GB2195290A

GB2195290A - Improved credit card system

Info

Publication number: GB2195290A
Application number: GB08622375A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Elizabeth Jane Borge; John Frederick Whitworth
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-09-17
Filing date: 1986-09-17
Publication date: 1988-04-07
Also published as: GB8622375D0

Abstract

A card such as a cash or credit card carries no card holder's signature but incorporates means to recall from a remote storage means such as a computer memory, a representation of the card holder's signature for display to a retailer. A reduction in the amount of card fraud is possible.

Description

SPECIFICATION Improved card system This invention concerns an improved card system. More especially, it concerns a credit or cash card and system incorporating such a card.

The use of credit or cash cards, hereinafter called for simplicity "cards", is a widespread feature of modern life. Because there is a very substantial, but not generally publicly quantified, level of fraud attached to the use of such cards, the cards have been made more difficult to forge by the incorporation of devices such as holograms. It has been proposed to manufacture cards incorporating a Read Only Memory or a microprocessor chip, in order to improve security. It has also been proposed to operate a system of Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS), in which there is a direct computer link from a point of sale to a central computer, to arrange an immediate transfer of funds from the user's account to the retailer. Nonetheless, cards are frequently stolen, and goods, services, cash etc are fraudulently obtained by forging the card holder's signature.It is proposed to continue to use conventional means of identification in EFTPOS systems, namely the comparison of a signature on a counterfoil with the signature on the card.

We now propose a card system which promises a significant reduction in the level of credit or cash card fraud, or other illegitimate access to cash, goods, services or areas.

The present invention provides a card as hereinafter defined, comprising means to recall from remote storage means a representation of the card holder's signature for display to a retailer or the like, and said card carrying no signature of the card holder. The card may carry the holder's name, for example in the customary embossed form, and/or other visible identification.

The present invention is believed to be applicable to all "cards" providing cash or credit for goods or services, whether these cards are issued by national or international banks or credit companies, by individual stores or groups of stores, by groups of shops in a relatively small locality, by petroleum companies, by travel or hire firms, etc. It should be understood that the invention may be applied also to cards or passes enabling access to areas restricted for security or other reasons, and to cheque guarantee cards, as well as to building society passbooks, and bank or other deposit passbooks. A card for the purposes of the present invention therefore encompasses all cards, passes, passbooks and other physical media of potential value and which require a signature of the user for identification or validation.

Reference herein to a "retailer" should be understood to include all points of sale or provision of cash, goods, services, access etc, where it is usual for someone to validate or authorise such sale, provision or access by comparing the card tenderer's signature with the card holder's signature.

The recall means on the card preferably comprises a magnetic strip on the card which holds a coded message which can be read by a reader attached to a terminal or an intelligent till. The reader is suitably connected to the remote storage means so that it may transfer the same or a different coded message to trigger the release of the representation of the signature. The representation of the signature may then be transmitted to and displayed on a screen visible to the retailer alone. The retailer may then compare the representation with a signature tendered at the beginning of the particular transaction.Instead of the retailer comparing the recalled representation with a freshly provided signature on a counterfoil or the like, the signature tendered may be digitised, eg by camera or pressure pad, or otherwise processed and displayed on the screen adjacent the recalled representation; this may facilitate comparison of the signatures. If desired, the representation may be displayed to the retailer in other ways than on a screen, eg a print-out of the representation may be used. The recall means may be, instead of a magnetic strip, a bar code or ROM.

The remote storage means is preferably a computer memory holding the representation of the signature in digital code form. It is relatively straightforward using available hardware and software to digitise a specimen signature, to store it in memory and to recall the signature from memory for display on a VDU or for print-out. Data compression techniques may be used to reduce transmission time and storage space.

The remote storage means may also be in the form of other digital storage or media such as laser-readable discs.

A national central storage means, or local systems, may be used according to the type of card and the issuing organisation. It may be, for example, in the accounts department of a single shop. If desired, there may be periodic updating of local storage means from one or more central locations. What is important is that there is a physical separation of the storage means from the retailer's point of sale equipment (or analogous equipment). The point of sale equipment is desirably capable of distinguishing the cards of a number of issuing organisations, and accessing the remote storage means of the appropriate organisation, in order to provide maximum flexibility.

It is envisaged that the present invention will offer particular advantages when integrated into an EFTPOS system which will provide point of sale terminals and direct links to a central computer, since the additional cost of implementing the invention will be relatively small.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a block diagram representing one embodiment of the invention. The card holder provides to the issuing organisation one or more specimen signatures, before issue of his card. The card carries a magnetic strip (already provided on many cards), which has an encoded message indicating the holder identification possibly together with additional information such as credit limit. The issuing organisation digitises the specimen signature and tags it with an appropriate identification before #storing it in a central computer memory store.

When the card holder wishes to make a purchase or other transaction, he signs a payment counterfoil and provides the card to the retailer. The retailer's till reads the magnetic strip on the card, and transmits to the central store a signature request with the appropriate identification. The computer retrieves from memory the correct signature and transmits a signal representing it to the retailer, where a decoder provides a suitable signal to a VDU to display a representation of the signature to the retailer. The retailer compares the VDU display with the freshly tendered signature and decides whether to accept or decline the transaction.

The card neither itself carries a visible signature nor carries a decodable signature.

Other embodiments of the invention may be devised by the skilled man without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A card as hereinbefore defined, comprising means to recall from remote storage means a representation of the card holder's signature for display to a retailer or the like, and said card carrying no signature of the card holder.

2. A card according to claim 1, comprising the card holder's name and/or other visible identification.

3. A card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the means to recall comprises a magnetic strip, bar code or ROM.

4. A card according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the means to recall carries a coded message for triggering the release of the signature representation from the remote storage means.

5. A card according to claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described.

6. A card system comprising a card according to any one of the preceding claims, and a remote storage means for card holder's signatures.

7. A card system according to claim 6, comprising a reader for the recall means, said reader being connected to the remote storage means.

8. A card system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the remote storage means holds signatures in digital code form.

9. A card' system according to claim 6, 7 or 8, in association with an Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale system.

10. A card system according to claim 6, substantially as hereinbefore described.