JPH0340088A - Prepaid card system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the individuality of every user and the confidentiality of data in a prepaid card by constituting a fixed data area so that it can be updated from a host device, allowing a reader/writer of the prepaid card to have a function for encoding/decoding data contained in a user data area, and bringing its key to down-load from the host device. CONSTITUTION:A fixed data area 11 for discriminating a prepaid card is provided on an area being different from a user area 12 of a prepaid card 13 for recording deposit money amount data, so that data of the fixed data area 11 can be updated from a host device. Also, in the fixed data area 11, a key 14 for encoding/decoding the data in the user area is recorded. In such a way, unless the encoding/decoding key 14 is clear, read-out of the data cannot be executed even by the same reader/writer and the confidentiality is enhanced, and simultaneously, it comes not to be a prepaid of maker guidance, and the adaptability of use by a user of a card issue origin is enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a prepaid card system, and particularly to transaction flexibility, data confidentiality, and safety.

This relates to a prepaid card system that enhances user uniqueness.

[Conventional technology]

A prepaid card system is a system in which a prepaid card with deposited amount data recorded thereon is issued by paying cash in advance, and when a transaction is made, the deposited amount data is updated and the transaction is settled using the prepaid card. Such prepaid cards have become rapidly popular in recent years because they allow users to use public telephones, ticket vending machines, etc. without having to carry coins with them at all times. Since prepaid cards are, by their nature, cash vouchers equivalent to cash, security measures must be taken to prevent constitutional amendments and errors in the recorded deposit amount data. For this reason, prepaid cards on the market are managed by card issuers, and the contents of card data are not made public due to their nature.

Prepaid cards that use a magnetic card as a medium record data on the magnetic card, and due to the configuration of the hardware for reading data, there are two areas inside the shell: ■ System manufacturer code area (no reading or writing), ■ Fixed data area ( ■User area (read/write) is provided. These detailed formats are determined by the magnetic card provider and the prepaid card reader/writer provider under the control of the card issuer. In particular, the system maker code area and the fixed data area are unique to prepaid card readers and writers, and are not available to users who issue cards.

Regarding this type of prepaid card system,
Deposit amount data is recorded on a magnetic card, and at the time of transaction,
An example of an electronic cash register that reads data from a magnetic card that records deposited amount data and settles transactions by updating the deposited amount data is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-65990.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the past, as mentioned above, the confidentiality of various data recorded on prepaid cards was entrusted to the manufacturer of the prepaid card reader/writer, so it was not possible to read or write data on the prepaid card using the same model of reader/writer. is now possible, leaving concerns about data confidentiality. There is also the problem that prepaid card manufacturers are forced to become affiliates of reader/writer manufacturers, and card issuers lack flexibility in card usage.

In addition, there is no effort on the part of the card issuer's users to increase confidentiality, and although it is necessary to maintain the commonality of the hardware of the magnetic media card itself, it is difficult for the card issuer's users to , there is a problem that card usage lacks uniqueness.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide a prepaid card system with improved transaction flexibility, data confidentiality, safety, and user uniqueness.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a prepaid card system that issues a prepaid card recording deposited amount data by paying cash in advance, updates the deposited amount data, and settles a transaction using the prepaid card. In this method, a fixed data area for identifying the prepaid card is provided in an area different from the user area of the prepaid card in which the deposited amount data is recorded, and the data in the fixed data area can be updated from the host device. Features.

Further, the fixed data area is characterized in that a key for encrypting/decrypting data in the user area is recorded.

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned means, in the prepaid card system, the data in the fixed data area that identifies the prepaid card can be updated by the host device. Additionally, in the fixed data area, data in the user area can be encrypted/encrypted.
The decryption key is recorded. A user who is a card issuer gives an encryption/decryption key to a prepaid card reader/writer to read data, processes the data, and writes a private key together with the data into fixed data. When reading the prepaid card reader/writer, the fixed data in the card is used as a secret key.
Access is authorized using the given information as an encryption/decryption key. Therefore.

Unless the encryption/decryption key is known, even the same reader/writer cannot read the data, increasing confidentiality.
At the same time, it is no longer a prepaid card that is regulated by the manufacturer, increasing the flexibility of usage for users of the card issuer. In addition, uniqueness can be enhanced by rewriting the fixed data and inserting user-specific information.

In this way, ■ the fixed data area can be updated from the host device, ■ the prepaid card reader/writer has the function of encrypting/decoding the data in the user data area, and ■ the The key is downloaded from the host device. For this reason, by writing a user's own encryption key into the fixed data area of the prepaid card and reading it out by giving a readout key, the prepaid card can be uniquely created for each user, and data can be kept confidential.
You can improve your performance. Further, it is possible to provide flexibility in selecting a prepaid card as instructed by the reader/writer manufacturer.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a prepaid card system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 1, 1 is a host computer or other host device;
is a prepaid card reader/writer of the terminal device, and 3 is a prepaid card.

Further, 4 indicates a data area of an encryption/decryption key.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format of a prepaid card. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 13 indicates a magnetic card serving as a recording medium that serves as a prepaid card. The magnetic card 13 is provided with a recording area 15 for recording magnetic data, and the recording area 15 has a system manufacturer code area 10. Fixed data area 11. and a user data area 12, and each area records data such as a system manufacturer code, an identification code for identifying the card type or issuer, and deposit amount data. In fixed data area 11,
An encryption/decryption key 14 is also recorded.

Further, FIG. 3 is a block diagram mainly showing the configuration of the main parts of the prepaid card reader/writer.

In FIG. 3, 1 is a host device, 2 is a prepaid card reader/writer, and 3 is a prepaid card. These correspond to the block diagram in FIG.

The prepaid card reader/writer 2 includes an encryption/decryption processing section 21 . Data transfer section 22
．． A read/write unit 23 is provided.

In the prepaid card system configured as described above, when reading data from the prepaid card 3, the host device 1 gives the encryption/decryption key 4 to the prepaid card reader/writer 2. The prepaid card reader/writer 2 reads the prepaid card 3 using the read/write section 23 and writes data to the fixed data area 1.
The encryption/decryption key 14 recorded in the host device 1 is read out and compared with the encryption/decryption key 4 given from the host device 1. If the comparison results match.

Access to the card data is approved, and the user data read from the user data area 12 is decrypted by the encryption/decryption processing unit 21 and transferred to the host device 1 via the data transfer unit 22.

Note that the data transfer section 22 controls the data transfer between the host device 1 and the prepaid card reader/writer 2.

In addition, when writing desired data to the prepaid card 3, the host device 1 creates a secret encryption/decryption key using an encryption algorithm provided in the host device itself, and writes it together with the write data to the prepaid card reader/writer 2. Therefore, in the prepaid card reader/writer 2, the encryption/decryption processing unit 21 encrypts the write data and stores the encrypted/decrypted data.
A decryption key is written in the fixed data area 11, and at the same time, encrypted data is written in the user data area 12.

In response to instructions from the host device, the prepaid card reader/writer 2 performs read processing and write processing for the prepaid card 3.

FIGS. 4a and 4b are flowcharts illustrating write processing and read processing in the prepaid card reader/writer.

In the write process, as shown in FIG. 4a, the write data input by the operator is inputted from the host device in step 41, and the write data generated from the host device is processed in step 42. Performs encryption key input processing. In the next step 43, encryption and write processing are performed, and the processing ends.

In addition, in the reading process, as shown in FIG. 4b, the encryption key input by the operator is inputted in step 51, and the encryption key received from the host device is input in step 52. Perform check processing. In this encryption check process, as described above, a comparison check is performed with the encryption key recorded in the fixed data area of the prepaid card. This result is judged in the next step 53, and if the comparison result is OK, the data is read out in step 54, decoded, and sent to the host device. If the comparison result is not OK, a message indicating that data access is denied is sent in step 55, and the process is terminated.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the main functions of the prepaid card reader/writer 2 are as follows:
a data transfer unit 22 that sends and receives data to and from the prepaid card 3; a read/write unit 23 that physically accesses the prepaid card 3; and a cipher that approves access by comparing it with the encryption/decryption key 14 of the fixed data area. This is realized by the encoding/decoding processing section 21. Such a function can also be realized, for example, by providing a processing program to a microprocessor having a general-purpose data processing function. In this case, a program for performing the processing is provided according to the processing flow shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b.

Furthermore, by providing a general-purpose encryption algorithm to the encryption/decryption processing unit 21 of the prepaid card reader/writer 2, data can be recorded in the user data area 12 without providing any special security function to the prepaid card itself. Confidentiality can easily be maintained for the data collected. By independently changing the private key creation algorithm and encryption/decryption key 41- in the host device 1, the user can independently maintain the confidentiality of data. There is no longer a need to entrust data confidentiality to the security functions of

As explained above, according to this embodiment, a secret encryption/decryption key for encrypting/decrypting user data is written in the fixed data area of a prepaid card, and a secret encryption/decryption key is written for approval when reading data. By giving the encryption/decryption key and approving access to the card using the algorithm contained in the prepaid card reader/writer, it is possible to maintain the confidentiality of card data without relying on the special functions of the prepaid card reader/writer and provide flexibility to the user. Gender 9 Confidentiality and uniqueness can be enhanced.

The present invention has been specifically explained above based on examples, but
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit thereof.

〔Effect of the invention〕

2- As explained above, according to the prepaid card system of the present invention, the fixed data area can be updated from the host device, and the prepaid card reader/writer has the function of encrypting/decoding data in the user data area. The key for encryption/decryption is downloaded from the host device.

With this, by writing a user's own encryption key into the fixed data area of the prepaid card and reading it out by giving a read key, it is possible to make the prepaid card unique for each user and improve data confidentiality.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a prepaid card system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format of a prepaid card, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a prepaid card reader. FIGS. 4a and 4b, which are block diagrams mainly showing the configuration of the main parts of the writer, are flowcharts illustrating write processing and read processing in the prepaid card reader/writer. In the figure, 1... host device, 2... prepaid card reader/writer, 3... prepaid card, 4, 14...
Encryption/decryption key, 10...System manufacturer code area, 11...Fixed data area, 12...User data area, 13...Magnetic card, 15...Recording area, 21. Encryption /Decoding processing unit, 22...Data transfer unit, 23...Reading/writing unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Issue a prepaid card with deposited amount data recorded by paying cash in advance, update the deposited amount data,
In a prepaid card system in which transactions are settled using the prepaid card, a fixed data area for identifying the prepaid card is provided in an area different from the user area of the prepaid card that records the deposited amount data, and the data in the fixed data area is A prepaid card system characterized by being able to be updated from a host device. 2. The prepaid card system according to claim 1, wherein the fixed data area records a key for encrypting/decrypting data in the user area. 3. In the prepaid card system according to claim 1, the prepaid card reader/writer of the terminal device that updates the deposited amount data and settles the transaction using the prepaid card performs the encryption/decryption provided by the host device. A prepaid card system that encrypts/decrypts data within a user area based on a key.