Patent ID: 8341731

Claim:
An IC card authentication apparatus comprising: an IC card reader for reading information of an IC card having card identification information and an IC card issue count stored therein; a memory for storing user information including card identification information and a personal identification number and an IC card issue count associated with said card identification information; and a processing unit for executing a user authentication process, said processing unit including an user identification comparison portion for comparing the card identification information stored in the IC card read by said IC card reader with the card identification information of the user information stored in said memory, a card issue count comparison portion for, if said card identification information matches in said user identification comparison portion, comparing the IC card issue count stored in said IC card with the IC card issue count of said user information stored in said memory and having the matching card identification information, and a personal identification number comparison portion for, in response to a determination by the card issue count comparison portion that the IC card issue counts do not match, comparing a personal identification number input by a user with the personal identification number of said user information stored in said memory and having the matching card identification information.