Item verification apparatus and method

摘要

A system for verifying whether an item retracted into a self-service terminal is the same item that was output from the self-service terminal, wherein the signature data sets generated prior to output and following retraction of the item are compared. A method of verifying whether an item retracted into a self-service terminal is the same item that was output from the self-service terminal is also disclosed.

主权项

1. An item verification apparatus comprising:
a processor; a media handling unit; and a signature unit; the signature unit being arranged to generate first signature data for each item of a plurality of items to be output via the media handling unit, the first signature data characterizing the items to be presented to a user, the signature unit being arranged to pass the first signature data to the processor; the media handling unit being arranged to bunch and output the items from the signature unit as a bunch collectable by the user; the processor being arranged to issue an instruction to the media handling unit to retract the items in response to a pre-determined condition being met; the media handling unit being arranged to perform a retraction upon receipt of said instruction; wherein the signature unit is arranged to generate second signature data from unbunched items following the retraction, the second signature data characterizing each item retracted, the signature unit being arranged to pass the second signature data to the processor; and the processor is arranged to compare the first signature data and the second signature data for each of the items in order to verify if the items output are the items retracted, wherein the processor is arranged to route the items to a dispense location to be dispensed in response to a further user request, should the comparison of first and second signature data indicate that the items retracted are the same as the items dispensed, and the processor arranged to detect that at least one item from the bunch was retained by the user but not all items from the bunch, and the processor further arranged to credit an account of the user for those items not retained by the user and wherein each of those items not retained by the user are validated to detect any of those items which may be fake before the account is credited for the user.