information 431 stores FB data in a predetermined format generated by the FB data generation unit 412. The communication unit 460 is connected to other devices so as to be able to communicate with them via a network 90 such as the Internet.

The financial processing device 300 includes a processing unit 310, a memory unit 330, and a communication unit 350. The processing unit 310 includes a firm banking reception unit 311 and an account transfer unit 312. The firm banking reception unit 311 accepts the FB data delivered from the payment processing device 400 and stores it in the firm banking information 331 of the memory unit 330. The account transfer unit 312 reads out the FB data accepted by the firm banking reception unit 311 and performs account transfer processing (transfer processing of funds between accounts) according to the transfer details included in the FB data.

The storage unit 330 includes firm banking information 331. The firm banking information 331 stores FB data in a predetermined format generated by the FB data generation unit 412. The communication unit 350 is connected to other devices so as to be able to communicate with them via a network 90 such as the Internet.

In FIG. 1, one corporate device 200, one financial processing device 300, and one payment processing device 400 are connected to one travel expense payment device 100, but the number of each device in the travel expense payment system 1 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1.

The travel expense payment device 100 is an information processing device such as a server computer or a PC (Personal Computer), and is operated, for example, by a travel expense payment service operator using the travel expense payment system 1. As an example, the operator positions the travel expense payment device 100 as a cloud server accessible via the network 90, and develops the travel expense payment service as a cloud service.

The corporate device 200, the financial processing device 300, and the payment processing device 400 are each an information processing device such as a PC, a smartphone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a notebook computer, or a tablet terminal. Furthermore, the payment processing device 400 may be operated, for example, by a travel expense payment service provider using the travel expense payment system 1, or may be operated by another outsourcing service provider.

Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the travel expense payment device 100. The travel expense payment device 100 includes a calculation device 11, a memory 12, an external storage device 13, an input IF (Interface) 14, an output IF 15, a communication IF 16, and a storage medium drive device 17, and each component is connected by a bus.

The arithmetic device 11 is a arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and executes processing according to a program recorded in the memory 12 or the external storage device 13. In the transportation expense payment device 100, processing is performed by the arithmetic device 11 which operates according to a program read onto the memory 12 or the external storage device 13. The processing unit 110 realizes each function by the arithmetic device 11 executing the program.

The memory 12 is a storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory, and functions as a storage area from which programs and data are temporarily read. The external storage device 13 is, for example, a writable and readable storage medium and storage media drive such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable), or a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disk-Random Access Memory). The functions of the storage unit 130 are realized by the memory 12 or the external storage device 13. Note that the functions of the storage unit 130 may also be realized by a storage device connected via the communication IF 16.

The input IF 14 is an interface for accepting input operations from an operator, and is connected to input devices such as a touch panel, keyboard, mouse, and microphone. The output IF 15 is an interface for outputting information to an output device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) built into the travel expense payment device 100.

The communication IF 16 is an interface for connecting the travel expense payment device 100 to other devices via the network 90, and is connected to a communication device such as a LAN (Local Area Network) card. The storage medium drive device 17 is a device for inputting and outputting information from a portable medium 18 such as a CD (Compact Disk) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

The processing of each component of the travel expense payment device 100 may be executed by a single piece of hardware, or may be executed by multiple pieces of hardware. Furthermore, the processing of each component of the travel expense payment device 100 may be realized by a single program, or may be realized by multiple programs.

The hardware configurations of the corporate device 200, financial processing device 300, and payment processing device 400 are similar to that of the travel expense payment device 100, so explanations are omitted.

[Operation] Now, the transportation expense payment system 1 according to this embodiment receives a transportation expense application from a student via the internet at the transportation expense payment site, the user application unit 111 processes the application, and the approval unit 114 obtains approval for the transportation expense application that has been processed, and the payer transfer unit 115 notifies the computer of the company's payment officer of the approved payment of the transportation expenses, thereby supporting the payment officer's request to transfer the transportation expenses to a financial institution. The details of this operation are explained below.

In this embodiment, when students apply for travel expenses, the company publishes a web page for travel expense applications in advance on a travel expense payment site on the company's computer, and this published travel expense payment site has a function that allows students to input the departure and arrival points for the desired interview venue (company office or a venue designated by the company) in designated fields, and a function to take a picture or use a camera to input image data of the relevant page of the passbook to confirm the account name and account number of the student's financial institution.The travel expense payment site is also provided via the Internet to the computers of the company and payment personnel.

[Login process] The process in which a student logs in to the transportation expense payment system 1 is based on the premise that the student has already applied to a company for an interview, etc., and the interview, etc. has been completed at the venue. This explains the process in which the company registers the user's user ID in the system after the interview, and the student logs in for the first time. This is referred to as logging in using the first method.

The login process using the first method is performed by the processing unit of the transportation fee payment device 100 by carrying out steps 1 to 6 described below. In addition, after step 6, the student's personal information can be registered after changing the password.

The first step in the login process using the first method is for the company representative to register the student information (selection number, name, email address, telephone number, address, school name, etc.) previously obtained from the student in the user master 135 of the transportation fee payment device 100.

The second step of the login process using the first method is to register the user ID converted from the student's email address received in the first step and the student information in the user master 135.

The third step of the login process using the first method is for the company to inform the student of the URL of the travel expense payment device 100, the company code, the user ID (the student's email address), the selection number, and instructions on how to log in at the interview venue, etc., by means of an information sheet or the like.

The fourth step of the login process using the first method is when the student returns home or the like, accesses the notified URL using his/her own computer, and enters the company code, user ID (student's email address) and selection number to access the transportation fee payment system 1.

The fifth step of the login process using the first method is to send a unique password to the student who gained access using the fourth step.

The sixth step of the login process using the first method is for the student to log in and access the transportation fee payment site of the transportation fee payment system 1 using the password and other information (company code, user ID, password, selection number) received in the fifth step.

In other words, the first method of logging in to the transportation fee payment system 1 when a student registers a user ID involves registering the student's user ID in the transportation fee payment system 1 using an email address based on the selection information and student information including the email address obtained from the student by the company representative, and authenticating the student using a combination of the company code, user ID and selection number on the transportation fee payment site (web page) of the student-oriented website accessed based on the URL from the student, and sending a password that allows logging in to the transportation fee payment site to the email address of the student who has been authenticated, thereby allowing only regular students to log in to the transportation fee payment system 1 and registering them.

On the other hand, another method of logging in to the travel expense payment system 1 is also possible in which the student has already applied for an interview with a company and registers a user ID after the interview is completed. In that case, the processing unit of the travel expense payment device 100 performs steps 1 to 5 described below. This is referred to as logging in by the second method.

The first step in the login process using the second method is for the company to inform the student of the URL of the travel expense payment system 1, the company code, the password, and instructions on how to log in by means of an information sheet at the venue of the interview, etc.

The second step of the login process using the second method is when the student returns home or the like, accesses the notified URL using his/her own computer, and enters the company code, user ID (student's email address), and password to access the transportation fee payment system 1.

The third step of the login process using the second method is a step in which the transportation fee payment system 1 accessed in the second step sets a user ID based on the student's email address and issues a login key (e.g., a six-digit random number) for logging in to the system and sends it to the student's email address.

The fourth step of the login process using the second method is for the student to receive the login key sent in the third step.

The fifth step of the login process using the second method is when the student who received the login key in the fourth step uses his/her own computer to access the URL and log in using the company code, user ID (email address), password, and login key.

In other words, the second method of logging in to the transportation fee payment system 1 when a student registers a user ID involves the company informing the student of the URL, company code, and password of the transportation fee payment site (web page), the student accessing the URL using the notified company code and password and their own address and user ID, the transportation fee payment system 1 that was accessed then emails a login key to the email address of the received user ID, and the student is authenticated using the combination of the login key, company code, user ID (email address), and password received by the student via email, thereby allowing only regular students to log in to the transportation fee payment system 1 and register.

[Transportation Expense Payment Processing] Next, the transportation expense payment system 1 according to this embodiment executes the transportation expense payment processing based on the transportation expense application from the student.

Figure 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a transportation fee payment process. The transportation fee payment process is initiated from the student's computer.

First, the website of the transportation expense payment system 1 accepts access from the student's own computer, accepts input of personal information, and registers it in the user master 135 (step S101). Then, the website of the transportation expense payment system 1 accepts input of transportation expense application information (locations and prefecture addresses of departure and arrival locations, and image information of bankbook) (step S102). Note that, when this input is made, the user application unit 111 may reject the input of transportation expenses for the same day and time period, i.e., double input, as an error and prompt the user to re-enter. Alternatively, when inputting into the student's own computer, if one or more applications for payment of the prescribed transportation expenses based on the input departure and arrival locations and the date and time of use of the public transportation network are received, the acceptance of inputs with overlapping dates and times from the student may be stopped.

Then, the user application unit 111 stores the travel expense application information in the application information DB 137 (step S103).

Then, the approval unit 114 accepts approval input of the travel expense application information from the company representative via the company device 200 (step S104).

Then, the management data creation unit 113 creates transfer target data for the applications approved in step S104 from among the travel expense application information stored in step S103 on a specified date (e.g., the 10th and 25th of each month) and notifies the payment person using the payment processing device 400 by email (step S105).

Then, the payer transfer unit 115 executes an account check (step S106). Specifically, the payer transfer unit 115 causes the transfer request processing unit 411 of the payment processing device 400 to input the check results of the travel expense application information. This check of the travel expense application information is, for example, a check of the student's name, address, financial institution name, branch name, savings type, and account number. In particular, in this embodiment, the travel expense payment system 1 provides an account check screen on the travel expense payment website via the Internet. On this account check screen, the person in charge of payment judges whether the input information displayed in the input information field is correct by comparing it with the image information of the passbook displayed in the image information field, and if it is correct, clicks the check result "OK" button, and if there is an error in the input information, clicks the check result "NG" button to update and input the check result.

This account check, for example, takes advantage of the fact that the format of each financial institution's passbook is standardized, and determines whether the bank name, branch name, account number, savings type, and account holder name recognized from the image information of the passbook using an optical character reading (OCR) function match the bank/name, branch name, account number, and student name (account holder name) entered by the student, and may be configured to display a warning or error on the account check screen if any of them are determined to be inconsistent.

The travel expense payment device 100 in this embodiment is equipped with a storage means (temporary memory) that temporarily stores input information and image information, and when a person in charge of payment checks an account for payment of the specified travel expense based on the departure point and destination entered by the user, it operates to display an account check screen on the display unit of the computer in charge of payment, which includes an input information field that displays the user's name, financial institution name, account number at the financial institution, and account name entered by the user and read from the temporary memory, and an image information field that displays image information of a passbook on which the name of the financial institution, the branch name of the financial institution, the account number, and the account name read from the temporary memory are printed.

For applications for which the account check result is "NG" (applications for which the result is "NG" in step S106), the transfer data creation unit 116 collects the applications for which the account check result is "NG", performs the return notification process described below, returns the processing status of the workflow, and returns control to step S102 (step S107).

For applications for which the account check result is "OK" (applications for which the result is "OK" in step S106), the transfer data creation unit 116 creates transfer data for all applications that are OK, stores the data in the transfer information DB 138, and transmits the data to the FB data generation unit 412 of the payment processing device 400. The FB data generation unit 412 stores the data in a temporary area of the memory unit 430.

Then, the FB data generation unit 412 starts the payment process on a predetermined day (e.g., the 10th, 25th, etc. of each month) and creates FB data from the transfer data (step S108). Specifically, the FB data generation unit 412 reads the transfer data, generates FB data according to a predetermined format, and stores it in the firm banking information 431.

Then, the FB data generation unit 412 passes the FB data to the financial processing device 300 (step S109). The FB data generation unit 412 may exclude any unauthorized duplicate applications if any are found. For example, the FB data generation unit 412 may compare the application with past (previous) FB data, and if there is an application from the same person for the same date, time, and amount, treat it as a duplicate application with an account check NG, exclude the application from the FB data, and return control to step S107. However, as an exception to duplicate payments, if the application overlaps with FB data in which the transfer result was "account closed" or "name changed", it will not be treated as a duplicate application.

Then, in the financial processing device 300, the firm banking reception unit 311 receives the FB data and stores it in the firm banking information 331. The account transfer unit 312 then performs a transfer process to transfer funds between accounts in accordance with the FB data (step S110). Specifically, the account transfer unit 312 transfers a specified amount (total amount of travel expenses) to a specified account (such as an account for transferring travel expenses, etc.) in accordance with the FB data, and notifies the payment clerk of the transfer result.

The transfer request processing unit 411 stores the notified transfer result in the memory unit 430 of the payment processing device 400, and uploads the transfer data including the transfer result to the travel expense payment device 100. The transfer data creation unit 116 stores the uploaded transfer data in the transfer information DB 138, and determines whether the transfer result is "NG", i.e., whether it has failed, for each travel expense application (step S111). If the transfer result is unsuccessful, the information indicating the cause is likely to be "account closed" or "name changed", and therefore, even if a retry is performed, the cause will not be resolved, and the transfer will not be successful unless the error in the application information is corrected.

Then, for applications where the transfer result is unsuccessful (applications where the result is "NG" in step S111), the transfer data creation unit 116 collects the failed applications and returns control to step S107.

For applications where the transfer result is successful (applications where the result is "OK" in step S111), the transfer request processing unit 411 of the payment processing device 400 will cause the payment clerk to issue an invoice to the company representative (step S112).

This is the flow of the transportation fee payment process. The transportation fee payment process can help companies pay the prescribed amount of transportation fees to students.

Figure 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the return notification process. The return notification process is performed in step S107 of the transportation expense payment process.

First, the payer transfer unit 115 notifies the applicant by email via the email transmission/reception unit 112 (step S201). Specifically, for applications for which the account check has been rejected or the transfer result has been unsuccessful, the payer transfer unit 115 sends an automatically created email using a specified form to the user who is the applicant of the application. This email contains at least information identifying the rejected or failed application and a URL for correcting and entering the application.

Then, the workflow management unit 117 changes the status of the target application in the workflow to "returned," so that the application can be corrected and submitted again (step S202).

This is the flow of the return notification process. With the return notification process, the workflow processing status of an application where the transfer does not function properly can be returned, allowing the application to be resubmitted.

The above is the transportation expense payment system according to the first embodiment. The transportation expense payment system according to the first embodiment can provide a transportation expense payment system and transportation expense payment method that can go cashless, reduce the workload at the venue, and reduce the amount of pre-application work by supporting the payment of a set amount of transportation expenses to an unspecified number of payment recipients.

In the above embodiment, the transportation expenses payment service for students who have interviews with companies has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the payment of transportation expenses to students, and can also be applied to business forms in which transportation expenses are paid on an ad-hoc basis to participants in seminars, temporary employees, temporary part-time workers, etc. Furthermore, while the embodiment describes an example of paying a set amount of transportation expenses according to company regulations, the present invention is not limited to paying a set amount, and can pay actual transportation expenses by linking with a website such as Hyperdia (registered trademark) that calculates optimal (short time, least expensive) transportation expenses based on conditions such as the starting point (station), the destination point (station), and the time of year.

For example, the above-mentioned embodiment has been described in detail to make the present invention easier to understand, and the present invention is not limited to having all of the configurations described here. It is also possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment. It is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. It is also possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations. In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole by hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. In addition, the control lines and information lines in the figures show those that are considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily show all of them. It may be considered that almost all of the configurations are connected to each other.

The functional configurations of the above-mentioned travel expense payment device 100, corporate device 200, financial processing device 300, and payment processing device 400 are classified according to the main processing content for ease of understanding. The classification method or names of the components do not limit the present invention. As described above, the configurations of the travel expense payment device 100, corporate device 200, financial processing device 300, and payment processing device 400 can also be classified into more components depending on the processing content. Also, one component can be classified to perform even more processes.

1: Travel Expense Payment System, 90: Network, 100: Travel Expense Payment Device, 110: Processing Unit, 111: User Application Unit, 112: Email Sending/Receiving Unit, 113: Management Data Creation Unit, 114: Approval Unit, 115: Payer Transfer Unit, 116: Transfer Data Creation Unit, 117: Workflow Management Unit, 130: Memory Unit, 131: Company Master, 132: Travel Expense Master, 133: Business Establishment Master, 134: Venue Master, 135: User Master, 136: Person in Charge Master, 137: Application Information DB, 138: Transfer Information DB, 150: Input Unit, 160: Output input unit, 170: communication unit, 200: business device, 210: processing unit, 211: application processing unit, 240: input unit, 250: output unit, 260: communication unit, 300: financial processing device, 310: processing unit, 311: firm banking reception unit, 312: account transfer unit, 330: storage unit, 331: firm banking information, 350: communication unit, 400: payment processing device, 410: processing unit, 411: transfer request processing unit, 412: FB data generation unit, 430: storage unit, 431: firm banking information, 440: input unit, 450: output unit, 460: communication unit

Claims (4)

A user computer operated by a user ;
a payment computer of a payment clerk who is in charge of paying the transportation expenses to a designated account of a financial institution designated by a user ;
A transportation fee payment device connected to the payment computer via a network and including a processing unit and a storage unit;
A transportation fee payment system comprising:
The user computer is operated by a user who is requesting a transportation fee for using a public transportation network from a departure point to a destination,
the transportation fee payment device performs a process of transferring the transportation fee from the departure point to the destination to a designated account of a financial institution designated by the user;
The processing unit stores in the storage unit the name of the financial institution, the account number of the financial institution, and the account name entered by the user by operating the user computer, accepts an application for payment of the standard transportation fee based on the departure point and destination entered by the user, and when it receives input from the payment computer indicating that the application is duplicated as a result of checking the application against past applications , it sends an e-mail to the user urging them to reapply , and even when it receives input indicating that the application is duplicated, it does not send an e-mail to the user urging them to reapply if it compares the application with the results of the transfer process to the financial institution of the duplicate past application and indicates an error due to the account having been closed or the account name having been changed.
A transportation fee payment system comprising : The transportation fee payment system according to claim 1,
When the user computer receives one or more applications for payment of the prescribed transportation expenses based on the departure point, the arrival point, and the date and time of use of the public transportation network input by the user, the user computer stops accepting subsequent inputs from the user that overlap with the date and time of use of the public transportation network .
A transportation fee payment system comprising: 3. The transportation fee payment system according to claim 1,
A transportation expense payment system in which, when the processing unit of the transportation expense payment device receives a notification that there was an error caused by the user in the transfer process to the account number of the account name of the financial institution in response to the application for payment of the specified transportation expenses, the processing unit sends an email to the user urging them to reapply. A user computer operated by a user ;
a payment computer of a payment clerk who is in charge of paying the transportation expenses to a designated account of a financial institution designated by a user ;
A transportation fee payment device connected to the payment computer via a network and including a processing unit and a storage unit;
A transportation fee payment method for use in a transportation fee payment system comprising:
The user computer is operated by a user who is requesting a transportation fee for using a public transportation network from a departure point to a destination,
the transportation fee payment device performs a process of transferring the transportation fee from the departure point to the destination to a designated account of a financial institution designated by the user;
The processing unit performs the steps of storing in the storage unit the name of the financial institution, the account number of the financial institution, and the account name entered by the user by operating the user computer, accepting an application for payment of the standard transportation fee based on the departure point and the arrival point entered by the user, accepting an input from the payment computer indicating that the application is duplicated as a result of checking the application against past applications , and sending an e-mail urging the user to reapply , and even when an input indicating that the application is duplicated is accepted, if the application is compared with the result of the transfer process to the financial institution of the duplicate past application and an error has occurred due to the account having been closed or the account name having been changed, an e-mail urging the user to reapply is not sent.
A transportation expense payment method comprising :

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