A card reader includes a writing coil that is provided to a magnetic head for recording magnetic data in a magnetic card, and a drive circuit that supplies a write current to the writing coil. The drive circuit is a chopping circuit that supplies a chopping current, on/off of which is switched in a specified cycle, as the write current to the writing coil. An on/off cycle of the chopping current is a cycle in which a length of a magnetized pattern in a recording direction is shorter than a reading gap formed in a core around which the writing coil is wound or a core around which a reading coil being separately provided from the writing coil is wound, the magnetized pattern in the recording direction being formed in the magnetic card by the chopping current in a period including one each of the on and the off.

Disclosed are various embodiments for improvements in point of sale terminals and payment processing at remote event spaces. The system and apparatuses disclosed herein facilitate the transaction processing of credit cards and other payment vehicles in often remote locations where network connections may be intermittent and suffer from frequent disconnects or interruptions of service. The embodiments disclosed are hardened against the elements that occur in remote environments along with adaptations to improve functionality accordingly. The system and apparatuses are further equipped to facilitate the event environment and are adapted to execute instructions to facilitate the financial transactions.

A magnetic image sensor is provided. The magnetic image sensor includes: a permanent magnet, arranged to generate a magnetic field; at least one magnetic induction chip, and each magnetic induction chip converts the magnetic field to at least one electrical signal; a signal processing chip, arranged to receive the at least one electrical signal of each magnetic induction chip and successively output the at least one electrical signal converted by each magnetic induction chip; a signal sampling hold circuit, arranged to perform signal sampling on electrical signals output by the signal processing chip, and perform signal hold on a electrical signal output by the signal processing chip every time before receiving the next electrical signal output by the signal processing chip; and an interface component, arranged to output the electrical signal output by the signal sampling hold circuit.

An electronic device according to one embodiment may include a memory, a coil, a waveform-generating circuit, and a processor configured to: obtain card information stored in the memory; when a first part of the card information is a first value, apply a first voltage or a first current having a first waveform to the coil, where a first tangential slope of a first amplitude of the first waveform for time changes in at least a part of a first interval corresponding to the first part; and when a second part of the card information is a second value, apply a second voltage or a second current having current second waveform to the coil, where a second tangential slope of a second amplitude of the second waveform for time changes in at least a part of a second interval corresponding to the second part.

Embodiments of a system and methods for ballot style validation are disclosed.

In some examples, a system and method for pairing a payment object reader with a point-of-sale (POS) terminal is described herein. The method includes determining, by a wireless transceiver, a first value of signal strength corresponding to a current position of the payment object reader and a second value of signal strength corresponding to a new position of the payment object reader. The POS terminal then identifies the first wireless device as an intended candidate for pairing with the second wireless device based on variation in signal strength from the first value of signal strength to the second value of signal strength. Accordingly, the POS terminal establishes a wireless communication channel between the POS terminal and the payment object reader device for exchange of information. Once paired, the payment object reader allows the POS terminal to accept payments from a customer.

A magnetic card reader comprising a groove for shifting of a magnetic card and a magnetic read head mounted on a first printed-circuit board so as to enable reading of a magnetic stripe of the magnetic card. The magnetic read head has a tunnel magnetoresistance sensor called a TMR magnetic sensor positioned in a recess of a side wall of the groove.

An example method may include transmitting a noise signal through a reader connection of a magnetic reader element. The control component and the magnetic reader element may be associated with a card reader device of a transaction device, and the magnetic reader element may be configured to read a magnetic strip of a transaction card. The method may include receiving, from the magnetic reader element, a reader connection signal from the reader connection. The reader connection signal may include the noise signal. The method may include extracting, from the reader connection signal, a card information signal associated with the transaction card from the magnetic strip. The card information signal may be extracted based on the noise signal. The method may include performing an action associated with the card information signal.

An electronic device may include a transmission circuit and an inductive element. The inductive element may be configured to generate a wireless communication signal based on a current. The transmission circuit may be configured to output the current based on a supply voltage; to increase an intensity of the current, from zero to an increased intensity that is less than or equal to a target value, by alternately repeating a first increase and a first decrease of the intensity of the current, in a first time interval; to decrease the intensity of the current, from the increased intensity to zero, by alternately repeating a second increase and a second decrease of the intensity of the current, in a second time interval.

A foldable circuit board that includes OLED display technology is provided. Apparatus may include embedded card reading technology (e.g., EMV, magnetic stripe, QR-Reader Technology) into a foldable OLEO-based mobile device. The mobile device may fold, to create a channel for swiping a purchasing instrument. Such a device may provide portable card reading technology and an ability to seamlessly transmit the captured information to a remote server/network for authorization. Such devices may avoid use of an external plug-in device to capture payment instrument information. Also, such devices may revive use of magnetically encoded information which is typically less-expensive-to-manufacture and provides a faster swipe time to read the magnetically encoded information as compared to other technology such as EMV chips.