AU8172187A

AU8172187A - An apparatus for checking the validity of credit cards

Info

Publication number: AU8172187A
Application number: AU81721/87A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Sture Ronnback
Original assignee: NIXFLU AB
Current assignee: NIXFLU AB
Priority date: 1986-10-29
Filing date: 1987-10-28
Publication date: 1988-05-25
Also published as: SE8604600L; WO1988003297A1; SE8604600D0

Description

An Apparatus for Checking the Validity of Credit Cards

The subject invention concerns an apparatus which is designed to be used to check the validity of credit cards and equivalent cards as means of payment and comprising hidden coded information regarding the number of the account associated with the credit card being checked, data on the credit card holder and similar information for the purpose of verifying whether the card which s about to be used is valid or invalid as a means of payment.

Various types of credit cards and similar cards used as means of payment exist today in great numbers. Consequently, also the number of lost or stolen cards has increased radically. As soon as the credit card holder discovers the loss of the card, irrespectively of how, he has to report the loss to the register centre of the company issuing the credit card in order that the card be declared invalid to prevent unauthorized use of the card. Today, the invalidation of the cards is effected by entering the numbers of all credit cards which are issued for a certain chain of stores and which are or have become invalid, on a restricted cards list. Printed lists of such invalid credit-card numbers are distributed at regular intervals, usually a few times per month, to all stores and all points of sale belonging to the chain of stores. At each point of sales and/or cashier desk each credit card which is tendered as payment for goods or services must be checked against the latest and up-dated restricted cards list. Usually, a list of this kind comprises enough pages to make up an entire booklet, and consequently it is very time-consuming and inconvenient for the cashier or other personnel whose job need to be performed neatly and swiftly, to have to look through the list to verify the validity of each credit card tendered.

Also at the register centre of the credit card company the work involved in preparing the invalidity lists is burdensome. New up-dated lists need to be produced as often as it is reasonably possible and each list must be printed and be distributed with the utmost speed to all points of sale. In addition to the actual administration costs involved the printing and mailing costs amount to not negligible current expenses. The subject invention provides a novel apparatus which allows information on the val dity status of credit cards to be handled much easier and more rapidly in the register centre as well as at the various points of sale and cashier desks. The apparatus is characterized in that it comprises at least one memory card which contains a ROM memory in which is stored up-to-date coded information on which credit cards are invalid-status cards at any particular moment, and an electronic unit including a reader unit for registration of at least selected parts of the coded information of the card being checked, a microprocessor for reading the information contained in the memory card on invalid-status cards and comparing this information with the information of the card being checked, and means to indicate whether or not the card is an invalid-status card or may be used as a means of payment. The invention will be described in closer detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 illustrates the apparatus in a perspective view including a credit card being checked, and

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the interconnection of the components of the apparatus.

The credit card 1 which is to be checked s provided in the conventional manner with a magnetic code stripe 2 which contains hidden coded information concerning the number of the account associated with the card, the name of the card holder and other relevant information.

The credit card 1 may be inserted into an electronic unit 3, preferably in the manner appearing from Fig. 1, in a transverse slit 4 formed in one of the end walls of the unit. The electronic unit 3 is provided with a reader unit means, i.e. a magnetic stripe code reader unit 5 for registration of the account number pertaining to the card 1, and a display 6 showing the number of the account. The apparatus also comprises a memory card 7 having a ROM memory in which is stored coded information on invalid accounts. The electronic unit 3 is also provided with a microprocessor 8 which compares the account number of the credit card 1 with the information contained in the memory card 7 regarding invalid accounts.

The memory card 7 is programmed in the register centre of the associated credit card issuing company and information regarding the numbers of all invalid accounts, i.e. information equivalent to that of the restricted cards lists, is stored in the memory card. Instead of restricted cards lists, memory cards 7 are then issued and distributed to all points of sale. These memory cards 7 have the same size and appearance as the credit cards 1 issued by the respective companies. When a credit card 1 is tendered as payment and is about to be checked, the operator first selects the memory card 7 issued by the company in question. The status of the credit card 1 tendered as a means of payment is then checked for validity in a very convenient manner by the operator simply inserting the card 1 through the slit 4 formed in the electronic unit while the selected memory card 7 remains in position in the unit in the manner illustrated in the drawing. As soon as the card 1 passes through the slit 4 the account number associated with that card appears in the display 6. If the card 1 is unrestricted and valid for use, its associated account number is shown in the display in a steady light whereas if the card is an invalid status card the associated account number is shown in the display in a flashing light. The operator performing the check thus can establish in a moment whether or not the credit card 1 is a valid status card or an invalid status card and need not read through lengthy restricted cards lists, which is time-consuming. In addition, the risk that always exists with check lists, i.e. that the operator misses an unvalid-status credit card number and therefore accepts an invalid credit card, is eliminated.

The embodiment of the electronic unit illustrated in the drawing also has a keyboard 9 with a card check key 10. It may happen that a credit card 1 which is about to be checked, is worn or that its magnetic code stripe 2 is cracked. In these cases the account number might appear in a blurred or incorrect manner or not at all in the display 6. When this happens, the account number of the associated credit card may be keyed manually into the electronic unit by means of the keyboard 9, in which case the account number appears in the display 6. By thereafter pressing the card check key 10 the operator activates the microprocessor 8 for comparison of the account number appearing in the display against the information contained in the memory card 7. Comparative checks are effected in the manner described above, and the steady l ght indicating the account number in the display 6, shifts to a flashing light if the associated credit card is an invalid-status card.

When the electronic unit 3 is not used for checking the validity status of credit cards it may be used as a conventional mini computer using the keyboard 9.

The memory card 7 comprised in the apparatus offers several advantages as indicated in the aforegoing. Each individual checking operation may be performed with greater speed and safety than has hitherto been possible when check list are used. Such lists are often quite extensive, comprising a large number of pages. By using memory cards 7 of the same dimensions as the credit cards and issued by the central register considerable savings of postage are made. As a matter of fact, the savings are so considerable that the register could issue up-dated memory cards 7 to all points of safe at much shorter intervals than the hitherto usual interval of twice a month, such as once a week, and yet this shortened-interval procedure is less expensive than the check-list mailing system. Obviously, the procedure involving frequently issued memory cards 7 offers the advantage that the information therein on invalid account numbers - coded into the memory card 7 - is a great deal more up to date than it is possible to achieve with restricted cards l sts.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment as illstrated and described in the aforegoing but a number of varieties and modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims. Instead of indicating invalid account numbers by shifting from a steady light to a flashing light in the display 6, this inval dity status may be indicated by pips or by a buzzing signal issued by a sound-signal emitter 11. The electronic unit could also have several slits 12 for insertion of memory cards 7 issued by different companie to be operative therein simultaneously. In this way, different credit cards 1 associated with different credit companies could be checked rapidly without having to change memory card 7.

Claims

C 1 a i m s

1. An apparatus for checking the validity of credit cards and equivalent cards containing hidden coded information on account numbers, data on the card holder and simil r information, for the purpose of verifying whether a tendered card (1) is valid or invalid as a means of payment, c h a r a c t e r !^" z e d therein that the apparatus comprises at least one memory card (7) which contains a ROM memory in which is stored coded up-to-date information on which credit cards (1) are invalid-status cards at a particular moment, an electronic unit (3) including a reader unit (5) for registration of at least selected parts of the coded information of the card (1) being checked, a microprocessor (8) for reading the information contained in the memory card (7) regarding invalid-status cards and comparing this information with the information of the cards (1) being checked, and means (6, 11) to indicate whether or not the card is an invalid-status card or may be used as a means of payment.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z- e d therein that the electronic unit (3) s provided w th a display (6) and that the microprocessor (8) is effective to make the display (6) indicate the account number pertaining to the card (1) being checked, in a steady light when the card is found to have validity status, and in a flashing light when the card is found to have invalidity status.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and 2, c h a r a c- t e r i z e d in that the electronic unit (3) has a keyboard (9) by means of which the account number associated with the card (1) to be checked may be entered in the display (6) and in that the keyboard (9) includes a card check key (10) for activation of the microprocessor (8) to compare the account number in the display (6) with the information contained in the memory card (7).