1. An image forming apparatus which is connected to a memory unit in which a plurality of images is stored, forms an image which is selected by a user from the plurality of images and forms an index image in which a plurality of images which are not selected by the user is disposed, the apparatus comprising:
a group acquisition unit which acquires a group to which the plurality of image belongs from among a plurality of groups into which images are classified;
a history registration unit which associates a formed image with the acquired group to be registered as an image forming history when an image selected by the user is formed; and
an image forming unit which determines a group from which an image used in the index image is extracted, among the plurality of groups, based on the number of formed images of the respective groups which is registered as the image forming history, extracts an image from the determined group, and disposes the extracted images of each of the plurality of groups together to form the index image when instructed to form the index image.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit is a unit which determines the group which has the largest number of formed images as the group from which the image is extracted.
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit is a unit which extracts an image from the determined group at a ratio which is approximately identical to a ratio of the numbers of formed images of the respective groups.
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit is a unit which extracts an image from the determined group at a rate which is approximately identical to a ratio of image forming rates of the respective groups in which the number of formed images of each group is divided by the number of images of each group.
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit is a unit which extracts an image from the determined group excluding the foamed image.
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the history registration unit is a unit which registers an image processed by the user when an image is formed by multiplying the number of the formed images by a weighting coefficient of more than 1.
7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image classification unit which classifies the plurality of images into the plurality of groups,
wherein the group acquisition unit is a unit which acquires an image classification result from the image classification unit.
8. A program for operating a computer as the image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of processing a transaction among a consumer, a merchant point-of-sale system and a transaction-processing entity, the method comprising:
generating a token encrypted with data identifying a financial account of the consumer and trust data for the consumer;
receiving and storing the token by a device of the consumer;
reading and decrypting, by the merchant system, the token upon presentation thereof by the consumer’s device in connection with the transaction;
authorizing, by the merchant system, the transaction based on (i) successful decryption of the token and (ii) the trust level without communication with the transaction-processing entity;
subsequent to authorization of the transaction by the merchant system, communicating, by the merchant to the transaction-processing entity, a record of the transaction and authorization thereof; and
following the communication from the merchant system to the transaction-processing entity, completing the authorized transaction by causing funds to be transferred from the consumer’s financial account to the merchant.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the authorized transaction is completed upon approval by the transaction-processing entity of a basis for the authorization by the merchant system.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein approval by the merchant system is also based on a time of generation of the token and a time of the reading.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the trust data contains at least one of (i) a token generation time, (ii) a transaction history of the consumer, (iii) a spending limit of the consumer or (iv) a home region of the consumer.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the trust data is a single trust-factor value.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the token is encrypted using public key cryptography.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the token is displayed as a QR code on the consumer device.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the token is a one-time-use token.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating and storing, on the consumer device, a plurality of tokens.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein following presentation of a first token, the first token is marked for deletion and a second token is marked for display on a subsequent presentation.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein presentation of the first token comprises receiving confirmation from the merchant system that the token was received.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the token is not marked for deletion until a deletion communication is received from the transaction-processing entity.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein following presentation of a first token, the first token is marked for deletion and a second token is marked for display after a predetermined time period.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising marking a token for deletion and generating a token to replace the token marked for deletion.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the tokens are stored in a stack for sequential access on a first in, first out basis.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the tokens are stored in a stack for sequential access on a first in, last out basis.
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying the consumer prior to generating the token.
18. A system for processing a transaction among a consumer, a merchant and a transaction-processing entity, the system comprising:
a token server for (i) generating a token encrypted with data identifying a financial account of the consumer and trust data for the consumer, and (ii) communicating the token to a device of the consumer;
a point-of-sale system for reading and decrypting the token upon presentation thereof by the consumer in connection with the transaction, the point-of-sale system being configured to authorize the transaction based on (i) successful decryption of the token and (ii) the trust level without communication with the transaction-processing entity; and
a transaction-processing server configured to (i) receive, from the point-of-sale system subsequent to transaction authorization, a record of the transaction and authorization thereof, and (ii) cause completion of the authorized transaction by causing funds to be transferred from the consumer’s financial account to the merchant.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the point-of-sale system is configured to authorize the transaction based at least in part on a time of generation of the token and a time of the reading.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the token server is configured to encrypt the token using private key cryptography.
21. The system of claim 18, wherein the token server is configured to embed an expiration time in the generated token.
22. The system of claim 18, wherein the token server is configured to embed a creation time in the generated token.
23. The system of claim 18, wherein the token server is configured to generate and communicate a series of tokens to the device.
24. The system of claim 18, wherein the token server is configured to verify the consumer’s identity prior to token generation.
25. A method of processing a transaction among a consumer, a merchant point-of-sale system and a transaction-processing entity, the method comprising:
generating a token with a digital signature, encrypted using a private key, with data identifying a financial account of the consumer and trust data for the consumer;
receiving and storing the token and the signature by a device of the consumer;
reading the token and decrypting the signature, by the merchant system, upon presentation of the token by the consumer’s device in connection with the transaction;
authorizing, by the merchant system, the transaction based on (i) successful verification of the signature and (ii) the trust level without communication with the transaction-processing entity;
subsequent to authorization of the transaction by the merchant system, communicating, by the merchant to the transaction-processing entity, a record of the transaction and authorization thereof; and
following the communication from the merchant system to the transaction-processing entity, completing the authorized transaction by causing funds to be transferred from the consumer’s financial account to the merchant.
26. A system for processing a transaction among a consumer, a merchant and a transaction-processing entity, the system comprising:
a token server for (i) generating a token with a digital signature, encrypted using a private key, with data identifying a financial account of the consumer and trust data for the consumer, and (ii) communicating the token to a device of the consumer;
a point-of-sale system for reading and decrypting the signature upon presentation of the token by the consumer in connection with the transaction, the point-of-sale system being configured to authorize the transaction based on (i) successful verification of the signature and (ii) the trust level without communication with the transaction-processing entity; and
a transaction-processing server configured to (i) receive, from the point-of-sale system subsequent to transaction authorization, a record of the transaction and authorization thereof, and (ii) cause completion of the authorized transaction by causing funds to be transferred from the consumer’s financial account to the merchant.