Integrated circuit package (ICP) with: (i) stored information pertaining to an amount and/or value of precious material present in the ICP; and (ii) sensor for detecting an amount of precious material present in the ICP. In some embodiments the ICP is embedded in a smart card for use with a smart card reader system that can communicate data to and/or from the ICP.

Embodiments provide methods and systems for determining and displaying health status of a payment card. The payment card includes a planar body, an interconnection circuit, and a display section. The planar body houses a payment card processing section. The interconnection circuit is configured within the planar body. The interconnection circuit is configured to generate a damage signal in response to a physical damage of at least a portion of the planar body or the payment card processing section. The display section is positioned in the planar body for displaying a visual information indicating health status of the payment card in response to the damage signal for a cardholder.

A security chip includes: a first medium layer; a second medium layer disposed on the first medium layer, where the first medium layer is an optically denser medium relative to the second medium layer, and a roughness of an upper surface of the first medium layer is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, so that light entering the second medium layer from the first medium layer is able to be totally reflected and/or scattered; and a semiconductor chip disposed on the second medium layer. Based on the above technical solution, light incident from a lower surface of the first medium layer is able to be totally reflected or scattered by the upper surface of the first medium layer, so that most of light cannot reach a logic or storage area on the front of the security chip, thereby achieving the purpose of resisting a laser attack.

In some examples, a system and method for generating a payment instrument are described. The method includes receiving a unique signature that a recipient intends to associate with the payment instrument; verifying that the received feature meets an acceptability criterion; generating a representation of the received signature, wherein the representation is in a form capable of being physically associated with the payment instrument, and wherein association is established by embedding or exposing the representation on the payment instrument; and causing physical generation of the payment instrument having associated therewith the representation of the signature.

A wireless device can store account identifiers and facilitate transactions. The wireless device can be loaded with user account identifiers and can be presented to various checkpoint devices. When presented, the wireless device can transmit a selected account identifier to the checkpoint device. In the context of a purchase transaction, the checkpoint device can be a point-of-sale terminal and the account data can be financial account data. In some instances, the wireless device can also facilitate a purchase transaction, e.g., by obtaining information about products to be purchased, constructing a purchase order from the product information, and transmitting the purchase order to a point-of-sale terminal.

A clasp device adapted for use with a wearable device comprising a main portion and at least one resiliently deformable arm extended from the main portion along a curvature and configured to be switchable between a normal state and a deformed state; wherein in the normal state a free end of the deformable arm is separated from an opposed end of the main portion a first distance and configured to form a first cavity or passage with the main portion for receiving or engaging with the wearable device; while in the deformed state the free end of the deformable arm is resiliently deformed to enable it to be separated from the opposed end of the main portion a second distance and configured to form a deformable second cavity or passage with the main portion for enabling insertion or removal of the wearable device into or from the clasp device.

In some examples, a system and method for generating a payment instrument are described. The method includes receiving a unique signature that a recipient intends to associate with the payment instrument; verifying that the received feature meets an acceptability criterion; generating a representation of the received signature, wherein the representation is in a form capable of being physically associated with the payment instrument, and wherein association is established by embedding or exposing the representation on the payment instrument; and causing physical generation of the payment instrument having associated therewith the representation of the signature.

An approach is provided for authenticating a payment card. Information is read from the payment card being used for a purchase. The information includes an identifier and data on a chip, in braille cells, and in markings in the payment card. A hash read from the chip, the identifier, and security codes derived from the braille cells and the markings are sent to a payment system. A hash of an (n+1)-th block of a blockchain is received and recorded in the chip in response to validations of the hash as matching a hash of an n-th block of the blockchain, the identifier, and the first and second security codes, and a generation of the hash of the (n+1)-th block. Data about the purchase and the hash of the (n+1)-th block are sent to the payment system.

The present disclosure provides a computing apparatus and a method for securing access to the computing device. The computing apparatus comprises a housing, a data storage device disposed in the housing, a cover movably coupled to the housing to secure the data storage device in the housing, and a controller coupled to the data storage device. The controller is configured to grant access to the data storage device upon detecting an authorized attempt of opening the cover and to deny access to the data storage device upon detecting an unauthorized attempt of opening the cover.

In some implementations, a system is capable of generating identifications that include distinctive line patterns corresponding to different portions of secure customer information. Data indicating an input image, and a dithering matrix representing a two-dimensional array of pixel values is obtained. Pixel values of pixels included in the input image are transformed using the dithering matrix. For each pixel within the input image, the transformation includes identifying a particular pixel value within the dithering matrix that represents a particular pixel within the input image, and adjusting an intensity value of the particular pixel based on attributes of the dithering matrix. A transformed image is generated based on the transformation and then provided for output.