SETTLEMENT OPERATION SUPPORT SYSTEM AND
SETTLEMENT OPERATION SUPPORT METHOD
[Technical Field]
5 [0001]
The present invention relates to a settlement operation
support system and a settlement operation support method.
[Background Art]
[0002]
10 There is a service platform for supporting a business
collaboration focused on order placement and acceptance
operations among clients and partners of enterprises such as
buyers and suppliers that form a supply chain.
[0003]
15 In this service platform, various application services
(SaaS) corresponding to business types, operations, tasks, and
the like are provided as places for business trading on the
Internet. For example, the aforementioned order placement and
acceptance operations can be carried out efficiently and
20 seamlessly with the statuses thereof being managed.
[0004]
However, settlement operations associated with the
aforementioned order placement and acceptance operations have
been out of the scope of the above-mentioned service platform.
25 Accordingly, regarding the settlement operations, related
parties tend to proceed with conventional processing while
directly communicating with each other.
[0005]
Given the situation, as a conventional technique
30 concerning promotion of efficiency and the like of the
3
settlement operations, there is disclosed a credit
confirmation system (see PTL 1) which includes an enterprise
center installed at each enterprise and provided with an
account receivable information database that stores account
5 receivable information concerning accounts receivable, a
financial institution center that manages account information,
and a payment acceptance device that requests the financial
institution center to pay for an account receivable in response
to a request from a user, for example. Here, the enterprise
10 center provides collation information regarding the account
receivable information designated by a prescribed request in
response to the prescribed request which is from the payment
acceptance device that has accepted a payment request from the
user, and transmits the collation information to the payment
15 acceptance device. The payment acceptance device incorporates
the collation information acquired from the enterprise center
in response to the input for the payment request by the user
into a fund transfer request telegraph for requesting a fund
transfer, and transmits the telegraph to the financial
20 institution center. The financial institution center performs
credit processing to a prescribed account in response to the
fund transfer request telegraph received from the payment
acceptance device, and generates credit information containing
the collation information contained in the fund transfer
25 request telegraph. The enterprise center acquires the credit
information from the financial institution center, and
performs prescribed reconciliation processing concerning the
relevant account receivable information with reference to the
account receivable information database while using the
30 collation information contained in the credit information as
4
a key.
[0006]
Meanwhile, there is also disclosed a settlement
management system (see PTL 2), for instance, which includes
5 identification number providing means for providing billing
statement data being prepared for respective billing
statements with an identical transfer identification number
for each payment due date of the respective billing statements,
transfer data generating means for summing up billing amounts
10 in the billing statements provided with the identical transfer
identification number and generating transfer data in which
the summed billing amounts are associated with the transfer
identification number, and reconciliation processing means for
performing reconciliation processing by collating either the
15 billing statement data or the transfer data having the transfer
identification number with credit information on credits
actually made on each payment due date.
[0007]
There is also disclosed a trading action support server
20 (see PTL 3) to support a trading action between a seller and
a buyer, for instance. The trading action support server
includes: a trading action data storage part that stores
information for associating delivery data of the seller
including item identification information, item quantity, and
25 item unit price and being expressed in an expression format
used in processing by the seller, with delivery data of the
buyer including item identification information, item quantity,
and item unit price and being expressed in an expression format
used in processing by the buyer; a seller data receiving part
30 that receives the delivery data of the seller generated due to
5
the trading action from a terminal of the seller; a buyer data
receiving part that receives the delivery data of the buyer
generated due to the trading action from a terminal of the
buyer; a matching part that associates the delivery data of
5 the seller received by the seller data receiving part with the
delivery data of the buyer received by the buyer data receiving
part by using the trading action data storage part; and an
output part that outputs at least any of the delivery data of
the seller and the delivery data of the buyer associated with
10 each other by the matching part to at least one of the terminals
of the seller and buyer.
[Citation List]
[Patent Literature]
[0008]
15 [PTL 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No.
2001-250074
[PTL 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No.
2002-216039
[PTL 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No.
20 2003-233765
[Summary of Invention]
[Technical Problem]
[0009]
Meanwhile, in the settlement operations that take place
25 separately from the above-described service platform, persons
in charge at the respective enterprises carry out operations
to confirm payment as well as credit and to perform
reconciliation for each of an enormous number of order
placement and acceptance actions. The larger a scale of the
30 enterprise is or the larger the number of the order placement
6
and acceptance actions is, the greater burden the operations
involve, thus leading to very cumbersome paperwork.
[0010]
Each of the payment, credit, and reconciliation
5 operations is supposed to be carried out after confirmation of
the statuses of other operations or the like that trigger the
relevant operation. Nevertheless, the persons in charge at
the respective parties of trading are not in a position to
carry out the confirmation efficiently and reliably, and are
10 prone to carry out the confirmation by making contact with
each other as needed. The work efficiency and instantaneity
of such an operation or accuracy of a confirmation result is
far from favorable.
In addition, if a management system for the information
15 on the status is inadequate, there is also a possibility of
damaging a fair trading environment due to the occurrence of
an inappropriate situation such as falsification.
[0011]
Given the situation, it is an object of the present
20 invention to provide a technique for managing a status of a
prescribed event concerning a settlement operation thoroughly,
efficiently, and with proper instantaneity between related
parties, thereby improving efficiency of the settlement
operation.
25 [Solution to Problem]
[0012]
A settlement operation support system of the present
invention to solve the above object for a distributed ledger
system including a plurality of nodes representing a plurality
30 of organizations, respectively, at least a prescribed node out
7
of the nodes comprises: a storage unit configured to store a
distributed ledger; and a computation unit configured to
execute processing to receive a transaction for a settlement
operation associated with order placement and acceptance
5 between prescribed organizations out of the organizations, and
to store the transaction in the distributed ledger after
building a prescribed consensus in the distributed ledger
system, processing to manage a status in each of procedures in
the settlement operation as state information of the
10 distributed ledger, and processing to perform reconciliation
processing of a relevant order placement or acceptance action
in a case where a status of an amount of settlement in the
state information becomes credit completed.
[0013]
15 A settlement operation support method of this invention
for a distributed ledger system including a plurality of nodes
representing a plurality of organizations, respectively, in
which at least a prescribed node out of the nodes includes a
storage unit configured to store a distributed ledger, the
20 method comprises executing, in the prescribed node: processing
to receive a transaction for a settlement operation associated
with order placement and acceptance between prescribed
organizations out of the organizations, and to store the
transaction in the distributed ledger after building a
25 prescribed consensus in the distributed ledger system,
processing to manage a status in each of procedures in the
settlement operation as state information of the distributed
ledger, and processing to perform reconciliation processing of
a relevant order placement or acceptance action in a case where
30 a status of an amount of settlement in the state information
8
becomes credit completed.
[Advantageous Effects of Invention]
[0014]
According to the present invention, it is possible to
5 manage a status of a prescribed event concerning a settlement
operation thoroughly, efficiently, and with proper
instantaneity between related parties, and thus to improve
efficiency of the settlement operation.
[Brief Description of Drawings]
10 [0015]
[Fig. 1] Fig. 1 is a network configuration diagram including
a settlement operation support system of an embodiment of the
present invention.
[Fig. 2] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration
15 example of the settlement operation support system of the
embodiment.
[Fig. 3] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a first flow example of
a settlement operation support method of the embodiment.
[Fig. 4] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a first screen example of
20 the embodiment.
[Fig. 5] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a second screen example
of the embodiment.
[Fig. 6] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a third screen example of
the embodiment.
25 [Fig. 7] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a fourth screen example
of the embodiment.
[Fig. 8] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a fifth screen example of
the embodiment.
[Fig. 9] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a sixth screen example of
30 the embodiment.
9
[Fig. 10] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a second flow example
of the settlement operation support method of the embodiment.
[Fig. 11] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a seventh screen example
of the embodiment.
5 [Fig. 12] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a third flow example of
the settlement operation support method of the embodiment.
[Description of Embodiments]
[0016]
--- Concerning distributed ledger technology ---
10 [0017]
A distributed ledger technology has come into being as
a P2P (Peer-to-Peer) direct trading method between users to
replace trading through a centralized organization (a
financial institution and a government, for example) which has
15 heretofore been carried out.
[0018]
As the aforementioned technique, there is a technique to
conduct settlement actions without requiring the centralized
organization such as a bank but instead by using a virtual
20 currency, for example. In this technique, trading data
(hereinafter a transaction) on a P2P network is subjected to
determination of legitimacy by using a node called a miner,
and then confirmation processing is carried out by means of a
task to calculate a specific hash value called proof of work.
25 [0019]
The transactions confirmed in this process are compiled
into one block and registered with a distributed ledger called
a blockchain. Note that a system formed from the nodes each
holding the above-mentioned distributed ledger is referred to
30 as a distributed ledger system.
10
[0020]
Here, each transaction handled by a settlement operation
support system 10 of an embodiment of the present invention is
assumed to be one associated with a settlement operation of an
5 order placement or acceptance action that takes place between
participants (a buyer enterprise and a seller enterprise) of
a supply chain. Accordingly, the transactions are issued when
various procedures in the settlement operation are carried out
by the respective nodes, and are registered with the
10 distributed ledgers after building an appropriate consensus
among the nodes.
[0021]
Main features of the blockchain include: (1) in the
trading between the participants on the distributed ledger
15 system, the trading is confirmed by the consensus building or
an approval between (arbitrary or specific) participants
instead of a centralized organization; (2) multiple
transactions are compiled into blocks and recorded on the
distributed ledger in a concatenated fashion and then the
20 continuous blocks are subjected to hash calculation so as to
make falsification virtually impossible; and (3) all the
participants are enabled to confirm the trading by allowing
all the participants to hold the identical ledger data in the
distributed ledgers.
25 [0022]
Due to the above-described features, the distributed
ledger technology as typified by the blockchain is under
consideration as a scheme for managing/sharing reliable data
and for enforcing/managing trading based on a contract, which
30 is to be applied to a wide range of fields such as a financial
11
field and the IoT (Internet of Things).
[0023]
The existence of a smart contract is cited as one of
those examples. The smart contract is also referred to as a
5 digitalized contract (a contract formed into a software
program), which is implemented by describing processing such
as input and output of ledger data in the form of a program.
Each of the nodes in the distributed ledger system executes
the above-mentioned smart contract while building a mutual
10 consensus, and updates each ledger data depending on a result
of execution of the contract and so forth.
[0024]
Here, some terms will be defined as stated below prior
to the description of the embodiment. First, the distributed
15 ledger is a distributed database characterized in that the
ledger data that is treated among multiple nodes (distributed
ledger nodes) forming the distributed ledger system is securely
shared. The above-mentioned distributed ledger is also
referred to as a blockchain.
20 [0025]
In the meantime, among modes of the above-described
distributed ledger system, a permissioned type (also called a
consortium type) is assumed to be used herein because the
participants in the distributed ledger system in this
25 embodiment are enterprises such as buyer enterprises and
supplier enterprises that form the supply chain, which are
users that undergo usage registration for the aforementioned
service platform (the existing service platform that supports
the business collaboration focused on order placement and
30 acceptance operations). Needless to say, this assumption is
12
merely an example and other modes of the distributed ledger
system may be applied as appropriate. Meanwhile, element
technologies including a hash chain and a consensus protocol
are used in the distributed ledger system for the purpose of
5 the aforementioned data sharing.
[0026]
In the meantime, the ledger data held in each distributed
ledger mentioned above can adopt various data structures such
as RDB (Relational DataBase) and KVS (Key-Value Store) as its
10 data structure as appropriate. Such a data structure can be
regulated by the users of the distributed ledger system.
[0027]
Here, in the distributed ledger management using the
blockchain, one usually needs to trace the blockchain in order
15 to acquire a (or the newest) state (for example, details as
well as an unpaid amount of a billing registration, payment
procedures, and details as well as an unpaid amount of credit,
and the like in the case of the settlement operation). However,
this brings about poor processing efficiency. Accordingly,
20 there is a method (such as "Hyperledger Fabric", [online],
[retrieved on March 31, 2017, the Internet ) of
caching the newest state information separately from the
blockchain.
25 [0028]
In this regard, this embodiment also assumes the
management of the newest state information on the distributed
ledger. For example, the state information is managed in the
above-described KVS data structure of linking a status of
30 settlement processing at each stage of an order placement or
13
acceptance action by using a billing statement ID of the action
as a key.
[0029]
In this way, the nodes of the distributed ledger system
5 can acquire the status of the settlement processing of the
order placement or acceptance action by using the billing
statement ID of the action as the key, for example. The nodes
update this state information every time the transaction is
issued and stored along the processing in accordance with a
10 settlement operation support method of this embodiment.
[0030]
Meanwhile, the above-mentioned smart contract is assumed
to be a program that describes processing concerning input and
output of the ledger data, and so forth. The smart contract
15 is installed on the node (a distributed ledger node) that
belongs to the distributed ledger system and is executed at an
appropriate timing.

WE CLAIM:
[Claim 1]
A settlement operation support system for a distributed
ledger system including a plurality of nodes representing a
5 plurality of organizations, respectively, at least a
prescribed node out of the nodes comprising:
a storage unit configured to store a distributed ledger;
and
a computation unit configured to execute
10 processing to receive a transaction for a
settlement operation associated with order placement and
acceptance between prescribed organizations out of the
organizations, and to store the transaction in the distributed
ledger after building a prescribed consensus in the distributed
15 ledger system,
processing to manage a status in each of procedures
in the settlement operation as state information of the
distributed ledger, and
processing to perform reconciliation processing of
20 a relevant order placement or acceptance action in a case where
a status of an amount of settlement in the state information
becomes credit completed.
[Claim 2]
The settlement operation support system according to
25 claim 1, wherein
the prescribed node executes
processing to acquire information on a credit event
concerning a prescribed account from a prescribed financial
institution system upon receipt of a credit confirmation
30 instruction from a user or in accordance with a status of a
42
payment procedure of the amount of settlement in the state
information,
processing to issue a transaction concerning
credit of the amount of settlement in a case where the
5 information indicates the credit of the amount of settlement
of the order placement or acceptance action, and to store the
transaction in the distributed ledger after building the
consensus, and
processing to update a status of the amount of settlement
10 in the state information with credit completed.
[Claim 3]
The settlement operation support system according to
claim 2, wherein
the prescribed node determines a status of each procedure
15 in the settlement operation associated with an order placement
or acceptance action of any of a prescribed organization
satisfying a predetermined condition and an organization
operating the prescribed node by referring to the state
information, and displays the status of each procedure on an
20 output unit.
[Claim 4]
The settlement operation support system according to
claim 3, wherein
in a case where the prescribed node receives a user
25 instruction to carry out a payment registration concerning a
certain procedure out of the procedures of which statuses are
displayed on the output unit, the certain procedure
representing billing registration processing with a status
indicated as completed, the prescribed node issues a
30 transaction concerning a payment procedure in the amount of
43
settlement indicated in the billing registration, stores the
transaction in the distributed ledger after building the
consensus, and updates the status of the payment procedure in
the state information with payment registration completed.
5 [Claim 5]
The settlement operation support system according to
claim 4, wherein
in a case where the prescribed node receives a user
instruction to perform payment in installments in a prescribed
10 number of times concerning the certain procedure out of the
procedures of which statuses are displayed on the output unit,
the certain procedure representing the billing registration
processing with the status indicated as completed, the
prescribed node issues a transaction concerning the payment
15 procedures in the number of times corresponding to the
prescribed number of times each in an amount obtained by
dividing the amount of settlement indicated in the billing
registration by the prescribed number of times, stores the
transaction in the distributed ledger after building the
20 consensus, and updates the status of the payment procedures in
the state information with payment registration completed.
[Claim 6]
The settlement operation support system according to
claim 4, wherein
25 in a case where the prescribed node receives a user
instruction to perform lump-sum payment of a prescribed group
of the order placement or acceptance actions concerning the
certain procedure out of the procedures concerning the order
placement or acceptance actions of which statuses are displayed
30 on the output unit, the certain procedure representing the
44
billing registration processing with the status indicated as
completed, the prescribed node issues a transaction concerning
the payment procedure in an amount obtained by summing up the
amounts of settlement of the respective order placement or
5 acceptance actions forming the group of the order placement or
acceptance actions, stores the transaction in the distributed
ledger after building the consensus, and updates the status of
the payment procedures in the state information with payment
registration completed.
10 [Claim 7]
The settlement operation support system according to
claim 2, wherein
a specific node determined in advance out of the nodes
of the distributed ledger system executes
15 the reconciliation processing,
the processing to acquire the information on the credit
event,
the processing to issue the transaction concerning the
credit of the amount of settlement and to store the transaction
20 in the distributed ledger after building the consensus, and
the processing to update the status of the amount of
settlement in the state information with credit completed.
[Claim 8]
A settlement operation support method for a distributed
25 ledger system including a plurality of nodes representing a
plurality of organizations, respectively, in which at least a
prescribed node out of the nodes includes a storage unit
configured to store a distributed ledger,
the method comprising executing, in the prescribed node:
30 processing to receive a transaction for a
45
settlement operation associated with order placement and
acceptance between prescribed organizations out of the
organizations, and to store the transaction in the distributed
ledger after building a prescribed consensus in the distributed
5 ledger system,
processing to manage a status in each of procedures
in the settlement operation as state information of the
distributed ledger, and
processing to perform reconciliation processing of
10 a relevant order placement or acceptance action in a case where
a status of an amount of settlement in the state information
becomes credit completed.
[Claim 9]
The settlement operation support method according to
15 claim 8, wherein
the prescribed node executes
processing to acquire information on a credit event
concerning a prescribed account from a prescribed financial
institution system upon receipt of a credit confirmation
20 instruction from a user or in accordance with a status of a
payment procedure of the amount of settlement in the state
information,
processing to issue a transaction concerning
credit of the amount of settlement in a case where the
25 information indicates the credit of the amount of settlement
of the order placement or acceptance action, and to store the
transaction in the distributed ledger after building the
consensus, and
processing to update a status of the amount of settlement
30 in the state information with credit completed.
46
[Claim 10]
The settlement operation support method according to
claim 9, wherein
the prescribed node determines a status of each procedure
5 in the settlement operation associated with an order placement
or acceptance action of any of a prescribed organization
satisfying a predetermined condition and an organization
operating the prescribed node by referring to the state
information, and displays the status of each procedure on an
10 output unit.
[Claim 11]
The settlement operation support method according to
claim 10, wherein
in a case where the prescribed node receives a user
15 instruction to carry out a payment registration concerning a
certain procedure out of the procedures of which statuses are
displayed on the output unit, the certain procedure
representing billing registration processing with a status
indicated as completed, the prescribed node issues a
20 transaction concerning a payment procedure in the amount of
settlement indicated in the billing registration, stores the
transaction in the distributed ledger after building the
consensus, and updates the status of the payment procedure in
the state information with payment registration completed.
25 [Claim 12]
The settlement operation support method according to
claim 11, wherein
in a case where the prescribed node receives a user
instruction to perform payment in installments in a prescribed
30 number of times concerning the certain procedure out of the
47
procedures of which statuses are displayed on the output unit,
the certain procedure representing the billing registration
processing with the status indicated as completed, the
prescribed node issues a transaction concerning the payment
5 procedures in the number of times corresponding to the
prescribed number of times each in an amount obtained by
dividing the amount of settlement indicated in the billing
registration by the prescribed number of times, stores the
transaction in the distributed ledger after building the
10 consensus, and updates the status of the payment procedures in
the state information with payment registration completed.
[Claim 13]
The settlement operation support method according to
claim 11, wherein
15 in a case where the prescribed node receives a user
instruction to perform lump-sum payment of a prescribed group
of the order placement or acceptance actions concerning the
certain procedure out of the procedures concerning the order
placement or acceptance actions of which statuses are displayed
20 on the output unit, the certain procedure representing the
billing registration processing with the status indicated as
completed, the prescribed node issues a transaction concerning
the payment procedure in an amount obtained by summing up the
amounts of settlement of the respective order placement or
25 acceptance actions forming the group of the order placement or
acceptance actions, stores the transaction in the distributed
ledger after building the consensus, and updates the status of
the payment procedures in the state information with payment
registration completed.
30 [Claim 14]
48
The settlement operation support method according to
claim 9, wherein
a specific node determined in advance out of the nodes
of the distributed ledger system executes
5 the reconciliation processing,
the processing to acquire the information on the credit
event,
the processing to issue the transaction concerning the
10
credit of the amount of settlement and to store the transaction
in the distributed ledger after building the consensus, and
the processing to update the status of the amount of
settlement in the state information with credit completed.