Patent ID: 7634295

Claim:
A communication system including a settlement management apparatus and a portable information terminal, said settlement management apparatus comprising: judging means for judging whether wirelessly input identification information, obtained from a contactless IC chip provided in a credit card having a credit card number and assigned to a user of said portable information terminal and used for predetermined settlement is valid for using credit services which the user uses, the identification information not including the credit card number; a storage controller configured to store, when said judging means decides that the identification information is valid, the identification information in said portable information terminal; and management means for managing registration information of a plurality of merchandise each of which has been registered via a merchandise registration procedure with said settlement management apparatus and each of which has a corresponding barcode generated by said management means, wherein said barcode is associated with an address of an ordering site which has registered said merchandise with said management means, wherein said portable information terminal comprises: a wireless reader configured to read the identification information from the contactless IC chip provided in the credit card issued from an issuer providing the credit services through wireless communication, said wireless reader including a wireless communication means for wireless acquisition of the identification information directly from the IC chip; transmitting means for transmitting the identification information read from a contactless IC chip provided in said portable information terminal directly to said settlement management apparatus; storage means for storing the identification information including a card ID corresponding to the IC chip based on a secured instruction issued by said settlement management apparatus when it is confirmed that the identification information is valid, said storage means including (a) memory means partitioned into a common area and a plurality of individually allotted areas and (b) a memory manager means for storing the card ID and an associated registered service information in the common area, wherein said plurality of individually allotted areas are configured to store information related to predetermined entities including service provider provided information and said common area is configured to transition to a card area in response to the memory manager means receiving the secured instruction; and bar code reading means for reading said bar code associated with said address of an ordering site which has registered said merchandise with said management means.