System and Method for Storing Credit on a Value Card or Cellular Phone Rather Than Accepting Coin Change

Abstract

A system for receiving a value on or associated with a consumer card or cellular telephone in lieu of actually receiving coin change from a particular sale of merchandise or services at a point of sale terminal or cash register. Instead of receiving an odd amount of coin change after a purchase, the read/write device can augment a total value either stored on the card or cellular telephone itself or in an account associated with the card or cellular telephone. A consumer can redeem value up to the amount on the card or cellular telephone at participating stores as if it were a gift card.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A system for obtaining value on a card in lieu of receiving coin change comprising:
 an read/write device attached to a POS terminal or cash register, said device adapted to receive a command from the POS terminal or cash register specifying a particular customer ID and a particular coin change value resulting from a sale of merchandise or services, wherein the coin change value is between one and ninety-nine cents;   wherein, the read/write device, upon reading a card or cellular phone with said particular ID, augments a total value stored on said card or cellular phone by said coin change value.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 said read/write device being adapted to receive a command from said POS terminal or cash register specifying a particular customer ID and a particular desired redeem monetary value; 
 wherein said read/write device, upon reading a card or cellular phone with said particular ID, removes said redeem monetary value from said card if said card contains at least that desired redeem monetary value. 
 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said card is a smartcard. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said read/write device is attached to said POS terminal or cash register in lieu of a coin dispenser. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said read/write device is attached to said POS terminal or cash register in parallel to a coin dispenser. 
     
     
         6 . A method for obtaining value on a card or cellular phone in lieu of receiving coin change from a sale comprising providing a read/write device to be connected to a POS terminal or cash register wherein a coin change value between one and ninety-nine cents that results from a sale of merchandise or services is added to a total on a consumer card or cellular phone instead of being dispensed as coin change. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein said card read/wrote device communicates with the POS wirelessly. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein said card reader device is a smartcard reader. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein said consumer presents a barcode to said reader device. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus for providing value on a card or cellular phone in lieu of dispensing coin change in a commercial transaction comprising:
 a device attached to a point-of-sale terminal, said device constructed to receive a command from said point-of-sale terminal specifying a particular customer ID and a particular coin change value less than one dollar, wherein said particular coin change value results from a sale of merchandise or services at the point-of sale terminal, and is a cents part of total change due that includes a dollar part and the cents part;   wherein said device, upon reading a card or cellular phone with the particular ID is constructed to augment a total value associated with said card or cellular telephone by said coin change value.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein said device is also constructed to remove value from said card or cellular phone when commanded by the point-of-sale terminal. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein said device is constructed to remove value from said card or cellular phone only if the total value on the card or cellular phone is equal to, or exceeds, an amount commanded from the point-of-sale terminal. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein said total value is stored in a smartphone.