An information processing apparatus is provided with: an obtaining portion that obtains purchase information on a commodity or a service purchased by a user; a deciding portion that decides on a quantity of virtual currency to be provided to the user, based on the purchase information; a providing portion that provides the user with the virtual currency of the quantity decided on; an accepting portion that accepts, from the user, an exchange request to exchange the virtual currency for a substitute; a determining portion that determines, when the exchange request is accepted, whether or not it is within a predetermined period from a point of time when the virtual currency was provided; and an exchange processing portion that performs processing related to exchange of the virtual currency when it is determined that it is within the predetermined period.