Patent Application
20060283940
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multifunctional card reader operated with a PIN-pad and by a user, and more particularly to a multifunctional card reader having a hole to hold the PIN-pad in place and receiving different types of payment cards, which is especially suitable for transactions at point-of-sale.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
In general, the POS terminal 1 is placed at the counter close to the clerk. At the time of payment, the customer gives the payment card to the clerk, and the clerk swipes the payment card and then the customer is required to input a PIN code on the PIN-pad 2 that is located near the customer (e.g., at customer's hand) to authenticate the transaction. During payment, the payment card may be within or out of sight of the customer, depending on the location of the POS terminal 1, but out of the customer's possession. Another type of PIN-pad 2, referring to
To address security concerns and further develop electronic business, a smart card has been introduced as a payment tool. The smart card is a credit card sized device with electronic memory (i.e., IC chip) used for a variety of applications. Transaction at point-of-sale is one of these various applications. A tiny IC chip is embedded into a debit or credit card and provides both highly secure memory and complex processing capability. The IC chip holds the same personal data as magnetic stripes in other card types (for example, cardholder name, card number and expiry date). Another sensing device, in a form of slot (not shown), is combined into the PIN-pad 2 to accept the smart card and to receive the account information stored thereon. Some PIN-pad products are available with a smart card reader configured at the bottom of the PIN-pad 2. Such a design of PIN-pad 2 makes the customer feel secure and comfortable at the time of payment, but has the shortcomings of large size and complexity of PIN-pad design.
In addition, there is an increasing demand for facilitating the payment at point of sale, and thus a contactless payment tool is required. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a developing technique used in payment transactions. RFID is a flexible technology that is convenient, easy to use, and well suited for automatic operation. It combines advantages not available with other identification technologies. RFID can be supplied as read-only or read/write, does not require contact or line-of-sight to operate, can function under a variety of environmental conditions, and provides a high level of data integrity. In addition, because the technology is difficult to counterfeit, RFID provides a high level of security. RFID is similar in concept to bar coding. Bar code systems use a reader and coded labels that are attached to an item, whereas RFID uses a reader (RFID reader) and special RFID devices that are attached to the item. Bar code uses optical signals to transfer information from the label to the reader; RFID uses RF signals to transfer information from the RFID device to the reader. Radio waves transfer data between an item to which an RFID device is attached and an RFID reader. The device can contain data about the item, such as what the item is, what time the device traveled through a certain zone, perhaps even a parameter such as temperature. RFID devices, such as a tag or label, can be attached to virtually anything—from a vehicle to a debit card.
When RFID technique is utilized in POS transaction, it is not feasible to design the RFID reader on the PIN-pad 2. The most important reason is that the area of the sensing device of the RFID reader cannot be shrunk to fit in the PIN-pad 2 to sense the RFID device effectively. Another reason is that combining the RFID reader with the PIN-pad 2 will complicate the design of the PIN-pad 2. Consequently, the size of the combined PIN-pad 2 violates the standards of handheld instruments and loses the benefits thereof. To take advantage of RFID technique as a contactless payment, it is necessary to locate the RFID reader properly to ensure effective sensing.
The PIN-pad 2 in
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional card reader, which is operated with a PIN-pad by a user, to offer a fully self-service unit to the user. The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional card reader, which prepares space for the PIN-pad when the PIN-pad is not used. Another objective of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional card reader, which combines different types of readers of payment cards, thereby providing multiple-payment-choices to the user.
In order to achieve the objectives, the present invention discloses a multifunctional card reader, which is operated with a PIN-pad and by a user, comprising a holding portion holding the PIN-pad, at least one sensing device sensing a payment card and receiving the account information stored in the payment card. The multifunctional card reader holding the PIN-pad functions as a cradle for the PIN-pad. In embodiments, the multifunctional card reader offers any combination of a magnetic stripe reader, a smart card reader and a RFID reader.
The invention will be described according to the appended drawings in which:
FIGS. 3(a)-(c) show the top plane view, the front view and the right side view, respectively, of one embodiment of the present invention of the multifunctional card reader;
One embodiment of the present invention of the multifunctional card reader is shown in
The first sensing device 31 is a RFID reader implemented by a reader IC. The internal transmitter part of the first sensing device 31 is able to drive an antenna designed for proximity operating distance (up to 100 mm) directly without additional active circuitry. The receiver part of the first sensing device 31 provides a robust and efficient implementation of a demodulation and decoding circuitry for signals from ISO1443 compatible transponder. The first sensing device 31 provides a contactless way for transactions by payment cards with a RFID device (RFID tag). In one embodiment, the first sensing device is a MasterCard® PayPass™ reader.
The second sensing device 32 is a MSR (Magnetic Stripe Reader) implemented by a MSR circuitry to sense the payment card with a magnetic stripe. The payment card may be a debit card, a credit card and any payment card with the magnetic stripe storing account information. The third sensing device 33 is an SCR (smart card reader) implemented by SCR circuitry. A plurality of indicators 34 informs the user, by light or sound, of verification of the account information stored in the payment card. The number of the indictors 34 is not limited to four as shown in
The layout of the first sensing device 31, the second sensing device 32, the third sensing device 33, the indicators and the holding portion 34 is not limited to that in
Each operation of the user, such as picking up the PIN-pad 2 from the multifunctional card reader 3, swiping the payment card, keying in the PIN code on the small numeric keyboard 23 of the PIN-pad 2 (refer to
The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative only. Numerous alternative embodiments may be devised by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the following claims.
