Patent ID: 6848615

Claim:
A pay-by-card method for a home delivery service which is a settling method for performing settlement of merchandise by exchanging information through a wireless communication line between a server of a settling organization and a portable card reader device carried by a home delivery contractor who delivers the merchandise to a consumer who has ordered the merchandise, comprising: reading with the portable card reader device information out of a settlement card for use in settlement by the consumer upon delivery of the merchandise to the consumer, transmitting the information on this settlement card and information on a price for the merchandise to the server of the settling organization which performs settlement through the wireless communication line, receiving a result of a credit inquiry regarding the settlement card from the server of the settling organization, issuing a receipt including a tracking number of the merchandise and the money amount when the received result means the settlement card is usable, transmitting from a home delivery management server installed at a home delivery contractor a request for an account balance to a settlement server of a financial institution which has entered into the settlement contract with the home delivery contractor at a predetermined time, storing the account information received from the settlement server so as to correspond to the tracking number, reading a deposited amount out of the account information corresponding to each tracking number when there is a credit from a credit card company, and transmitting a money amount which is deducted a home delivery commission from the deposited amount to a settlement server installed at the financial institution which has entered into the settlement contract with the seller.