Abstract:
A card reader ( 30 ) for reading magnetic stripe cards ( 42 ), comprises a housing having a card entry slot, a magnetic read head ( 40 ) located within the housing and guide means ( 36 ) arranged to guide inserted cards to the read head to be read. The guide means ( 36 ) is arranged to displace a card laterally with respect to the entrance slot during insertion and withdrawal of the card.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a card reader module, in particular to a manual insertion or “dip” card reader. More particularly, the invention addresses the issue of card skimming at a self-service terminal (SST), such as an automated teller machine (ATM), or any other terminal using a manual insertion card reader module.  
         [0002]     There are two different types of card readers, manual (or dip) card readers and automatic card readers. In automatic card readers a sensor adjacent to the card entry slot detects the presence of a card bearing a magnetic stripe. Once the magnetic strip is detected an internal shutter is activated and moves out of the path of the card. As the card is partially inserted it is received by transport rollers which transport the card into the body of the reader. The problem of “skimming” a card, where the magnetic stripe is read by an unauthorized reading device placed over the card slot, may be addressed by ensuring that the motion of the card is irregular until the card is fully within the body of the card reader. This randomly fluctuating path is achieved by programmed control of the aforementioned transport rollers, as detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,771, in the name of NCR Corporation.  
         [0003]     However, in dip card readers the card is inserted and withdrawn manually, by the user, and the approach detailed above is not feasible.  
         [0004]     A dip card reader makes two attempts to read a magnetic stripe card, once during the insertion phase and once again during the withdrawal phase. The dip card reader uses the better of the two readings (normally the withdrawal reading) to process the transaction. The card motion during the manual process must be uniform to achieve a good reading of the magnetic stripe. Any fluctuation as with the automatic reader would result in a failure to read the magnetic stripe.  
         [0005]     As briefly mentioned above, card skimming is the copying of the data stored on a magnetic stripe of a card either directly onto another card or into some form of storage, to be transferred at some later date onto a card, which can then be used for fraudulent purposes. This is a particular problem for dip card readers, given that the solution utilized with automatic card readers cannot be applied to dip readers.  
         [0006]     The commercial significance of this problem is heightened by the fact that many ATM&#39;s or other self-service devices use dip card readers that are operated by customers in an unsupervised environment. This gives criminals the opportunity to attach a skimming device to the outside of a dip reader which is designed to blend in with the fascia of the ATM or self-service device in order not to arouse the customer&#39;s suspicion. The skimming device does not prevent the user from withdrawing the card, nor does it prevent legitimate reading of the card by the card reader, hence giving the user no hint that any fraud has taken place. Therefore, the customer departs having completed the transaction and is completely unaware that all the details on the magnetic stripe on their card have been stolen.  
         [0007]     Skimming, especially with dip card readers, has been a significant issue for ATM service providers for many years. Consequently, there has long been a need to address this extremely commercially significant issue, without notable success.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0008]     According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a card reader comprising a housing having a card entry slot, a magnetic read head located within the housing, guide means arranged to guide inserted cards to the read head to be read, wherein the guide means is arranged to displace a card laterally with respect to the entrance slot during insertion and withdrawal of the card.  
         [0009]     Preferably the guide means is a reference edge incorporating an offset arranged to move the card laterally.  
         [0010]     Preferably the position of the offset on the reference edge is variable.  
         [0011]     Preferably the angle of the offset is variable.  
         [0012]     Preferably the offset is adapted to be different in a withdrawal phase from an insertion phase of a card insertion operation.  
         [0013]     Alternatively the guide means, for varying the path of the card reader, is cam guide.  
         [0014]     Preferably the card reader is further provided with urging means arranged to ensure that the card follows the path defined by the guide means.  
         [0015]     Preferably the guiding means is resiliently biased towards the guide means.  
         [0016]     Preferably the urging means is a spring-loaded urging means.  
         [0017]     Preferably the card reader further includes a sensor arranged to detect the presence of a magnetic stripe card.  
         [0018]     Most preferably the card reader further including a second sensor arranged to detect if the urging means has been tampered with.  
         [0019]     By virtue of this invention a card may be safely inserted and read by a legitimate dip card reader while foiling attempts to read the card by unauthorized parties. The invention describes an apparatus that prevents a skimming device from reading all of the data on a magnetic stripe because the card is physically moved away from the magnetic stripe read head in the skimming device during insertion and withdrawal of a card.  
         [0020]     According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a self-service terminal (SST) incorporating a card reader as described above.  
         [0021]     The SST may be an automated teller machine (ATM). Alternatively the SST may be a point-of-sale (POS) terminal.  
         [0022]     According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of reading a magnetic stripe card utilizing a card reader as described above, the method comprising the steps of: inserting a magnetic card into a card reader and guiding said card along a path defined by a reference means, and using a magnetic read head to read the card when the card has been moved laterally with respect to the entry slot by a reference means.  
         [0023]     According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of reading a magnetic stripe card utilizing a card reader as described above, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a magnetic card into a card reader, through an entry slot, and guiding said card along a path defined by a guide means, and reading the card only when the card has been moved laterally with respect to the entry slot. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]     Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0025]      FIG. 1  is schematic view of a known manual insertion card reader;  
         [0026]      FIG. 2  is schematic view of a manual insertion card reader in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a manual insertion card reader in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0028]      FIG. 1  is schematic view of a known type of manual insertion card reader (“dip card reader”)  10  showing guide means  12 , spring-loaded urging means  14  with springs  16 , and magnetic stripe read head  18 . There is also shown a card  20  with magnetic stripe  22 .  FIG. 1  also shows the typical position of a skimmer magnetic stripe read head  24 .  
         [0029]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a prior art dip card reader  10  has two main components, the guide means  12 , and urging means  14 , to make sure that the magnetic read head  18  of the reader aligns correctly with data written on the magnetic stripe  22  of the card  20 . The magnetic read head  18  is designed to read one to three tracks of magnetic data, the format and position on the card being defined in ISO standards, ISO/IEC 7810 and ISO/IEC78 11.  
         [0030]     The card slides along the guide means in the form of a reference edge  12  of the card reader  10  during card entry or removal. This reference edge  12  ensures that the magnetic read head  18  and data on the magnetic stripe align correctly. The spring-loaded urging means  14  makes sure that as card  20  enters or leaves the card reader the card  20  is always pressed against guide means  12 , ensuring correct alignment between the magnetic read head  18  and data on the magnetic stripe  22 . Note that if a card-skimming device is added, the fraudulent read head  24  must also align with magnetic read head  18 .  
         [0031]      FIG. 2  is schematic view of a dip card reader  30  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. A dip card reader  30  has a urging means  32 , with biasing means  34 , (here shown as a spring), and a reference edge  36  which is shaped with an offset or ridge  38 . A magnetic read head  40  is located so that the magnetic stripe  22  is only brought into line with the reader head  40  once the card has been moved laterally with respect to the entry slot. Herein the term “laterally with respect to the entry slot” is intended to mean moved sideways, orthogonally (direction Y,  FIG. 2 ) to the general direction of motion (X) of the card. Also shown is a card  42  with magnetic stripe  44 . Two possible positions  46 ,  48  of a skimmer magnetic read head are also shown.  
         [0032]     The reading of a card in the legitimate dip card reader  30  is performed in the same manner as described for  FIG. 1  above. The magnetic read head  40  is the same as magnetic read head  18 . The resiliently biased urging means  32  may be provided by means of a spring-loaded member as shown, and card  42  is identical to card  20 .  
         [0033]     However, reference edge  36  has an offset  38  at the entrance slot of the dip card reader  30 . This offset can be arranged to be constant or variable in dimension in order to vary the path of the card in and out of the card reader  30 , as long as the offset is designed to bring the magnetic stripe  44  on the card into line with the read head  40 .  
         [0034]     When card  42  initially enters the dip card reader  30 , the magnetic stripe  44  does not align with the magnetic head of the reader  40 . It is only after passing the offset  38  that magnetic card data in stripe  44  and head  40  align, enabling the data held on the magnetic stripe  44  of the on the card  42  to be read as described above.  
         [0035]     A skimming device, which is positioned outside the reader  30 , will initially read the first part of the card  42 . If the skimming magnetic track reading device is aligned with guide  36  at the entry to the dip card reader  30 , this means that the fraudulent skimming reading device must be in position  46 . When the card passes the offset  38  in the reader, the card  30  moves and the skimming magnetic track-reading device is no longer in alignment with the data on the magnetic stripe. Thus the card-skimming device cannot capture the data on the magnetic stripe  44 .  
         [0036]     In order to read data on a magnetic stripe  44  the read head of the skimming device would need to take into account the lateral movement of the card. Therefore the read head would need to be in position  44 . An offset of as little as 3 mm can make all tracks unreadable; an offset of 10 mm means no data at all.  
         [0037]     To be effective, a fraud skimming device would have to have a skimming magnetic head not only capable of moving from position  44  to  46 , but it would also have to follow the profile of the offset, which would be extremely difficult. The offset  36  and the position and slope of the offset can vary in dimension and profile to make it even more difficult for any skimmer to follow the path of the magnetic stripe  42  and read the data held therein. This added enhancement makes the chance of a card entering such a reader and being skimmed extremely remote.  
         [0038]     The resiliently biased urging means  32  is not essential, but is very important as it assists in keeping the card  42  pressed against reference edge  36  both before the offset  38  at the entrance to the reader and after the offset  38  when the card  42  is being read.  
         [0039]     The card reader  30  can also be fitted with an urging means position detector  50 . A further sensor is also provided to detect when a card is or is not present. The urging means position detectors  50  detect attempts to interfere with the guide  32  and thus overcome the effect of the offset  36 . For example, when it is detected that no card is present then the urging means  32  should be fully extended. If the detector  50  detects that the urging means is not in its fully extended position then the reader (and associated SST) can be shut down, as it has most probably been interfered with for fraudulent purposes.  
         [0040]     Conversely, if a card is present then the detector should show that the guide has become compressed. Again diagnostic systems of the card reader or SST can use this feature to ascertain if the card reader has been tampered with, and appropriate action and/or security measures taken. For example, the card reader may issue a warning to the user if the resiliently biased guide is detected in an unusual position or abnormal arrangement.  
         [0041]     Other means may be utilized, in place of the guide means  36 , in  FIG. 2 , to move the card laterally during insertion and removal. For example,  FIG. 3  schematically represents a hinged cam guide  60  which can be used in place of the reference means  12 , in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0042]     The guide  60  is a receiving means  62  rotatably mounted on a cam arm  64 , which moved between position A and position B during movement of the card  20  into or out of the housing. The means  62  is biased towards the position illustrated in A. By the time the card has reached position B the means  62  has rotated and the card eventually frees itself from the guide  60  and moves into the housing for the reader to read the magnetic stripe  22 , as in the earlier embodiment. In both embodiments the lateral movement of the card is complete before the magnetic stripe  22  reaches the reader  40 .  
         [0043]     During withdrawal of the card, the card is again received by the cam means at position B and is guided back to position A under the influence of the cam guide means  60 . As with the earlier embodiment an urging means  32  is provided, for the same reason as in the earlier embodiment.  
         [0044]     Modifications may be incorporated without departing from the scope of the present invention.