BANK/CREDIT CARD LASER READ FINGERPRINT COMPARITORThis invention relates to fingerprints read by a laser forbank/credit card fraud protection.
Bank/credit card fraud amounts to losses of tens ofmillions of pounds per annum to the major banks and credit houses.At the present time there is no certain way of stopping a stolen bank card from being used soon after it has been stolen,often before it is reported lost.
Anyone who has a stolen card only needs to practise the signature on the rear to a vague likeness of the original before using the card to buy goods.At present there is no secondary way of telling if the card has recently been stolen.The fingerprint unit ensures that only the original owner can use any one card.
When a bank issues a new card to a customer,he/she would also be given a small pad of quick drying indelible ink with which to instate a fingerprint (any finger) on the new card within a specified area.This print cannot be removed without damaging the card.
Cont...
When using the card for purchasing goods the cashier would insert the card into the unit and ask the customer to place a finger (the same finger must be used to match the card pad) onto the laser pad.
A switch at the side of the unit would then be activated by the cashier so the laser could read the fingerprint on the pad and match it with the fingerprint on the bank card.If the two prints match,a green light will be illuminated which means that the card belongs to the customer.If the two prints do not match,or the card has been tampered with,a red light would show and make the cashier suspicious.
This system will make it impossible for any stolen card to be used by anyone other than the person for which it was intended.
WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGThe card is inserted into a slot 1 on the top of the unit 7, shown in FIG 1 and a finger (the same one as used to mark the card originally) placed on the laser read finger pad.
A switch 3 is then activated and a laser reads the fingerprint on the laser pad and compares it with the fingerprint on the card.
If the two prints match,a green light 4 will illuminate to notify the cashier that the card is in use with the legal owner.
When the switch 3 is activated and a red light 5 shows this will signify that the fingerprint on the card and the fingerprint on the laser read finger pad 2 do not match, notifying the cashier that the card is not being used by the rightful owner.
The unit is powered by standard mains electricity 6.