Card Scanner: Reading Magnetic Information

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Computers )



ATM’s AND CREDIT CARDS

The most common application for a card scanner is for banks and their ATM machines, and stores where credit cards and ATM’s are accepted as mode of payment for point of sales transactions.

For ATM machines, the card scanner is the one that verifies if the personal identification number supplied matches the data that is stored in the card’s electronic strip. If the information is a match, then you can go ahead and make a bank transaction like check your account’s balance, make a withdrawal, change your PIN, and any other service available through the ATM machine.

The principle is the same when using ATM’s and credit cards when making purchases. The card scanner processes the information in the card’s magnetic strip and then matches this to the number provided by the card user. Once the numbers have been matched and verified, the purchase is then completed.

OTHER CARD SCANNER APPLICATIONS

The term card scanner can also refer to other types of devices. A card scanner is also used for documentation or archiving purposes just like large format scanners, with some marked differences.

Large format scanners capture an image of any document or artifact which can then be stored indefinitely in digital form. A card scanner on the other hand is used to capture the data that is stored on the digital strip and input the information on a central data base.

This is used by hospitals to capture patient information as provided in their health insurance cards. Rather than type the information one by one, all you have to do is swipe the card and the information populates the appropriate field.

Basically a card scanner works the same regardless of the industry where it is used. What makes them different is the information that is in the magnetic strip that the scanner reads.


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