ELECTRONIC MONEY RECOVERING SYSTEM

摘要

The present invention relates to an electronic-money collecting system capable of returning a lost IC card used as an 'electronic purse' to the owner of the lost IC card or an institution issuing the lost IC card with a high degree of efficiency without giving a troublesome load to the lost-IC-card finder or the institution issuing the IC card. When a lost IC card in which money data representing the amount of electronic money is stored is found, the found IC card is entered to a terminal installed at places such as a banking organ or a public institution. At that time, information read out from the IC card is transmitted to a center apparatus by way of a communication line. At the center apparatus, a storage unit is searched for information on the legitimate owner of the IC card such as information for contacting the owner. The owner of the lost IC card is then notified of the implementation of processing to collect the IC card by telephone, through the post or through an electronic mail using a communication means. In order to increase the rate of collection of lost IC cards, a lost-IC-card finder is given reward money which is set in accordance with the amount of money recorded in a found IC card. In addition, when an attempt made by a lost-IC-card finder to illegally draw money from a found IC card is detected, information on the lost-IC-card finder who makes the attempt to draw money from the found IC card is recorded, allowing the abuse of a found IC card to be detected early. <IMAGE>