JP7801188B2 - Intermediation server and intermediation method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an intermediation server and an intermediation method.

JP 2021-149241 A (Patent Document 1) is a background technology in this technical field. This publication states, "An environmental contribution effect report generation device that generates a report on the environmental contribution effects resulting from the introduction of equipment includes an environmental load intensity acquisition unit (CO2 emission intensity acquisition unit) that identifies and acquires the amount of environmental load generated when generating a unit amount of energy used by the equipment and supporting information from the equipment's energy usage history, and an environmental contribution effect report generation unit that calculates the environmental contribution effect from the environmental load intensity and the equipment's energy usage amount, and generates a report including the environmental contribution effect and supporting information" (see abstract).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-149241

With the technology described in Patent Document 1, issuers must estimate in advance the amount of CO2 emissions and CO2 emission reductions that will occur in their business activities, and negotiate the terms of green bond issuance with investors. In other words, with the technology described in Patent Document 1, issuers and investors must estimate emissions and negotiate the availability and terms of funding for each individual project.

However, small and medium-sized enterprises and other such organizations may lack the knowledge to demonstrate that the funds they receive will contribute to the environment or to demonstrate specific environmental performance. Therefore, one aspect of the present invention provides information that makes it easier for people (even those with a lack of environmental knowledge) to receive preferential funding.

To solve the above problem, one aspect of the present invention employs the following configuration: The intermediary server includes a processor and memory. The memory stores information for searching for products, catalog information indicating the environmental performance of the products, and condition information indicating the type of financing for purchasing the products, incentives applied to the financing, and conditions for applying the incentives, which conditions relate to the environmental performance of the products. The processor accepts search conditions for searching for the products, identifies products and their environmental performance that match the search conditions from the catalog information, and, if the identified environmental performance satisfies the conditions, outputs data for displaying information indicating the identified products and information indicating the type of financing and incentives corresponding to the conditions in the condition information.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide information that makes it easier to receive preferential funding.

Other issues, configurations, and advantages will become clear from the description of the following embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a green loan automation system in Example 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a computer constituting each system included in the green loan automation system in Example 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of a product catalog table according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of a condition management table according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of a product classification table according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the overall processing by the green loan automation system in Example 1. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a purchase support process and a trade intermediation process performed by the intermediation system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen configuration of a loan condition determination screen displayed in the bank system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of the screen configuration of the loan condition determination screen displayed in the bank system in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the screen configuration of a product search screen displayed on the corporate system of a purchasing company in the first embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, identical components will generally be assigned the same reference numerals, and repeated explanations will be omitted. It should be noted that this embodiment is merely one example for realizing the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a green loan automation system. The green loan automation system includes, for example, an intermediary system 102, a bank system 103, a corporate system 104, and a certification authority system 105, all connected via a network 101 such as the Internet.

The intermediary system 102 carries out processes related to the intermediation of green loans. The intermediary system 102 is installed, for example, in a bank or other company (however, it is desirable that this be a company different from the company in which the company system 104 is installed and the certification authority in which the certification authority system 105 is installed).

The intermediary system 102 (intermediary server) may also include a function to mediate the buying and selling of products and services between companies in which the corporate systems 104 are installed. For example, the intermediary system 102 may include an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) function for exchanging information such as contracts, orders, and billing between the companies, as well as an EC (Electronic Commerce) function for companies. Note that systems for realizing these EDI and EC functions may be included in the green loan automation system independently of the intermediary system 102.

The intermediary system 102 includes, for example, functional units: a product information management unit 111, a loan terms management unit 112, a trade intermediation unit 113, and a loan request unit 114. The intermediary system 102 also holds a product catalog table 121, a terms management table 122, and a product classification table 123.

The product information management unit 111 manages information about products sold by companies. The sales intermediation unit 113 mediates the sale and purchase of products between companies selling products and companies purchasing them. The loan request unit 114 requests loans from the bank system 103 for companies purchasing products.

The product catalog table 121 holds information about products sold by companies. The conditions management table 122 holds information indicating the types of financial products offered to companies purchasing products, the conditions for applying preferential treatment to financial products, and the details of the preferential treatment.

The bank system 103 executes processing to provide funds to the company in which the enterprise system 104 is installed. The bank system 103 is installed, for example, in a bank (an example of a fund provider). The bank system 103 includes, for example, a loan condition determination unit 131 and a loan execution unit 132, both of which are functional units.

The loan condition determination unit 131 determines the information to be registered in the condition management table 122. The loan execution unit 132 executes a loan (an example of funding) to a company (an example of a fundraiser) that purchases a product based on a request from the loan request unit 114.

The enterprise system 104 is installed, for example, in a company that sells products or services (hereinafter, products and services will be collectively referred to simply as "products"), and in a company that purchases products. The enterprise system 104 includes, for example, a product information registration unit 151, a sales processing unit 152, and a monitoring unit 153, all of which are functional units.

The product information registration unit 151 registers at least a portion of the information contained in the product catalog table 121. The purchase and sale processing unit 152 executes processing related to the purchase and sale of products between companies selling the products and companies purchasing them. The monitoring unit 153 monitors the environmental performance of products purchased by companies.

The certification authority system 105 certifies the characteristics and performance of products sold by sales companies regarding their environmental impact and contribution to environmental improvement. The certification authority system 105 is installed, for example, at a certification authority. The certification authority system 105 includes an environmental performance certification unit 171, which is a functional unit. The environmental performance certification unit 171 certifies environmental performance for products included in the product catalog table 121.

In the example of Figure 1, the green loan automation system includes one bank system 103, one corporate system 104, and one certification authority system 105, but it may also include bank systems 103 installed in each of multiple banks, corporate systems 104 installed in each of multiple companies, and certification authority systems 105 installed in each of multiple certification authorities. Also, for example, the intermediary system 102 may be integrated with the bank system 103. In this case, data transmission and reception between the intermediary system 102 and the bank system 103 is omitted.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the computers that make up each system included in the green loan automation system. The intermediary system 102, bank system 103, corporate system 104, and certification authority system 105 are each composed of a computer 201 having, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 202, memory 203, auxiliary storage device 204, input device 205, output device 206, and communication device 207.

CPU 202 includes a processor and executes programs stored in memory 203. Memory 203 includes ROM (Read Only Memory), a non-volatile storage element, and RAM (Random Access Memory), a volatile storage element. ROM stores unchanging programs (e.g., BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)). RAM is a high-speed, volatile storage element such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and temporarily stores programs executed by CPU 202 and data used when the programs are executed.

The auxiliary storage device 204 is a large-capacity, non-volatile storage device such as a magnetic storage device (HDD (Hard Disk Drive)) or flash memory (SSD (Solid State Drive)), and stores programs executed by the CPU 202 and data used when the programs are executed. In other words, the programs are read from the auxiliary storage device 204, loaded into the memory 203, and executed by the CPU 202.

The input device 205 is a device, such as a keyboard or mouse, that receives input from the operator. The output device 206 is a device, such as a display device or printer, that outputs the results of program execution in a format that can be viewed by the operator.

The communication device 207 is a network interface device that controls communication with other devices according to a predetermined protocol. The communication device 207 may also include a serial interface such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

Some or all of the programs executed by the CPU 202 may be provided to the computer 201 via the network 101 from removable media (CD-ROM, flash memory, etc.), which are non-transitory storage media, or from an external computer equipped with a non-transitory storage device, and stored in the non-volatile auxiliary storage device 204, which is also a non-transitory storage medium. For this reason, the computer 201 should preferably have an interface for reading data from removable media.

The intermediary system 102, bank system 103, enterprise system 104, and certification authority system 105 are each computer systems configured on a single physical computer or on multiple logically or physically configured computers, and may run in separate threads on the same computer or on virtual computers built on multiple physical computer resources.

The CPU 202 of the computer 201 that constitutes the brokerage system 102 includes, for example, a product information management unit 111, a loan conditions management unit 112, a sales brokerage unit 113, and a loan request unit 114.

For example, the CPU 202 of the computer 201 that constitutes the intermediary system 102 functions as the product information management unit 111 by operating in accordance with a product information management program loaded into the memory 203 of the computer 201 that constitutes the intermediary system 102, and functions as the loan condition management unit 112 by operating in accordance with a loan condition management program loaded into the memory 203. The relationship between programs and functional units is similar for other functional units included in the CPU 202 of the computer 201 that constitutes the intermediary system 102. The relationship between programs and functional units is also similar for the functional units described below that are included in the computers 201 that constitute the bank system 103, enterprise system 104, and certification authority system 105.

In addition, some or all of the functions of the functional units included in the CPU 202 of the computer 201 that constitutes each of the intermediary system 102, bank system 103, enterprise system 104, and certification authority system 105 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array).

The auxiliary storage device 204 of the computer 201 that constitutes the intermediation system 102 stores, for example, the product catalog table 121, the condition management table 122, and the product classification table 123.

In addition, some or all of the information stored in the auxiliary storage device 204 of the computer 201 that constitutes each of the intermediary system 102, bank system 103, enterprise system 104, and certification authority system 105 may be stored in the memory 203 of the computer 201, or in an external database connected to the system.

In this embodiment, the information used by the green loan automation system is not dependent on the data structure and may be expressed in any data structure. In this embodiment, the information is expressed in table format, but the information can be stored in any data structure appropriately selected from, for example, a list, database, or queue.

The CPU 202 of the computer 201 that constitutes the bank system 103 includes, for example, a loan condition determination unit 131 and a loan execution unit 132. The CPU 202 of the computer 201 that constitutes the enterprise system 104 includes, for example, a product information registration unit 151, a trading processing unit 152, and a monitoring unit 153. The CPU 202 of the computer 201 that constitutes the certification authority system 105 includes, for example, an environmental performance certification unit 171.

Figure 3 shows an example of the data structure of the product catalog table 121. The product catalog table 121 includes, for example, a sales company column 1211, a product classification column 1212, a product name column 1213, a price column 1214, a specification column 1215, an environmental performance column 1216, and a certified environmental performance column 1217.

The selling company column 1211 holds information identifying the company that sells (or manufactures and sells) the product. The product category column 1212 holds information identifying the category to which the product belongs. The product name column 1213 holds the name of the product (information that identifies the product). The price column 1214 holds information indicating the price of the product. The specifications column 1215 holds information indicating the specifications of the product. Note that the product specifications may include information according to the product category, etc.

The environmental performance column 1216 holds information indicating the characteristics and performance of the product in terms of its environmental impact and contribution to environmental improvement. For example, environmental performance can include information according to product classification, etc., and examples of environmental performance include the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of output and the percentage of carbon dioxide emissions reduced by the product compared to the carbon dioxide emissions of a general product (e.g., a predetermined value). Note that the environmental performance column 1216 may store not only values declared by the company selling the product, but also values measured by companies that have actually introduced the product.

The certified environmental performance column 1217 holds information indicating that a certification body has confirmed and certified the environmental performance of the product. Specifically, the certified environmental performance column 1217 includes, for example, the name of the certification body, the date of certification, and an evaluation value set by the certification body (for example, a score out of 100 indicating the contribution to the environment when the product is introduced).

Figure 4 shows an example of the data structure of the condition management table 122. The condition management table 122 includes, for example, a company column 1221, a financial product column 1222, a condition column 1223, and a preferential treatment column 1224.

The company column 1221 holds information identifying the company receiving the loan. The financial product column 1222 holds information indicating the type of financial product (e.g., a loan, which is an example of funding) that the bank offers to the company. Financial products include, for example, regular loans (unsecured loans), secured loans in which purchased products are provided to the bank as collateral (in this embodiment, to illustrate an example in which the products are movable property, this will be referred to as movable property loans), regular loans with monitoring requests, and movable property loans with monitoring requests. Movable property collateral and monitoring requests are examples of special provisions related to loans. In other words, regular loans are loans that do not include special provisions, while movable property loans, regular loans with monitoring requests, and movable property loans with monitoring requests are loans that include special provisions.

The company system 104 of a company that has purchased a product with a loan that includes a monitoring request sends actual operating information for the product to the intermediary system 102. The operating information includes, for example, information that identifies the product and information about the product's environmental performance. Information about the product's environmental performance may include, for example, the product's power supply status, the product's operating status (output, rotation speed, operation type, operating time, and/or operation settings), power consumption, other energy consumption, and the amount of greenhouse gases emitted directly or through power consumption, etc.

The conditions column 1223 indicates the conditions that must be met for the bank to apply preferential treatment when providing the financial product to the company. The conditions are defined, for example, by the classification, specifications, and environmental performance of the product that the company will purchase using the loan. The conditions may also include the product name.

The preferential treatment column 1224 holds information indicating the preferential treatment that the bank will apply when providing the financial product to the company if the conditions indicated in the condition column 1223 are met. For example, if the financial product is a loan, an example of the preferential treatment would be a reduction in the interest rate on the loan.

Note that although the company column 1221 of the bottom record in the condition management table 122 in Figure 4 does not store information identifying the company (a null value is stored), the combination of financial products, conditions, and benefits indicated by that record is applicable to, for example, all companies. Furthermore, information identifying each of multiple companies may also be stored in the company column 1221.

For example, in a "regular loan" to "Company X" purchasing a "compressor," if the CO2 kg/h reduction rate for that "compressor" is 10%, all of the conditions in the top three records in the condition management table 122 in Figure 4 will be met. When the conditions of multiple records are met in this way, the most favorable treatment (in this example, "interest rate -0.09%)" should be applied.

Figure 5 shows an example of the data structure of the product classification table 123. The product classification table 123 includes, for example, a product classification column 1231, an environmental performance index column 1232, a certification index column 1233, and a specification index column 1234. The product classification column 1231 holds information that identifies the product classification.

The environmental performance index column 1232 indicates indicators related to environmental performance that can be registered in the environmental performance column 1216 of the product catalog table 121 and the condition column 1223 of the condition management table 122 for products of that category. The certification index column 1233 indicates indicators related to certification that can be registered in the condition column 1223 of the condition management table 122 for products of that category. The specification index column 1234 indicates indicators related to specifications that can be registered in the specification column 1215 of the product catalog table 121 and the condition column 1223 of the condition management table 122 for products of that category.

Figure 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the overall processing by the green loan automation system. In the following example, the enterprise system 104 installed at a company selling a product (selling company) will also be referred to as enterprise system 104a, the enterprise system 104 installed at a company that has already purchased and introduced the product through a loan with a monitoring request (described below) will also be referred to as enterprise system 104b, and the enterprise system 104 installed at a company that will purchase the product in the future (purchasing company) will also be referred to as enterprise system 104c.

The product information registration unit 151 of the enterprise system 104a transmits the product information to the intermediary system 102 (S311). Note that, for example, the product information registration unit 151 of the enterprise system 104a acquires the product information in accordance with input by a user of the selling enterprise to the input device 205 of the enterprise system 104a. The product information includes at least the values stored in the selling enterprise column 1211 to the specification column 1215 of the product catalog table 121, and may further include the value stored in the environmental performance column 1216.

For example, the product information management unit 111 of the intermediation system 102 sends the product classification table 123 to the enterprise system 104a in advance, and when a user of the sales enterprise specifies a product classification, the values of the environmental performance index and specification index corresponding to that classification can be entered in the product classification table 123.

The product information management unit 111 of the intermediation system 102 registers the received product information in the product catalog table 121 (S331).

The monitoring unit 153 of the enterprise system 104b acquires actual operating information of the introduced product and transmits the acquired environmental performance and information identifying the introduced product (e.g., the sales company and product name of the product) to the intermediary system 102 (S351). Note that, for example, the enterprise system 104b may be connected to the introduced product and the monitoring unit 153 may automatically acquire operating information from the product, or the monitoring unit 153 may acquire operating information in response to input by a user of the introduced company to the input device 205 of the enterprise system 104b.

The product information management unit 111 of the intermediation system 102 registers the necessary information from the operational information of the product received from the enterprise system 104b (for example, some or all of the environmental performance index values corresponding to the product classification in the product classification table 123 (for example, specified by the user of the intermediation system 102)) in the environmental performance column 1216 of the product catalog table 121 (S332).

The product information management unit 111 may overwrite the value in the environmental performance column 1216 with the value of the environmental performance index obtained through monitoring, or may store both the value of the environmental performance index self-reported by the selling company and the value of the environmental performance index obtained through monitoring, as in the environmental performance column 1216 of the product "Company B" in the example product catalog table 121 of Figure 3, or may overwrite the value in the environmental performance column 1216 with a predetermined statistical quantity such as the average value of the value of the environmental performance index self-reported by the selling company and the value of the environmental performance index obtained through monitoring. If no company has already introduced the product, the processes of steps S351 and S332 may be omitted.

The product information management unit 111 of the intermediary system 102 sends the sales company column 1211 to the environmental performance column 1216 of the product catalog table 121 to the certification authority system 105, and the environmental performance certification unit 171 of the certification authority system 105 certifies the product and sends the certification information to the intermediary system 102 (S321). The certification information includes, for example, information identifying the certified product (e.g., the sales company and product name of the product) and the certification details (e.g., information identifying the certification authority, the certification date, and the evaluation value).

For example, the environmental performance certification unit 171 acquires information identifying the certified product and the certification details in accordance with input by a user of the certification authority system 105 to the input device 205 of the certification authority system 105. Certification by a user of the certification authority system 105 is performed using a predetermined method determined by the certification authority or industry association, depending on, for example, the product classification, etc.

The product information management unit 111 of the intermediary system 102 registers the certification information received from the certification authority system 105 in the certified environmental performance column 1217 of the product catalog table 121 (S333). The loan condition management unit 112 of the intermediary system 102 sends information for outputting a loan condition determination screen based on the product catalog table 121 and the product classification table 123 to the bank system 103 (S334). Details of the loan condition determination screen will be described later.

The loan condition determination unit 131 of the banking system 103 determines the loan conditions (values stored in the condition management table 122) and transmits them to the intermediary system 102 (S361). For example, the loan condition determination unit 131 determines the loan conditions by accepting input of values to be stored in the condition management table 122 in accordance with input by a user of the banking system 103 to the input device 205 of the banking system 103 via a loan condition determination screen displayed on the output device 206 of the banking system 103. The loan condition management unit 112 of the intermediary system 102 registers the received loan conditions in the condition management table 122 (S335).

The buying and selling processing unit 152 of the enterprise system 104c sends a catalog search request indicating the classification of the desired product and information identifying the purchasing company (e.g., the company name) to the intermediary system 102 (S371). For example, the buying and selling processing unit 152 acquires information to be included in the catalog search request in accordance with input by the user of the enterprise system 104c to the input device 205 of the enterprise system 104c via a product search screen displayed on the output device 206 of the enterprise system 104c. Details of the product search screen will be described later.

The loan terms management unit 112 of the intermediary system 102 sends catalog information for products in the category indicated in the catalog search request, as well as loan terms information indicating the conditions and preferential treatment for the products in that category for the selling company indicated in the catalog search request, to the company system 104c, and displays them on the product search screen (S336). Details of the processing in step S336 will be described later.

The buying and selling processing unit 152 of the enterprise system 104c determines the product to be purchased, as well as the financial instruments, conditions, and preferential treatment, in accordance with input by the user of the enterprise system 104c to the input device 205 of the enterprise system 104c via the product search screen, and sends a purchase contract request including the determined information and information identifying the purchasing company (e.g., the company name) to the intermediary system 102 (S372).

The sales intermediation unit 113 of the intermediary system 102 mediates the sales procedure by sending information indicating the purchasing company indicated in the purchase contract request and the product to be purchased to the company system 104a of the selling company selling the product to be purchased (S337). Note that, as will be described in more detail below, depending on the financial product indicated in the purchase contract request, the sales intermediation unit 113 may also perform additional processing corresponding to that financial product.

The sales processing unit 152 of the selling company's enterprise system 104a concludes a sales contract for the product to be purchased with the purchasing company, for example, in accordance with input by a user of the enterprise system 104a to the input device 205 of the enterprise system 104a (S312).

The loan request unit 114 of the intermediary system 102 sends a loan request to the bank system 103 (S338). The loan request includes, for example, the purchasing company indicated in the purchase contract request, information about the product to be purchased (for example, information about the record corresponding to the product to be purchased in the product catalog table 121), financial product, conditions, preferential treatment, etc.

The loan execution unit 132 of the bank system 103 executes a loan to the selling company using a financial product with preferential treatment applied in accordance with the received loan request (S362). The loan execution unit 132 of the bank system 103 confirms that the received loan request matches the loan conditions sent by the bank system 103 to the intermediary system 102 (for example, by checking the information displayed in the base interest rate display area 606 described later in FIG. 8 and the information entered in the preferential treatment condition input area 605, the loan execution unit 132 confirms that the purchase of the target product by the purchasing company of the received loan request matches the financial product and conditions). In the process of FIG. 6, the intermediary system 102 compiles the sales contract between the selling company and the purchasing company, so the bank can trust that a sale actually occurred. Furthermore, the financial product and the preferential treatment range are determined based on conditions based on environmental performance. Therefore, the loan execution unit 132 of the bank system 103 may execute a loan automatically (or with only the input of approval by the user of the bank system 103) in accordance with the loan request, without requiring any further procedures such as approval by the bank.

Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the purchase support process and the trade brokerage process by the brokerage system 102. Specifically, Figure 7 shows details of the processes in steps S336 and S337.

When the loan condition management unit 112 of the intermediary system 102 receives a catalog search request from the purchasing company's corporate system 104c, it searches the product catalog table 121 and the condition management table 122 based on the search conditions indicated in the catalog search request (S801).

Specifically, for example, the loan condition management unit 112 searches the product catalog table 121 for records corresponding to the classification indicated in the received catalog search request, and includes some or all of the information of the records contained in the search results in the catalog information.

Furthermore, for example, the loan condition management unit 112 extracts from the condition management table 122 records whose company column 1221 includes the purchasing company indicated in the received catalog search request or whose company column 1221 is null. Of the extracted records, the loan condition management unit 112 includes in the loan condition information records that include conditions that match any of the product classifications, specifications, environmental performance, and/or certified environmental performance included in the catalog information.

When comparing the environmental performance of a monitored product with the conditions, the environmental performance that reflects the results of the monitoring is used. For example, in the example of product catalog table 121 in Figure 3, in the case where both the self-reported environmental performance of the selling company and the environmental performance obtained through monitoring are stored, as in the environmental performance column 1216 of the product of "Company B," the environmental performance obtained through monitoring is compared with the conditions.

The catalog search request may also include additional search criteria such as the product sales company, product price, product specifications, product name, and applicable preferential treatment, and the loan condition management unit 112 may further use these additional search criteria to search the product catalog table 121 and the condition management table 122.

The loan condition management unit 112 merges the catalog information and loan condition information for products that meet the conditions, transmits them to the company system 104c, and displays them on the product search screen (S802). For example, the auxiliary storage device 204 of the intermediary system 102 may store the base interest rate for loans to each sales company (the base interest rate may differ for each financial product), and the loan condition management unit 112 may transmit the interest rate obtained by applying a preferential rate to the base interest rate to the company system 104c and display it on the product search screen. Note that the processing of steps S801 and S802 corresponds to the processing of step S336.

The loan conditions management unit 112 receives a purchase contract request from the purchasing company's corporate system 104c, which includes information identifying the product to be purchased, the financial product, conditions, preferential treatment, and the purchasing company (S803).

The sales intermediation unit 113 mediates the sales procedure and finalizes the sales contract by sending information indicating the purchasing company indicated in the purchase contract request and the product to the company system 104a of the selling company selling the product to be purchased (S804). The sales intermediation unit 113 may also send the purchase contract request to the selling company's company system 104b, and finalize the sales contract only when a notification indicating approval of the sale is returned from the company system 104b.

The sales intermediation unit 113 determines whether the financial product indicated in the purchase contract request includes a personal property collateral as a special provision (i.e., whether it is a personal property-secured loan or a personal property-secured loan with a monitoring request) (S805).

If the sales intermediation unit 113 determines that the financial product indicated in the purchase contract request includes a personal property collateral as a special provision (S805: YES), it executes preparations for establishing personal property collateral for the product to be purchased (S806) and proceeds to step S807, which will be described later. In step S806, for example, the sales intermediation unit 113 executes processes such as acquiring the information necessary for personal property transfer registration with the Legal Affairs Bureau (e.g., from the bank system 103 and the corporate system 104b), creating documents for personal property transfer registration or outputting the information necessary for document creation, and sending a request for actual registration to the Legal Affairs Bureau.

If the purchase and sale intermediation unit 113 determines that the financial product indicated in the purchase contract request does not include a personal property security provision as a special provision (S805: NO), it determines whether the financial product indicated in the purchase contract request includes a monitoring request as a special provision (i.e., whether it is a regular loan with a monitoring request or a personal property security loan with a monitoring request) (S807).

If the purchase and sale intermediation unit 113 determines that the financial product indicated in the purchase contract request includes a monitoring request as a special provision (S807: YES), it executes a monitoring preparation instruction (S808) and terminates the processing of Figure 7.

In step S808, for example, the purchase and sale intermediation unit 113 sends a monitoring request to the purchasing company's enterprise system 104c. The monitoring request includes, for example, information identifying the product to be purchased and information indicating the type of operation information (for example, predetermined for each product category).

Furthermore, in step S808, for example, the purchase and sale intermediation unit 113 includes in the monitoring request instructions for checking and arranging the network lines necessary to monitor the products purchased by the purchasing company, and for preparing a system to collect the monitoring results.

The monitoring unit 153 of the enterprise system 104 of the company that has already implemented the product and received a loan with a monitoring request will acquire operation information for the product indicated in the monitoring request from the time the product to be purchased is put into operation, and send this information to the intermediary system 102 (corresponding to the processing of step S351).

The product information management unit 111 of the intermediary system 102 identifies some or all of the environmental performance indicators corresponding to the product classification in the product classification table 123 from the received operation information (these some or all environmental performance indicators are specified, for example, by a user of the intermediary system 102 or a user of the bank system 103), stores the values of the identified environmental performance indicators in the product catalog table 121, and transmits them to the bank system 103. In this way, by transmitting only the values of specific environmental performance indicators from the operation information to the bank system 103, the risk of information leaking related to the adopting company's trade secrets, technical information, etc. can be reduced, and the bank can confirm that the adopting company is retaining and utilizing the purchased product, reducing risks such as loan repayment and, in the case of a personal property-secured loan with a monitoring request, can confirm the existence of the collateral.

The sales intermediation unit 113 may include in the monitoring request information indicating some or all of the environmental performance indicators corresponding to the product classification in the product classification table 123 (these some or all environmental performance indicators may be specified, for example, by a user of the intermediation system 102 or a user of the bank system 103), and the monitoring unit 153 of the corporate system 104c may monitor only these some or all of the environmental performance indicators and send them to the intermediation system 102.

For example, it is possible that the environmental performance index value of the product in the product catalog table 121 updated based on the monitoring results from the corporate system 104b of the adopting company will improve from the environmental performance index value before the update. Furthermore, this improvement may result in the new fulfillment of the conditions for a financial product indicated in the condition management table 122 that is the same type of financial product as the financial product already executed for the adopting company, but that applies better preferential treatment than the already executed financial product. In this case, the loan request unit 114 may instruct the bank system 103 to change the preferential treatment for the financial product already executed for the adopting company to a better preferential treatment that corresponds to the newly fulfilled condition. This will increase the adopting company's motivation to use and monitor the product.

If the purchase and sale intermediation unit 113 determines that the financial product indicated in the purchase contract request does not include a monitoring request as a special provision (S807: NO), it terminates the processing of FIG. 7. Note that the processing of steps S803 to S807 corresponds to the processing of step S337.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of the screen layout of a loan condition determination screen displayed on the bank system 103. The loan condition determination screen 601 includes, for example, a company selection button 602, a company display area 603, and a loan condition display area 604. When the company selection button 602 is selected, candidate companies (the candidate companies are, for example, pre-stored in the auxiliary storage device 204 of the bank system 103) are displayed in a pull-down menu or the like. When a company is selected from the candidate companies, the name of the selected company is displayed in the company display area 603, and the loan condition display area 604 for that company is displayed.

The loan conditions display area 604 includes a preferential conditions input area 605 and a base interest rate display area 606. The preferential conditions input area 605 is an area for accepting input of financial products, conditions, and preferential treatment for the selected company.

In the example of Figure 8, the financial products that can be selected in the preferential conditions input area 605 are regular loans, personal property secured loans, regular loans with a monitoring request, and personal property secured loans with a monitoring request.

In addition, information from the product classification table 123 is sent to the bank system 103, and a classification indicated by the product classification table 123 can be selected in the area for entering conditions in the preferential condition input area 605. When a classification is selected in the area for entering conditions in the preferential condition input area 605, the values of the environmental performance index, certification index, and specification index corresponding to that classification can be entered in those areas in the product classification table 123.

The information entered in the preferential conditions input field 605 is sent to the intermediary system 102 and stored in the conditions management table 122.

If there is information about the selected company already registered in the conditions management table 122, that registered information may be displayed in the preferential conditions input area 605, and that registered information may be updateable.

The base interest rate display area 606 displays the base interest rate for each financial product for the selected company. The base interest rate for each financial product displayed in the base interest rate display area 606 may be, for example, pre-stored in the auxiliary storage device 204 of the banking system 103, or may be pre-stored in the auxiliary storage device 204 of the intermediary system 102 and sent to the banking system 103 for display.

Figure 9 is a diagram showing another example of the screen configuration of the loan condition determination screen displayed on the bank system 103. The loan condition determination screen 701 includes, for example, a financial product selection button 702, a financial product display area 703, a product category selection button 704, a product category display area 705, and a loan condition display area 706.

When the financial product selection button 702 is selected, candidate financial products (regular loans, personal asset-backed loans, regular loans with a monitoring request, and personal asset-backed loans with a monitoring request) are displayed in a pull-down menu or the like. When a financial product is selected from the candidate financial products, the selected financial product is displayed in the financial product display area 703.

Furthermore, when the product category selection button 704 is selected, category candidates (categories included in the product category table 123 sent to the bank system 103) are displayed in a pull-down menu or the like. When a category is selected from the category candidates, the selected category is displayed in the product category display area 705.

When at least one of a financial product and a category is selected, a loan condition display area 706 is displayed. The loan condition display area 706 includes a preferential condition input area 707. The preferential condition input area 707 is an area for accepting input of financial products, conditions, and preferential treatment (without specifying the company).

When a financial product is selected and the loan condition display area 706 is displayed, the selected financial product is fixed and displayed in the column showing the financial product in the preferential condition input area 707. When the loan condition display area 706 is displayed without selecting a financial product, any financial product can be selected in the column showing the financial product in the preferential condition input area 707.

When a category is selected and the loan condition display area 706 is displayed, the selected category is fixed and displayed in the column showing the conditions in the preferential condition input area 707. When the loan condition display area 706 is displayed without selecting a category, any category (categories included in the product classification table 123) can be selected in the column showing the conditions in the preferential condition input area 707. In addition, values for the environmental performance index, certification index, and specification index corresponding to the category displayed in the area for entering conditions in the preferential condition input area 707 in the product classification table 123 can be entered in these areas.

The information entered in the preferential conditions input field 707 is sent to the intermediary system 102 and stored in the conditions management table 122.

In addition, when at least one of a financial product and a category is selected, if there is information already registered in the condition management table 122 for that selection, that registered information will be displayed in the preferential condition input area 707, and the registered information may be updateable.

For example, the bank system 103 accepts input from the user of information indicating whether to display the loan condition determination screen 601 or the loan condition determination screen 701, and displays the loan condition determination screen 601 or the loan condition determination screen 701 in accordance with that information, making it possible to set both loan conditions that specify a company and loan conditions that do not specify a company.

Figure 10 shows an example of the screen layout of a product search screen displayed on the purchasing company's corporate system 104c. The product search screen 901 includes, for example, a product category selection area 902, a search button 903, and a financing conditions display area 904.

When the product category selection area 902 is selected, category candidates (categories included in the product category table 123 are sent to the enterprise system 104c as category candidates) are displayed in a pull-down menu or the like. When a category is selected from the category candidates, the selected category is displayed in the product category selection area 902.

When the search button 903 is selected with a category selected, the aforementioned catalog information corresponding to that category, as well as information indicating financial products and preferential treatment that meet the conditions corresponding to the products included in that catalog information (for example, information indicating financial products and information indicating the interest rate of those financial products to which preferential treatment has been applied), are sent to the corporate system 104c, and this information is displayed in the loan conditions display area 904.

In the example of Figure 10, the catalog information displayed in the financing condition display area 904 includes the product's sales company, product category, product name, product price, and product specifications. Also in the example of Figure 10, the financing condition display area 904 displays a purchase contract request button 905 that displays information indicating financial products and preferential treatments that meet the conditions corresponding to the product.

When the Purchase Contract Request button 905 is selected, a purchase contract request is sent indicating that the product will be purchased using funding from the financial product to which the preferential treatment indicated by the Purchase Contract Request button 905 is applied. By checking the search results displayed in the loan conditions display area 904, the user of the purchasing company can refer to the loan conditions, etc. that reflect the preferential treatment according to environmental performance, and select the product to purchase.

As described above, the automated green loan system of this embodiment determines preferential treatment for financial products according to product classification, environmental performance, etc., so that users at purchasing companies can receive financial products with preferential treatment applied according to the product's environmental performance simply by specifying search criteria (classification). In other words, even small and medium-sized enterprises that intend to use loans for environmental contributions or that lack the know-how or personnel to demonstrate specific environmental performance can easily receive preferential treatment for financial products. This also means that product sellers can sell to more companies, which not only increases their profits but also increases their motivation to manufacture products with excellent environmental performance.

In addition, the green loan automation system of this embodiment obtains and reflects the environmental performance of products in operation from companies that have adopted the system and received loans with monitoring requests, making it possible to apply preferential treatment based on actual environmental performance, and also allowing banks to understand that companies that have adopted the system are operating the product and the actual environmental performance of the product.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole in hardware, for example by designing them as integrated circuits. Furthermore, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing programs that realize each function. Information such as programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in memory, a recording device such as a hard disk or SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, SD card, or DVD.

Furthermore, the control and information lines shown are those deemed necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily represent all control and information lines on the product. In reality, it is safe to assume that almost all components are interconnected.

102 Brokerage system, 103 Bank system, 104 Corporate system, 105 Certification authority system, 111 Product information management unit, 112 Loan condition management unit, 113 Purchase and sale brokerage unit, 114 Loan request unit, 121 Product catalog table, 122 Condition management table, 123 Product classification table, 131 Loan condition determination unit 131, 151 Product information registration unit 151, 153 Monitoring unit, 202 CPU, 203 Memory, 204 Auxiliary storage device, 205 Input device, 206 Output device, 207 Communication device, 601 Loan condition determination screen, 701 Loan condition determination screen, 901 Product search screen

Claims (12)

An intermediary server,
a processor and a memory,
The memory includes:
catalog information indicating information for searching for products and the environmental performance of the products;
retaining condition information indicating a type of financing for purchasing the product, an incentive applied in the financing, and a condition for applying the incentive, the condition being related to the environmental performance of the product;
The processor:
accepting search criteria for searching for said product;
Identifying products that meet the search criteria and the environmental performance of those products from the catalog information;
An intermediary server that outputs data for displaying information indicating the identified product and information indicating the type of funding and preferential treatment corresponding to the condition in the condition information if the identified environmental performance satisfies the condition. The intermediation server according to claim 1,
The type of funding includes a loan with a monitoring requirement;
The processor:
Obtaining the environmental performance of the product purchased through the financing with the monitoring request when it is in operation,
An intermediary server that updates the environmental performance of the product in the catalog information based on the acquired environmental performance. The intermediation server according to claim 2,
the type of funding includes a secured loan with the monitoring request;
An intermediary server to which the products purchased through the secured loan with the monitoring request are provided as collateral. The intermediation server according to claim 2,
The processor, when determining that a first type of funding has already been provided to which a first preferential treatment based on the environmental performance of the first product before the update has been applied, and that the environmental performance of the first product after the update satisfies the conditions in the condition information corresponding to the first type of funding and a second preferential treatment that is better than the first preferential treatment, changes the first preferential treatment applied to the first type of funding that has already been provided to the second preferential treatment. The intermediation server according to claim 1,
the catalog information includes certification information indicating a certification of the environmental performance of the product that has been applied to the product by a predetermined certification body;
the conditions in the condition information relate to the environmental performance and the certification information of the product,
Identify products that match the search criteria, as well as the environmental performance and certification information of those products, from the catalog information,
An intermediary server that outputs data for displaying information indicating the identified product and information indicating the type of funding and preferential treatment corresponding to the conditions in the condition information if the identified environmental performance and certification information meet the conditions. The intermediation server according to claim 1,
The processor:
outputting data for displaying a screen for receiving input of the type of funding, the preferential treatment, and the conditions;
When input of the type of funding, the preferential treatment, and the conditions is accepted on the screen, the intermediary server updates the condition information based on the type of funding, the preferential treatment, and the conditions accepted. An intermediation method using an intermediation server,
the intermediation server includes a processor and a memory;
The memory includes:
catalog information indicating information for searching for products and the environmental performance of the products;
retaining condition information indicating a type of financing for purchasing the product, an incentive applied in the financing, and a condition for applying the incentive, the condition being related to the environmental performance of the product;
The mediation method includes:
the processor accepts search criteria for searching for the product;
The processor identifies products that meet the search criteria and the environmental performance of the products from the catalog information;
An intermediation method in which, if the identified environmental performance satisfies the conditions, the processor outputs data for displaying information indicating the identified product and information indicating the type of funding and preferential treatment corresponding to the conditions in the condition information. The intermediation method of claim 7,
The type of funding includes a loan with a monitoring requirement;
The mediation method includes:
The processor acquires the environmental performance when the product purchased through the financing with the monitoring request is in operation,
The intermediation method further comprises updating the environmental performance of the product in the catalog information based on the acquired environmental performance. 9. The intermediation method of claim 8,
the type of funding includes a secured loan with the monitoring request;
An intermediation method in which the products purchased through the secured loan with the monitoring request are provided as collateral. 9. The intermediation method of claim 8,
An intermediation method in which, when the processor determines that a first type of funding has already been provided, to which a first preferential treatment based on the environmental performance of a first product before the update has been applied, and that the environmental performance of the first product after the update satisfies the conditions in the condition information corresponding to the first type of funding and a second preferential treatment that is better than the first preferential treatment, the processor changes the first preferential treatment applied to the first type of funding that has already been provided to the second preferential treatment. The intermediation method of claim 7,
the catalog information includes certification information indicating a certification of the environmental performance of the product that has been granted to the product by a predetermined certification body;
the conditions in the condition information relate to the environmental performance and the certification information of the product,
The mediation method includes:
The processor identifies products that match the search criteria, as well as the environmental performance and certification information of the products, from the catalog information;
An intermediation method in which, if the identified environmental performance and certification information meets the conditions, the processor outputs data for displaying information indicating the identified product and information indicating the type of funding and preferential treatment corresponding to the conditions in the condition information. The intermediation method of claim 7,
the processor outputs data for displaying a screen for receiving input of the type of funding, the preferential treatment, and the conditions;
An intermediation method in which, when the processor accepts input of the type of funding, the preferential treatment, and the conditions on the screen, it updates the conditions information based on the type of funding, the preferential treatment, and the conditions accepted.