Transaction card with indexed thermal printing for gaming systems

摘要

A multi-use transaction card, which is particularly useful for holding and transferring value between gaming machines, includes both a machine-readable area and a thermally printable area. The machine readable area links the card to account information in a host processor. The thermally printable area provides a visible indication of the status of the account. The account balance of the card can be updated with use, and the thermally printable area can be reprinted with updated information. A succession of updated entries can be thermally printed on the cards. All but the most recent entry are overprinted with a cross-out or other pattern as an indication that the prior entries are no longer current.