| 摘要 |
A method and card (10) for conducting commercial transactions comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of cards (10) each having a unique card identifier code and providing a database (15) of a plurality of anonymous electronic accounts each of which has a unique account code associated with one card (10). A supply of cards at card is provided to issuing outlets at which a potential card user may acquire a card and pay a sum of money or money's worth and thereby assign a pre-payment value to a unique selected card (10). Each issuing outlet (13) has a card reader/writer (14) that is connectable to the database (15). The card reader/writer (14) is operable to activate a card (10), and to write to a selected anonymous electronic account in the database that is unique to the activated card, (i) the card identifier code, (ii) the value of said pre-payment, (iii) a user personal identification code (master PIN) and (iv) a unique card issuer authentication code that identifies the card issuer. The card issuing outlets (13) have a payment means for effecting payment to the owner of the database (15) of a sum of money related to the pre-payment value of the activated card. The card user is given a plurality of disposable PINs that are written to the selected account in the database. The reader/writer means (17) at a plurality of vendor outlets (14, 18) where a card user can use the activated card (10) to purchase goods or services or effect other monetary transactions is operable for receiving from the database confirmation that the user entered master PIN, or the disposable PIN, matches that stored in the account corresponding to the activated card, and confirming that the value of the balance stored in the electronic account matches, or exceeds, the value of the transaction, and, if sufficient funds exist in the account to cover the value of the transaction, to deduct the value of the transaction from the account and write the new balance to the account. |
