WO2003027953A1

WO2003027953A1 - Pre-paid phone card

Info

Publication number: WO2003027953A1
Application number: PCT/CA2001/001388
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lyle Harold Scrymgeour; Michael John Brickwood
Original assignee: Pollard Banknote Limited
Priority date: 2001-09-24
Filing date: 2001-10-03
Publication date: 2003-04-03
Also published as: CA2357625C; AR036609A1; CA2357625A1

Abstract

Described herein is a pre-paid phone card composed of two card portions, each having a rear surface and a front surface. The front surfaces include promotional graphics and phone card information including a value of service to be provided in relation to the card. One of the rear surfaces includes a PIN, which may be covered with a scratch-off layer. The card is formed by connecting the rear surfaces together around an edge with one of the portions including a surrounding line of weakness allowing separation of that portion from the remaining card part. The PIN is thus facing inwardly and not visible without separating the card into its two portions. The card thus forms in effect a pouch enveloping the PIN and keeping it more secure but without the wastefulness of additional wrapping material. If the part without the PIN includes on its rear surface material of value to the user, this encourages the user to keep both parts for recycling.

Description

PRE-PAID PHONE CARD

The present invention relates generally to the field of pre-paid phone cards and to a method of authorizing telephone use using a pre-paid phone card, where the construction of the phone card is improved. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pre-paid phone cards are well known and widely sold and typically comprise a sheet material of plastic or card stock on which is printed the necessary instructions, a value of the card concerned, promotional information and a PIN or access number which allows the user to access the phone services. The system is arranged to provide for the purchaser of the card a total of phone services up to the total value of the card. The value can vary relatively widely between cards of little value where fraud would give little advantage up to larger values which can become a target for fraud. The PIN is covered by a scratch-off layer so that it theoretically becomes accessible only after the card has been purchased and the user is free to remove the covering layer to reveal the PIN. However such scratch-off layers are subject to damage during handling of the cards so that the PIN may be partly or wholly exposed and thus open to compromise. Also a resourceful thief has many techniques available to obtain the PIN while not apparently removing the scratch-off layer so that the thief having access a number of the cards may be able to obtain the PIN, use the PIN to access the telephone services and thus steal the value of the card before it is sold.

For this reason, many such cards are wrapped by a transparent wrapping material such as cellophane. This is however disadvantageous as the wrapping increases the cost while providing a material which is of no added value, that is it has no additional uses, and cannot be re-cycled. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one object of the present invention to provide a pre-paid phone card arrangement which provides improved security for the PIN while reducing extra cost and potential waste of additional wrapping material.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a prepaid phone card for use by a telephone user in obtaining access to telephone service from a supplier thereof comprising: a first card portion formed by substantially flat substrate sheet material having a front surface and a rear surface, said front surface having promotional graphics printed thereon; and a second card portion formed by substantially flat substrate sheet material having a front surface and a rear surface; the rear surface of the sheet forming the first card portion being connected to the rear surface of the sheet forming the second card portion to form the card; wherein the card is arranged to be separable by the user into said first and second card portions for exposing the rear surface of each of the card portions; the rear surface of one of the card portions having a phone card PIN printed thereon and arranged so as to be hidden when the card portions are connected and accessible for use by the user when the card portions are separated; the phone card PIN comprising a series of digits which digits are readable by the user and which series is arranged, when communicated by the user to the telephone service supplier, to provide access to the telephone service to a value up to a value of the card.

As the card structure automatically protects and conceals the PIN from unauthorised access, there is no need for any additional wrapping material.

Preferably the sheet forming the first card portion includes a line of weakness for separating the card into said first and second card portions, although other techniques for dividing the sheets into the two parts can be provided such as a releasable adhesive.

Preferably the first card portion and the second card portion have side edges and are connected along all of said side edges to fully encompass the rear surfaces thereof so that the line or weakness surrounds the first card portion.

Preferably the sheet forming the first card portion and the sheet forming the second card portion are connected by a strip of an adhesive.

Preferably the line of weakness is located closely adjacent the edge but within the strip of adhesive so that it does not interfere with separation of the card into said first and second card portions.

Preferably the sheet forming the first card portion and the sheet forming the second card portion are coextensive.

Preferably the front surface of the first card portion includes indicia providing an indication of the card value.

Preferably the PIN is covered by a scratch-off layer since this is customary in the card industry and since this further enhances the security of the PIN against unauthorised detection and abuse. However the scratch-off layer can also be omitted as the physical protection for the PIN provided by the card structure itself may be sufficient in some cases.

Preferably the PIN is printed on the rear surface of the second card portion, that is the card portion which does not include the line of weakness so that the PIN is available on the main remaining portion of the card. In this case, the rear surface of the first card portion includes indicia thereon providing some value to the user, such as a coupon for savings or valuable data, so that the user is encouraged to keep the first card portion when separated,.

Preferably the front surface of the second card portion includes a UPC or EAN bar code and optionally an additional bar code for providing accounting information for the supplier.

Preferably the rear surface carrying the PIN includes indicia providing instructions to the user for use of the PIN.

Preferably there is provided an assembly of the cards as defined above arranged in a row each connected end to end to the next and each separable from the next at a line of weakness and the row being fan folded.

In accordance with a further definition of the invention there is provided a method for use by a telephone user in obtaining access to telephone service from a supplier thereof, the method comprising: providing a plurality of pre-paid phone cards as defined above; causing the user to purchase a card of a required value; causing the user to separate the first card portion from the second card portion to expose the PIN; causing the user to access the service provide to make a request

for service; causing the user to provide the PIN using the PIN to determine a value of service remaining available in relation to that PIN; and supplying to the user a value of telephone service requested dependent upon the value of service remaining available in relation to that PIN. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of the card assembly according to the present invention including first and second card portions connected together.

Figure 2 is a rear view of the card assembly.

Figure 3 is a rear view of the second card portion after the first card portion is removed from the assembly.

Figure 4 is a rear view of the first card portion after it is removed from the assembly.

Figure 5 is a side view of the card assembly including a continuous connected strip of the cards.

Figure 6 is a schematic side elevational view of a process for forming the card assembly of Figure 5.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to Figures 1 to 4, a pre-paid phone card assembly 1 comprises a first card portion 10 and a second card portion 12.

The first card portion 10 is formed by substantially flat substrate sheet material and has a front surface 14, a rear surface 16 (Figure 4), side edges 18, a top edge 20 and a bottom edge 22, as shown in Figures 1. The front surface 14 has promotional graphics 24 printed thereon including a Logo of the supplier as shown at 24A. The rear surface 16 has indicia 25 printed thereon including a Logo 25A. The indicia 25 is of a character which will provide an incentive for the user to keep this card portion when separated. This may be merely valuable information or may be a coupon for savings on a next card purchased or may be of some other valuable nature. Thus the user is encouraged to keep both portions when separated, because the PIN is on the second portion and the first portion has some value, for later recycling rather than merely discarding and littering.

The second card portion 12 is formed by substantially flat substrate sheet material and has a front surface 26, a rear surface 28, side edges 30, a top edge 32 and a bottom edge 34 as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The front surface 26 has promotional graphics 24 printed thereon as shown in Figure 2. The front surface 26 also includes a first bar code 37 for identification of the card 1 and a second UPC bar code for 36 use in retailing.

The rear surface 28 has the PIN 38 printed thereon covered with a scratch-off layer 38A. The rear surface also includes the Logo 25A and an instruction list 25B providing instructions to the user as to how to access the telephone services using the PIN. The assembled card 1 is shown in Figure 1 and thus forms in effect a pouch in that the outside surfaces of the cards define surfaces available for graphics and the PIN is concealed inside the pouch on the inwardly facing surface of one of the portions. This provides the improved security of in which the PIN is inaccessible since it is contained within the pouch but avoids the use of a separate wrapping material which is wasteful and costly.

The first card portion forms a part of a larger sheet including an outer surrounding band which overlaps a band portion of a sheet forming the second card portion. Specifically, the card assembly 1 is formed by connecting the rear surface 16 of the sheet forming the first card portion 10 to the rear surface 28 of the sheet forming the second card portion 12 by an adhesive along the side edges 18, 30. As a result of this arrangement, the promotional graphics 24 printed on the front surface 14 of the first card portion 10 and the front surface 26 of the second card portion 12 are visible to the consumer but the information on the rear surface 16 of the first card portion 10 and the PIN on the rear surface 28 of the second card portion 12 are not visible or accessible.

Furthermore, the card 1 is arranged to separate into at least two portions for exposing the indicia 25 on the rear surface 16 of the first card portion 10 and the PIN 38 on the rear surface 28 of the second card portion 12. In some embodiments, the front surface 14 of the first card portion 10 includes a line of weakness 40 inside the side edges 18 of the first card portion 10 and just inside the line of adhesive so that the central portion of the first card portion 10 can be separated from the second card portion 12, as shown in Figure 1. The line of weakness 40 is introduced onto the front surface 14 of the first card portion 10 by die-cutting. The line of weakness 40 as shown may includes a pull tab for facilitating separation, not shown. The line of weakness may be provided by only a limited number of connecting tabs 40A as shown where there are only three tabs on the top and bottom and only one tab at the sides, thus providing a very easy opening, or may be provided by many more tabs for added difficulty in separation and thus increased security, depending upon the requirements of the service supplier.

In use, the user purchases a card 1 from a retailer for the value 24B as set out on the front surface of the first portion. Following purchase, the user separates the first card portion 10 from the second card portion 12 along the line of weakness 40 by grasping the pull tab if provided and pulling the card 1 apart into two pieces. The line of weakness 40 is introduced within the side edges 18 and within the line of adhesive so that the adhesive does not interfere with separation. This in turn exposes the valuable information on the rear surface 16 of the first card portion 10 and the PIN and scratch-off on the rear surface 28 of the second card portion 12. The user can now access the PIN by removing the scratch-off layer. Following the instructions 25B the user can then access telephone services using the PIN for one or more calls totalling in value the total value of the card as such cards are conventionally used.

Thus, the above-described card 1 has an attractive outer surface due to the promotional graphics printed on the front surfaces without the cost of additional packaging. Furthermore, the PIN cannot be accessed without opening the card 1.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6 a method of preparing a card construction 100 comprised of a plurality of cards 101 in a row. A plurality of rows of perforations 132 are introduced into the card construction 100 at junctions between the top edge of a representative one of the plurality of cards 101 and the bottom edge of an adjacent one of the plurality of cards 101. As a result of this arrangement, the plurality of cards 101 can be separated into individual cards by tearing along the rows of perforations 132. The plurality of cards 101 are folded along each of the plurality of rows of perforations 132 with the fold at the front edge of each card being in a direction opposite to the fold at the rear edge of each card so that the cards lie each on top of and parallel to the next, as shown in Figure 5. The cards can be supplied for sale individually or in the strip as shown. If sold individually, the cards can be cut to be totally separated during manufacture or can be perforated for manual separation.

In Figure 6 is shown schematically the process described above. The process is shown in a number of discreet steps but it will be appreciated that the process can be integrated into a single continuous production line without the necessity for unrolling and re-rolling the strip in the separate steps as shown.

Thus in a first step of the process, an initial strip of blank paper stock is unrolled from a supply roll 50 and is rewound onto a rewind roll 51. As the strip is forwarded, graphics and base printing is applied onto the strip from a series of colour printing presses so as to provide preferably a full colour printing of both sides of the strip.

In the second step, the re-rolled roll is used as a supply as indicated at 51A and the strip passes through a coating station which may include a plurality of coating elements before being rewound at a rewind station 52. The selection of coatings can be made depending upon the level of security required since lower values may only require low levels of security and higher values may require a higher level. Various arrangements of security coating are known in the industry and thus this aspect is well known to one skilled in the art and further detail will not be described in detail herein. The coating elements selected may provide at least one layer or lily pad over sections of the strip at which the PIN is to be applied. This provides a security layer or coating for the strip which enhances security to prevent chemical, light or other attack onto the base paper stock to avoid improper examination of the cards revealing the PIN without the necessity for scratching the scratch off layers.

The resultant or final layer of the security coating is generally a white lily pad so that the white layer does not interfere with or detract from the brightness of subsequent application of coloured printed materials or layers.

The re-rolled roll 52 is applied at a supply station 52A for a third step in the process where the strip is unrolled and re-rolled at a station 53. In the third step, the PIN applied to the white lily pad over the security layers previously described. The PIN is applied by variable image printing techniques such as ink jet as opposed to use of fixed printing presses.

The application of a bar code (including machine and/or human readable portions) which is unique to the card and is applied directly with and at the same time as the PIN to allow identification and tracking of individual cards.

Subsequent to the application of the PIN a coating device applies the latex scratch-off coating in one or more layers using conventional techniques and materials. The coated strip is then wound at a winding station 53. Although it is shown for convenience that the latex coating is in line with the imaging, this is generally not so and the two steps are carried out independently on different lines.

Strips thus formed with the graphics printing, security coatings, PIN and scratch-off layers are thus formed and available at the station 53. Two of these strips, printed with different data are then used in a lamination process at laminating and calendar rolls 54. The laminated strips are then passed through a die cut roller system 55 and a kiss cut roller system 56 to apply the lines of weakness and perforations as previously described. The strip is then folded back and forth in a fan folding arrangement 57 to form a fan folded stack 58 of the finished cards in the card assembly. The laminated cards in the fan folded stack are also shown on larger scale in figure 6.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A pre-paid phone card for use by a telephone user in obtaining access to telephone service from a supplier thereof comprising: a first card portion formed by substantially flat substrate sheet material having a front surface and a rear surface, said front surface having promotional graphics printed thereon; and a second card portion formed by substantially flat substrate sheet material having a front surface and a rear surface; the rear surface of the sheet forming the first card portion being connected to the rear surface of the sheet forming the second card portion to form the card; wherein the card is arranged to be separable by the user into said first and second card portions for exposing the rear surface of each of the card portions; the rear surface of one of the card portions having a phone card PIN printed thereon and arranged so as to be hidden when the card portions are connected and accessible for use by the user when the card portions are separated; the phone card PIN comprising a series of digits which digits are readable by the user and which series is arranged, when communicated by the user to the telephone service supplier, to provide access to the telephone service to a value up to a value of the card.

2. The pre-paid phone card according to Claim 1 wherein the sheet forming the first card portion includes a line of weakness for separating the card into said first and second card portions.

3. The pre-paid phone card according to Claim 2 wherein the first card portion and the second card portion have side edges and are connected along all of said side edges to fully encompass the rear surfaces thereof, and wherein the line or weakness surrounds the first card portion.

4. The pre-paid phone card according to Claim 3 wherein the sheet forming the first card portion and the sheet forming the second card portion are connected by a strip of an adhesive.

5. The pre-paid phone card according to Claim 4 wherein the sheet forming the first card portion includes a line of weakness for separating the card into said first and second card portions and wherein the line of weakness is located within the side edges of the first card portion such that the strip of adhesive does not interfere with separation of the card into said first and second card portions.

6. The pre-paid phone card according to any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein the sheet forming the first card portion and the sheet forming the second card portion are coextensive.

7. The pre-paid phone card according to any one of Claims 1 to

6 wherein the front surface of the first card portion includes indicia providing an indication of the card value.

8. The pre-paid phone card according to any one of Claims 1 to

7 wherein the PIN is covered by a scratch-off layer.

9. The pre-paid phone card according to any one of Claims 1 to

8 wherein the PIN is printed on the rear surface of the second card portion.

10. The pre-paid phone card according to Claim 9 wherein the rear surface of the first card portion includes indicia thereon providing some value to the user such that the user is encouraged to keep the first card portion when separated.

11. The pre-paid phone card according to any one of Claims 1 to 10 wherein the front surface of the second card portion includes a UPC or EAN bar code.

12. The pre-paid phone card according to Claim 11 wherein the front surface of the second card portion includes an additional bar code for providing accounting information for the supplier.

13. The pre-paid phone card according to any one of Claims 1 to 12 wherein the rear surface carrying the PIN includes indicia providing instructions to the user for use of the PIN.

14. An assembly comprising a plurality of pre-paid phone cards each according to any one of Claims 1 to 13 arranged in a row each connected end to end to the next and each separable from the next at a line of weakness and the row being fan folded.

15. A method for use by a telephone user in obtaining access to telephone service from a supplier thereof, the method comprising: providing a plurality of pre-paid phone cards according to any one of Claims 1 to 13; causing the user to purchase a card of a required value; causing the user to separate the first card portion from the second card portion to expose the PIN; causing the user to access the service provide to make a request for service; causing the user to provide the PIN using the PIN to determine a value of service remaining available in relation to that PIN; and supplying to the user a value of telephone service requested dependent upon the value of service remaining available in relation to that PIN.