JPH10320507A - Credit and point information read and write device, and system including the device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To read both credit and point information almost at a time and by a single card inserting operation, by providing a means to read the credit and point information recorded on a card, respectively. SOLUTION: A rewrite card 6 is inserted to a card insertion part 11 of the credit/point information read/write device 2, and an upper read device 12 reads the credit information which is written into a credit magnetic stripes 8 printed on the surface 7 of the card 6. The information read by the device 12 is sent to a credit/point processor 3 which performs the credit processing and sends this processing result to the device 2. Meanwhile, a lower read device 13 reads the point information written into a point magnetic stripes written on the rear surface 9 of the card 6. Then, the point number corresponding to the credit amount of this time is added to or subtracted from the hitherto point, and the new point information is written into the point magnetic stripes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus capable of reading both credit and point information almost simultaneously using a single card, and a system including the apparatus and an apparatus for performing credit processing and point processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, credit card use rates and penetration rates have shown remarkable growth, and retailers have issued point cards independently as a service to users or as a method of further promoting card sales.
They issue point cards jointly with credit card companies.

[0003] The point card service provides services such as discounts and exchange for specific goods when a certain number of points are accumulated as points are added in accordance with the usage amount. There are two types of point cards: point management is performed by a host computer of a store or a host computer of a credit company, and a method of writing and managing points on the card itself without management by the host computer.

[0004] In the case of a type in which points are written to the card itself, a store conventionally uses a system 100 including a credit processing system 101 and a point processing system 102 to separately perform credit processing and point processing as shown in FIG. Have gone to.

The credit processing system 101 uses a CAT
(Credit Authorization Terminal) 14
The CAT 140 is connected via a telephone line terminal 160 to a host computer 170 located at a credit card company. On the other hand, the point processing system 102 includes a reader / writer 120,
A reader / writer 120 having a point processing device 121
Is connected to the host computer 171 of the store via the point processing device 121.

[0006] A clerk of a store temporarily keeps two cards, a credit card 180 and a point card 200, from the user and puts the credit card 180 into the CAT14.
0, and performs an authorization process, a credit process, and the like.

Next, the clerk inserts the point card 200 into the card insertion section 240 of the reader / writer 120, reads the point information from the magnetic recording section of the point card 200 with the reading device 260, and stores the point information according to the amount of the shopping. Perform addition / subtraction processing.

[0008] As described above, in the conventional system, the clerk of the store stores the credit card 180 and the point card 20.
0 must be inserted into the card insertion section of a separate device, which increases the labor of the salesperson and increases the probability of erroneous operation. Also, the store and the credit company have to make two cards, which increases costs.

On the other hand, the user has a credit card 1
80 and the point card 200 had to be carried, and card management was troublesome.

Recently, rewrite cards having both a credit card function and a point card function have been developed. This rewrite card has a use point display column on the card surface, and the number of points can be displayed in the use point display column so that the accumulated points can be visually recognized each time the card is used. .

The use of this rewrite card frees the user from having to manage two cards.
However, in the conventional system, even if the rewritable card is used, the CAT 140 and the reader / writer 12
There is no change in inserting the card twice into each of the 0 card insertion sections.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an apparatus capable of reading credit information and point information almost simultaneously by one card insertion operation in one apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to provide a system which can provide the credit processing and the point processing.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a credit / point information reading / writing apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
Means for reading credit information magnetically recorded on one part of the card, means for reading point information magnetically recorded on another part of the card, and the credit information between a credit / point information processing apparatus. Means for mutually transmitting the point information, and new point information obtained as a result of arithmetic processing in the credit / point information processing device based on the read point information when the card is used. Means for magnetically re-recording.

The credit information may be magnetically recorded on one surface of the card, and the point information may be magnetically recorded on another surface of the card.

The card is a rewrite card,
A point display unit having a rewrite function may be formed on the surface of the card.

The system of the present invention includes a credit / point information reading / writing device, a credit / point information processing device, and a host computer connected to a plurality of credit / point information processing devices so as to be able to transmit information to each other. , The credit / point information reading / writing device,
Means for reading credit information magnetically recorded on one part of the card, means for reading point information magnetically recorded on another part of the card, and the credit / point information processing device. Means for mutually transmitting information and point information, and new point information obtained as a result of arithmetic processing in the credit / point information processing apparatus based on the read point information when the card is used, is magnetically recorded on the card. Means for re-recording the credit / point information, wherein the credit / point information processing device is capable of mutually transmitting information to and from the credit / point information reading / writing device, and is read by the credit / point information reading / writing device. Based on credit information and point information Processing and performing.

In this system, the credit information may be magnetically recorded on one side of the card, and the point information may be magnetically recorded on another side of the card.

In this system, the card may be a rewrite card, and a point display section having a rewrite function may be formed on a surface of the card.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a credit management system 1 including a credit / point information read / write device 2 of the present invention. The credit management system 1 includes a credit / point information reading / writing device 2,
The credit / point processing device 3 includes a telephone line terminal 4.
Is connected to a host computer 5 located in a credit card company. The credit / point information reading / writing device 2 and the credit / point processing device 3 are connected by a wiring 14, and the information read by the credit / point information reading / writing device 2 is used for the credit / point processing via the wiring 14. It can be sent to the device 3. Note that the information may be exchanged by another method such as using wireless communication.

Before describing these components in detail, an example of a card used in the credit management system 1 will be described. In the present system, a so-called re-write card 6 is used.
A rewritable card has a function of converting a light transmitting property and a light shielding property by a magnetic force and heating into a specific portion on the card surface and displaying a character so that the portion can be visually recognized (hereinafter, referred to as a rewriting function). It has a structure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rewrite card 6 used in the present invention has a member number (not shown) or the like printed on the front surface 7 of the card, and has a point display having the rewrite function. A part 16 is formed. As shown in FIG. 2, a credit magnetic stripe 8 on which credit information can be magnetically recorded is also attached to the front surface 7 of the card. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, on the back surface 9 of the card, a point magnetic stripe 10 on which point information can be magnetically recorded is affixed.

Hereinafter, each component of the credit management system 1 will be described. The credit / point information read / write device 2 is obtained by partially improving a reader / writer conventionally used. That is, the credit / point information reading / writing device 2 has a card insertion portion 11 for receiving the rewrite card 6, and the reading devices 12, 13 are vertically arranged in the card insertion portion 11 with the card insertion portion 11 interposed therebetween.
Is arranged. The tip of the upper reading device 12
When the rewritable card 6 is inserted into the card insertion portion 11, it is positioned so as to face the credit magnetic stripe 8 provided on the front surface 7 of the rewritable card 6. The tip of the lower reading device 13 is positioned so as to face the magnetic stripe for points 10 provided on the back surface 9 of the rewritable card 6 when the rewritable card 6 is inserted into the card insertion portion 11.

As described above, in the credit / point information read / write device 2 of the present invention, the front surface 7 of the rewrite card 6
Credit information and point information magnetically recorded on the back surface 9 can be read only by inserting the card 6 into the card insertion portion 11 once. Therefore, in the present invention, the operation of inserting the card twice into the card insertion portions of both the CAT and the reader / writer can be reduced to one operation.

Next, a credit / point processing device 3 used together with the credit / point information reading / writing device 2 of the present invention will be described. The credit / point processing device 3 performs a calculation process of the points read by the credit / point reading / writing device 2 and also performs a credit process.

As shown in FIG. 1, the credit / point processing unit 3 is provided with a card insertion unit 15 so that a card of each credit company (a card other than the rewrite card 6) can be applied. However, in the present invention, it is not necessary to use the card insertion section 15.

The credit / point information read / write device of the present invention and the system including the same have the above-described configuration. Hereinafter, a process of performing a credit process and a point process using this system will be described.

A clerk of a store equipped with the present system keeps a rewrite card 6 from a customer, and places the card in a predetermined direction with the front surface 7 facing upward, and inserts the card in a predetermined direction. Into the card insertion part 11 of the first embodiment.
The upper reading device 12 reads the credit information written on the credit magnetic stripe 8 of the rewrite card 6, and the information is sent to the credit / point processing device 3, and is further transmitted to the host computer via the telephone line terminal 4. Sent to 5. The host computer 5 performs an authorization check in the same manner as in the prior art, and the result is sent to the credit / point processing device 3 again via the telephone line.

As a result of the check, if permission is granted, credit processing is performed in the credit / point processing device 3, and the result is sent to the credit / point information reading / writing device 2.

On the other hand, the lower reader 13 reads the point information written on the point magnetic stripe 10 on the back surface 9 of the rewritable card 6. Then, the number of points corresponding to the current credit amount is added to or subtracted from the points so far, and new point information is written to the magnetic stripe 10 for points by a writing device (not shown). Further, the rewritten point information is displayed on the point display section 16 having the rewrite function of the front surface 7 of the rewrite card 6.

As described above, the clerk can perform both the credit processing and the point processing almost simultaneously only by inserting the rewrite card 6 into the card insertion section 11 of the credit / point information reading / writing device 2 once.

In the above embodiment, the rewrite card 6 having the rewrite function capable of rewriting and displaying the point information is used. However, the use of a card having a rewrite function is not an essential condition in the present invention. In the system of the present invention, any card can be used as long as credit information is magnetically recorded in any part of the card and point information is magnetically recorded in the other part. Of course, a card in which credit information and point information are magnetically recorded on the same surface can also be used.
In this case, the two readers 12 and 13 in the credit / point information reader / writer 2 need to face the magnetic recording portion from the same direction with respect to the magnetic recording surface of the card.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a credit / point information reading / writing device of the present invention and a system including the same.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rewritable card as viewed from the front side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rewritable card viewed from the back side.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional system for credit processing and point processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Credit management system 2 Credit / point information read / write device 3 Credit / point processing device 4 Telephone line terminal 5 Host computer 6 Rewrite card 7 Front face of card 8 Magnetic stripe for credit 9 Back side of card 10 Magnetic stripe for point 11 Card insertion part 12 Upper reading device 13 Lower reading device 14 Wiring 15 Card insertion part 16 Point display part

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A means for reading credit information magnetically recorded on a part of a card, a means for reading point information magnetically recorded on another part of the card, and a credit / point information processing apparatus. Means for mutually transmitting the credit information and the point information between the points, and new points obtained as a result of arithmetic processing in the credit / point information processing device based on the point information read when the card is used. Means for magnetically re-recording information on said card. 2. The card according to claim 1, wherein the credit information is magnetically recorded on one surface of the card, and the point information is magnetically recorded on another surface of the card. Credit / point information reading and writing device as described. 3. The credit / point information reading / writing device according to claim 1, wherein the card is a rewrite card, and a point display unit having a rewrite function is formed on a surface of the card. 4. A credit / point information reading / writing device, a credit / point information processing device, and a host computer connected to a plurality of credit / point information processing devices so as to be able to transmit information to each other. A point information reading / writing device for reading credit information magnetically recorded on one part of the card; a means for reading point information magnetically recorded on another part of the card; Means for mutually transmitting the credit information and the point information between the credit / point information processing apparatus and a new apparatus obtained as a result of arithmetic processing in the credit / point information processing apparatus based on the read point information when the card is used. Means for magnetically re-recording the point information on the card. The credit / point information processing device can mutually transmit information to and from the credit / point information reading / writing device. Based on the credit information and the point information read by the credit / point information reading / writing device, A system for performing credit processing and point processing. 5. The credit information is magnetically recorded on one surface of the card, and the point information is magnetically recorded on another surface of the card. The described system. 6. The system according to claim 4, wherein the card is a rewritable card, and a point display section having a rewritable function is formed on a surface of the card.