Information processing apparatus, authentication system, and method of deleting card information

An authentication system comprising:

• an electronic apparatus configured to receive authentication requests from users;
• and
• an information processing apparatus configured to manage card-related information relating to cards used by the users for authentication by,
• acquiring identification information of the cards,
• storing, in a memory of the information processing apparatus, the identification information of respective ones of the cards and timestamps in association with each other in response to acquiring authentication of the respective ones of cards,
• storing, in the memory, card management information that associates, for each of the users, the identification information of the cards with the identification information of a respective one of the users who owns the cards,
• storing, in the memory, user information that associates, for each of the users, the identification information of the respective one of the users with a set maximum number of cards that the respective one of the users can own,
• determining that one or more of cards are expired cards in response to the timestamps of the respective ones of the cards indicating that a predetermined time period has passed since the authentication of the respective ones of the cards,
• identifying, from the user information, identification information of the respective one of the users associated with the expired cards,
• determining whether a number of cards associated with the respective one of the users associated with the expired cards exceeds the set maximum number of cards that the respective one of the users can own based on the card management information and the user information, and
• deleting, from the memory of the information processing apparatus, the card-related information associated with the identification information of a number of the expired cards such that the number of the cards of the respective one of the users associated with the expired cards does not exceed the set maximum number of cards that the respective one of the users can own.

A method of operating an information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus configured to communicate with an electronic apparatus to perform authentication of users, the method comprising:

• acquiring identification information of cards used by users for authentication;
• storing, in a memory of the information processing apparatus, the identification information of respective ones of the cards and timestamps in association with each other in response to acquiring authentication requests using the respective ones of cards;
• storing, in the memory, card management information that associates, for each of the users, the identification information of the cards with identification information of a respective one of the users who owns the cards;
• storing, in the memory, user information that associates, for each of the users, the identification information of the respective one of the users with a set maximum number of cards that the respective one of the users can own;
• determining that one or more of cards are expired cards in response to the timestamps of the respective ones of the cards indicating that a predetermined time period has passed since authentication of the respective ones of the cards;
• identifying, from the user information, the identification information of the respective one of the users associated with the expired cards;
• determining whether a number of cards associated with the respective one of the users associated with the expired cards exceeds the set maximum number of cards that the respective one of the users can own based on the card management information and the user information;
• and
• deleting, from the memory of the information processing apparatus, card related information associated with the identification information of a number of the expired cards such that the number of the cards of the respective one of the users associated with the expired cards does not exceed the set maximum number of cards that the respective one of the users can own.