Abstract:
A card reader device has a card entrance for receiving a card, such as an ATM card, a card enclosure in registration with the card entrance and defining an area in which the card is read, and a shutter for controlling access to the card enclosure from the card entrance. The card reader device also has a read head located in the card entrance for reading data from the card, and a controller for controlling the operation of the card reader device. The controller is operable to: (i) open the shutter in response to reading data from the card, and (ii) disable the read head when the shutter is opened.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a card reader device. 
         [0002]    Card reader devices are typically used in self-service terminals, such as automated teller machines (ATMs), to enable a customer to identify himself/herself. One type of card reader device is a motorized card reader/writer (MCRW) device. 
         [0003]    Bank customers can access funds from their accounts using an ATM card that typically has an associated personal identification number (PIN). Any user who presents a valid ATM card and enters the correct PIN associated with that card has immediate access to funds in an account controlled by that ATM card. This makes ATM cards vulnerable to theft and to more surreptitious attacks, such as duplication of the card by illicitly reading magnetic information stored on the card (referred to as card “skimming”). 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    It is an object of an embodiment of the present invention to reduce the possibility of card skimming. 
         [0005]    According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a card reader device comprising: a card entrance for receiving a card; a card enclosure in registration with the card entrance and defining an area in which the card is read; a shutter for controlling access to the card enclosure from the card entrance; a read head located in the card entrance for reading data from the card; and a controller operable to: (i) open the shutter in response to reading data from the card, and (ii) disable the read head when the shutter is open. 
         [0006]    The read head may be disabled prior to the card being transported. The read head may have been disabled immediately prior to opening the shutter so that the read head remains disabled when the shutter is open. 
         [0007]    The card reader device may be a motorized card reader device. 
         [0008]    The controller may disable the read head by short circuiting the read head. 
         [0009]    The controller may short circuit the read head using a mechanical switch, such as a solenoid, to physically close a circuit. Alternatively, the controller may short circuit the read head using an electronic switch, such as a transistor-based circuit. Electronic switches typically have better reliability and lower power consumption than mechanical switches. 
         [0010]    The card reader device may include a width switch for detecting the width of card presented at the card entrance, so that the controller only opens the shutter if the card has the correct width and has data that can be read by the read head. 
         [0011]    The card reader device may further comprise a second read head located within the enclosure for reading data from the card for use with a transaction. 
         [0012]    By virtue of this aspect of the invention, a card reader device is provided that disables the read head (sometimes referred to as a “pre-shutter read head”) once data has been detected on the card. This is an important advantage because one known type of fraud involves drilling a hole in an ATM fascia to tap into the pre-shutter read head, and then intercepting the data read from a customer&#39;s card as the customer&#39;s card is transported over the pre-shutter read head. Since the main purpose of the pre-shutter read head is to sense that the customer&#39;s card is correctly oriented prior to opening the shutter, there are few disadvantages in disabling the pre-shutter read head once this has occurred. 
         [0013]    According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a card reader device to reduce fraud, the method comprising: receiving a card; sensing the presence of data on the card; opening a card transport path in response to sensing data; and disabling the read head when the card transport path is opened. 
         [0014]    The method may further comprise the steps of: transporting the card into a secure reading enclosure; and reading the card within the enclosure. 
         [0015]    The method may further comprise the steps of: ejecting the card from the secure reading enclosure; sensing removal of the card; and enabling the read head. 
         [0016]    The step of sensing removal of the card may be implemented by sensing deflection of a width switch located in an entrance of the card reading device. Alternatively or additionally, sensing removal of the card may be implemented by ascertaining whether the shutter is open or closed, for example, using a shutter position sensor. 
         [0017]    According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a self-service terminal including a card reader device according to the first aspect of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]    These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following specific description, given by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0019]      FIG. 1  is a front view of a motorized card reader device according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a simplified side view of the device of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a rear view of a conventional magnetic stripe card for use with the device of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram showing a part (a disabling device) of the device of  FIG. 1  in more detail; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the device of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0024]    Reference is first made to  FIG. 1 , which is a front view of a motorized card reader device  10  (hereinafter “card reader”) according to one embodiment of the present invention, and also to  FIG. 2 , which is a side view of the card reader  10 . Reference is also made to  FIG. 3  which is a rear view of a conventional magnetic stripe ATM card  12  for use with the card reader  10 . 
         [0025]    The ATM card  12  comprises a leading (narrow) edge  14  opposite a trailing (narrow) edge  16 , and a magnetic stripe  18  extending from the leading edge  14  to the trailing edge  16  parallel to long edges  19 . 
         [0026]    The card reader  10  comprises a card enclosure  20  (in the form of a housing) coupled to a card entrance  22  (in the form of a throat portion). The throat portion  22  defines a slot  24  dimensioned for receiving the ATM card  12  leading edge  14  first. The throat portion  22  also includes a shutter  26  pivotally coupled to the housing  20  for controlling access from the throat portion  22  to the housing  20 . 
         [0027]    When the shutter  26  is in the open position, a card (such as ATM card  12 ) may be transported from the throat portion  22  to the housing  20 ; whereas, with the shutter  26  in the closed position no card may pass between the throat portion  22  and the housing  20 . 
         [0028]    Once the leading edge  14  of the ATM card  12  passes the shutter  26 , the shutter  26  is released and biased against the top of the ATM card  12  so that the shutter  26  automatically closes once the trailing edge  16  of the ATM card  12  clears the shutter  26 . 
         [0029]    The throat portion  22  includes two sensors for verifying that an object inserted by the customer is actually a bank or credit card. The shutter  26  is only opened if the correct signals are received from both sensors. 
         [0030]    The first sensor  28  is a card width detection sensor  28 . This sensor  28  is deflected by the ATM card  12  on insertion and ejection of the card. If a customer inserts a card into the throat portion  22  then the card width sensor  28  detects the presence of this card. 
         [0031]    The second sensor  30  is a pre-shutter read head, in the form of a magnetic flux detector. This sensor  30  is located at a point in the card entrance  22  over which the magnetic stripe  18  of the ATM card  12  should pass. The first sensor  28  verifies that the ATM card  12  has the correct width, the second sensor  30  verifies that the ATM card  12  is correctly oriented. If both sensors  28 ,  30  respond correctly to an inserted object (such as an ATM card  12 ) then the shutter  26  is opened, as will be described in more detail below. 
         [0032]    The housing  20  also includes a shutter detect sensor  40  for detecting whether the shutter  26  is open or closed. 
         [0033]    Referring specifically to  FIG. 2 , the housing  20  includes a linear transport mechanism  42  comprising four pairs of rollers  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50  and associated stretchable endless belts (not shown) for transporting the ATM card  12  when it is at least partially within the housing  20 . The housing  20  defines an entrance/exit slot  52  at one end and a card retention slot  54  at the opposite end. The housing  20  also includes a card read/write head  56  for reading data from the ATM card  12  and writing data to the ATM card  12  as necessary. The housing  20  also includes multiple sensors (not shown) for accurately locating the position of the ATM card  12  within the housing  20 . A controller  60  is also provided within, or coupled to, the housing  20  to control the operation of the other components of the card reader  10 , such as the shutter  26 , the sensors  28 ,  30 , the linear transport mechanism  42 , the read/write head  56 , and the like. 
         [0034]    The controller  60  includes a disabling device  62  for disabling the pre-shutter read head  30 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . In this embodiment, the disabling device  62  is in the form of a simple transistor switching circuit. The circuit  62  has a switching input  64  from the controller  60 , a transistor  66 , and two outputs  68 ,  70  coupled to two output lines (not shown) from the pre-shutter read head  30 . When the switching input  64  is activated by the controller  60 , the transistor  66  is activated, allowing current to flow between the two output lines of the pre-shutter read head  30 . This short-circuits the pre-shutter read head  30 , thereby preventing the pre-shutter read head  30  from reading a magnetic stripe. 
         [0035]    The operation of the card reader  10  will now be described with reference to  FIG. 5 , which is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in reading an ATM card  12 . 
         [0036]    Initially, a customer inserts an ATM card  12  into the throat portion slot  24  of card reader  10 , so that the card reader  10  receives the ATM card  12  (step  100 ). 
         [0037]    The controller  60  continually monitors the card width sensor  28  (step  102 ). If the card width sensor  28  is not deflected then the controller  60  takes no action. Insertion of the ATM card  12  deflects the card width sensor  28 , which sends an output to the controller  60  indicating that the inserted object (the ATM card  12  in this example) has the correct width. 
         [0038]    The controller  60  then ascertains if the pre-shutter read head  30  detects any magnetic flux (step  104 ). The pre-shutter read head  30  will detect magnetic flux on the ATM card  12  if the ATM card  12  is oriented correctly when it is inserted. If no magnetic flux is detected then the controller  60  takes no action. If magnetic flux is detected and the card width sensor  28  remains deflected then the controller  60  opens the shutter  26  (step  106 ). 
         [0039]    The controller  60  then disables the pre-shutter read head  30  by activating the switching input  64  (step  108 ). This causes the transistor  66  to switch-on and short-circuit the pre-shutter read head  30 . 
         [0040]    Once the pre-shutter read head  30  has been deactivated, the controller  60  transports the ATM card  12  within the housing  20  (step  110 ) and allows the shutter  26  to urge against the top of the ATM card  12  so that when the ATM card  12  clears the shutter  26 , the shutter  26  will automatically close. 
         [0041]    Once the ATM card  12  is fully enclosed by the housing  20 , and the shutter  26  is fully closed, the controller  60  reads the ATM card  12  for use in a transaction (step  112 ). 
         [0042]    If a fraudster tries to intercept the signal from the pre-shutter read head  30 , then no signal will be detected because the two output lines (not shown) from the pre-shutter read head  30  have been short-circuited. 
         [0043]    The controller  60  then ejects the ATM card  12  (step  114 ) using the linear transport mechanism  42  to present the ATM card  12  to the customer. 
         [0044]    The controller  60  ascertains if the ATM card  12  is removed by the customer (step  116 ), for example, by detecting closure of the shutter  26  using the shutter detect sensor  40 . 
         [0045]    If the customer does not take the ATM card  12  within a pre-determined time period (for example, fifteen seconds) then the card reader  10  transports the ATM card  12  to the card retention slot  54  for secure storage of the ATM card  12  (step  118 ). 
         [0046]    If the customer does take the ATM card  12  then the controller  60  enables the pre-shutter read head  30  by de-activating the switching input  64  (step  120 ). This causes the transistor  66  to switch off, thereby open circuiting the pre-shutter read head  30 . This leaves the pre-shutter read head  30  ready to detect magnetic flux on the next ATM card to be presented by a customer. 
         [0047]    The card reader  10  can easily be incorporated into a self-service terminal, such as an automated teller machine (ATM), a non-cash kiosk, a self-checkout terminal, a check-in/check-out terminal, or the like. 
         [0048]    It will now be appreciated that this embodiment has the advantage of reducing the possibility of a fraudster skimming a customer&#39;s card using the pre-shutter read head  30  because the pre-shutter read head  30  is disabled once the orientation of the customer&#39;s card has been confirmed. 
         [0049]    Various modifications may be made to the above described embodiment within the scope of the invention, for example, the disabling device may be a different type of circuit. For example, a solenoid may be used so that mechanical movement of the solenoid opens and closes a circuit. In other embodiments, other types of mechanical, electronic, or optical switching circuits could also be used. Suitable electronic circuits are provided in basic electronic engineering textbooks, such as “The Art of Electronics”, Horowitz P., and Hill W., Cambridge University Press; 2 nd  edition (Jul. 28, 1989). 
         [0050]    In other embodiments different types of card readers may be used to that described. For example, a dip card reader may be used. 
         [0051]    In other embodiments, the controller  60  may ascertain if the ATM card  12  is removed by the customer using some other mechanism, for example, by detecting non-deflection of the card width detection sensor  28  or by detecting closure of the shutter  26 . 
         [0052]    In other embodiments, the card enclosure  20  and the card entrance  22  may be portions of a unitary device instead of being separate components coupled together. 
         [0053]    In other embodiments, any convenient card may be read by the card reader device, such as a loyalty card, a credit card, an identification card, or the like.