A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING CURRENCY

摘要

A magnetic stripe card (10) with an encoded card number including a bank identificaion number (14) and an account number (16) is issued to a customer with a value selectable by the customer. The central card processor (66) establishes a zero balance database including the card number (17), but with blank fields for the customer data and the value of the account (78). When a customer purchases a card, the sales agent (40) transmits to the central database computer (45) which fills in the blanks in the database (45), activating the account, and transmits an acknowledgement. The card can be immediately used in ATM (50) or other remote terminals to acquire cash or purchase goods and services. The customer inputs a PIN number which is provided with the card, or an alternative PIN number selected by the customer.