Card Reading Systems And Methods

Abstract

A method of reading cards includes receiving card carrier information for each of at least two card carriers. The card carrier information identifies at least one card relating to each card carrier. The method also includes reading card information from a card a first time, reading card information from the card a second time, comparing the card information as read the first time to the card information as read the second time, rejecting the card if the card information is inconsistent, comparing the card information as read either the first time or the second time to the card carrier information, rejecting the card if the card information does not match the card carrier information for one of the at least two card carriers, and mounting the card to one of the at least two carriers if the cards' card information matches the card carrier information of the carrier.

1 - 8 . (canceled)  
     
     
         9 . A method of reading cards, comprising: 
 at a processor, receiving and storing card carrier information for each of at least two card carriers, wherein the card carrier information identifies at least one card relating to each card carrier;    reading card information from a card into the processor a first time;    reading card information from the card into the processor a second time;    at the processor, comparing the card information as read the first time to the card information as read the second time;    rejecting the card if the card information is inconsistent;    at the processor, comparing the card information as read either the first time or the second time to the card carrier information;    rejecting the card if the card information does not match the card carrier information for one of the at least two card carriers; and    mounting the card to one of the at least two carriers if the cards' card information matches the card carrier information of the carrier.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein receiving and storing card carrier information for each of at least two card carriers comprises: 
 reading license plate information from at least one of the card carriers; and    using the license plate information to access the card carrier information from a database.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein reading card information from a card into the processor a first time and reading card information from the card into the processor a second comprises using a mag stripe reader to read the card information.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising writing at least a portion of the card information or the card carrier information to the card.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein writing at least a portion of the card information or the card carrier information to the card comprises using an RF writer to write to a smart chip of the card.  
     
     
         14 . The card reader of  claim 9 , wherein the card is selected from a group of cards consisting of credit cards, stored value cards, smart cards, retailer cards, and gift cards.  
     
     
         15 . A card reader, comprising: 
 means for reading card information from a card a first time;    means for reading card information from the card a second time;    processing means for: 
 receiving the card information as read both the first time and the second time;  
 comparing the card information as read the first time to card information as read the second time; and  
 rejecting the card if the card information is inconsistent;  
   wherein the card reader is configured to advance non-rejected cards to a downstream process in which the cards are mounted to card carriers for mailing to a card recipient.    
     
     
         16 . The card reader of  claim 15 , further comprising means for writing at least a portion of the card information to the card.  
     
     
         17 . A card reading system, comprising: 
 a card mounting apparatus;    a card reading apparatus; and    a controller;    wherein the card mounting apparatus is configured to: 
 receive card carriers;  
 position two or more card carriers to receive cards;  
 read license plate information from each of the at least two carriers;  
 send the license plate information to a controller;  
 receive cards from the card reader;  
 mount the cards to the card carrier; and  
 advance the at least two card carriers to a downstream process;  
   wherein the controller is configured to: 
 receive the license plate information from the card mounting apparatus;  
 use the license plate information to access card carrier information from a data storage arrangement, wherein the card carrier information comprises an account number of each card to be mounted on each of the at least two card carriers; and  
 send at least a portion of the card carrier information to the card reading apparatus;  
   wherein the card reading apparatus is configured to: 
 receive card carrier information from the controller at a processor of the card reading apparatus;  
 read first information from a card into the processor, wherein the first information comprises the account number of the card;  
 read second information from the card into the processor, wherein the second information comprises the account number of the card;  
 at the processor, compare the first information to the second information;  
 reject the card if the first information does not match the second information;  
 compare the account number of the card to the account numbers of the carrier information;  
 reject the card if the account number of the card does not match any of the account numbers of the card carrier information; and  
 send the card to the card mounting apparatus if the card relates to one of the at least two card carriers.  
   
     
     
         18 . The card reading system of  claim 17 , wherein the card reading apparatus is further configured to write information to cards.  
     
     
         19 . The card reading system of  claim 18 , wherein the information written to the cards comprises information received from the controller.  
     
     
         20 . The card reading system of  claim 18 , wherein the information written to the cards comprises information read from the card.