A thermal transfer print ribbon having radiation curable ink thereon is used to print on a surface of a plastic card. The use of radiation curable thermal transfer printing to print on the card surface increases the durability of the printing compared to regular (i.e. non-radiation cured) thermal transfer printing once the radiation curable ink is cured. As a result, a protective laminate or coating need not be applied to the card surface to protect the printing.

A payment card (e.g., credit and/or debit card) or other device (e.g., mobile telephone) is provided with a magnetic emulator operable to communicate data to a magnetic stripe read-head. Gift cards may be inputted by a user into such a payment card or other device such that a user can combine gift cards. Similarly, a user be provided with a global payment account that can be utilized in multiple countries that have different standards for formatting data. A user may be provided with a default country (e.g., United States) but may have a way to select that the user is in a different country (e.g., Japan). Accordingly, a user may select that a Japanese data structure be transmitted through a magnetic stripe reader when the user is in Japan.

The invention allows using a commodity hardware (e.g. a smartphone, a tablet, a computer . . . ) to automatically establish a high level of assurance authentication and identification of any government-issued identity document of a user (e.g. identity card, driving license, passport . . . ) and link that to digital identity counterpart. Moreover, the invention allows personalizing a material-based security feature provided of said government-issued identity document to create a link between the identity document and its data content that can be read by such a commodity hardware and serves as reliable credential for accessing a service once the material-based security feature has been authenticated via the commodity hardware and a signature of the identity data of the user has been authenticated by a server of an authority.

Provided are approaches for providing multiple user accounts in a same transaction card assembly. The transaction card assembly may include a first card including a first card first side opposite a first card second side, the first card first side including a first pair of magnetic stripes and the first card second side including a first pair of identification chips. The transaction card assembly may further include a second card coupled to the first card, the second card including a second card first side opposite a second card second side, the second card first side including a second pair of magnetic stripes, and the second card second side including a second pair of identification chips. The first and second cards are slidable relative to one another between multiple positions to selectively expose and cover each identification chip of the first and second pairs of identification chips.

Combined use transaction cards are disclosed including preferably the functionality of being usable for conducting a financial transaction along with the additional functionality for activation or access to at least one other event. Many types of non-financial events are contemplated such as for access or entry, employee need, student need, and the like. Such cards preferably utilize electronically readable means as may be provided to such cards, such as including magnetic stripes, RFID transponders, OCR text, and one dimensional or two dimensional bar codes.

An electronic transaction card communicates with an add-on slot of an intelligent electronic device. The add-on slot may be a memory card slot. The intelligent electronic device may be a mobile phone or other device with or without network connectivity. The electronic transaction card may have magnetic field producing circuitry compatible with magnetic card readers, smartcard circuitry, other point-of-sale interfaces, or any combination thereof.

Systems, methods and apparatus are provided for light-based authentication of a payment card. The payment card may include a randomized mix of materials. The materials may include transparent or translucent materials. A light source may shine light on a surface of the payment card. Light passing through the card may generate a light pattern that is unique to the payment card. The light pattern may be captured and compared to a reference light pattern to authenticate the payment card. In some embodiments, photodetectors may detect light patterns generated through interactions with the card materials.

Systems, methods and apparatus are provided for light-based authentication of a payment card. The payment card may include a randomized mix of materials. The materials may include transparent or translucent materials. A light source may shine light on a surface of the payment card. Light passing through the card may generate a light pattern that is unique to the payment card. The light pattern may be captured and compared to a reference light pattern to authenticate the payment card. In some embodiments, photodetectors may detect light patterns generated through interactions with the card materials.

An electronic device and method of processing a payment at the electronic device are provided. The electronic device includes a security memory configured to store payment information of a near field communication (NFC) method, payment information of a magnetic security transmit (MST) method, and fingerprint information, and a processor configured to control a multiple payment operation of the NFC method and the MST method when fingerprint information obtained through fingerprint detection is valid. The processor is further configured to control a signal processing information according to the NFC method operation and a signal processing information according to the MST method operation to be outputted as one screen interface.

Combined use transaction cards are disclosed including preferably the functionality of being usable for conducting a financial transaction along with the additional functionality for activation or access to at least one other event. Many types of non-financial events are contemplated such as for access or entry, employee need, student need, and the like. Such cards preferably utilize electronically readable means as may be provided to such cards, such as including magnetic stripes, RFID transponders, OCR text, and one dimensional or two dimensional bar codes.