Credit Card Imprinter
Located at a peculiar juncture in financial history, the credit card imprinter is a remediation of the printing press that makes use of the raised characters of a credit card surface to ensure the accurate transfer of credit card and merchant information free from human error. Although the mechanical process developed with the imprinter was a relatively simple upgrade of imprinting processes that gained popularity with the introduction of carbon paper as a means of producing multiple copies at a single sight of inscription, the ease and consistency of documents produced by the imprinter made it an ideal sight for the fusion of multiple systems of verification to be read by both humans and computers. In a financial climate whose biggest obstacles to growth were the often conflicting demands of maximizing the speed, efficiency and security of transactions, the imprinter presented an elegant solution that overlaid multiple forms of verification at a single site of inscription. The documents produced by the imprinter present crucial shifts in the cultural history of currency, lending practices, identity verification, financial networks, and consumer culture. Although the imprinting process has since been remediated in the form of magnetic strips on the back of credit cards, and the card itself can now serve as both an instrument of credit and debit, the contemporary predominance of electronic financial transactions might best be understood as the legacy of the credit card imprinter’s innovative reduction of abstract financial mechanisms down to one easily produced and modified document in the 1960’s.
'"Description of Artifact"'
The artifact itself consisted of a flat bed of metal or plastic with bezels that would hold a credit card in place and prevent lateral movement. On the same surface, a custom plate displaying the merchants name, address and telephone number could be screwed into place so that its own raised letters would sit level with the characters on the surface of the card. The placement of both the card and the merchant plate, along with bezels on the edges of the flat bed ensured that the sales slip placed on top would remain precisely aligned with the raised characters beneath. Using either carbon paper or NCR paper the slip was designed so that two or three sheets could be inscribed simultaneously. Inscription was achieved with one lateral swipe of a roller mounted on top of the artifact with spring mounted wheels to ensure consistent distribution of pressure to each character pressed onto the slip. Whereas the earliest models were plagued by the tendency of operators to swipe back and forth often resulting in double inscriptions due to minute shifts of the slip later models were modified to ensure that pressure could only be applied in one direction.
When used successfully, the imprinter produced sales slips that recorded the name of the credit card owner, the unique account number of the specific credit card, the name of the merchant, the merchants address, and the merchants phone number if inscribed on the plate with the date of expiration on the card being introduced later (WILL FIND A YEAR SOON!). The slip would record each item in specific areas on the form, leaving the actual quantity of the transaction, sales tax, and total, the only information inscribed by the salesperson by hand. The document was then given to the owner of the credit card, who would sign the document and enter into a legal contract with the credit card company and the merchant as defined in the credit card terms of service. It was then left to the salesperson to ensure the signature on the card itself matched the signature on the slip, and, when later introduced, that the card was not past its expiration date.
The three documents produced in this momentary exchange constituted a streamlined reduction of financial processes often dependent upon a sequence of exchanged documents, producing in one motion A CHECK, A BOND, AND A LOAN (Solon I'll leave it to you to distinguish which of the three was what) each function wholly determined by the party who possessed it: the merchant possessed a check from the card owner to be honored by the credit card company, the credit card company a bond backed by the credit card owners debt, and the credit owner a loan to be paid according to a prearranged schedule and statue of limitations governiming the use of the card. (In circumstances where only two documents were produced by the imprinter, the credit card owner was provided with a generic receipt for the transaction???)
A credit card imprinter is a device for printing the raised characters of a credit card onto multiple sheets of paper. It was often used in credit card transactions before cards had digital magnetic strips that could be scanned. The imprinting process is accomplished by placing the card onto the surface of the imprinter, where it fits into place in such a way that it won't move. Next a packet of two or three attached sheets of paper is placed on top of the card, where it is also held in place. An attached bar containing a roller mechanism is manually pushed across the card and paper, pressing the receipts onto the card. The receipts contain a chemical that is activated when pressed, so the roller mechanism results in a print of the card's raised characters onto the receipts.
Embossed on the actual imprinter is the name of the business that is using it. This name also appears on the receipts after the roller is pushed across it.
Slips of Paper
After a credit card is printed, the three receipts contain prints of the credit card number, along with the expiration date and customer's name. The customer signs the top receipt, and this signature is immediately visible on the other two sheets. The sheets are then ripped apart along a perforated line and each goes to a different party. One sheet goes to the customer and is meant to function as a record of the transaction, and also an accounting of money that will soon be paid in a bill to the credit card company.
Another sheet goes to the credit card company and functions as a bill to the establishment on behalf of the customer. It is also a notification that the card was used and allows the credit card company to keep track of how much money the card holder owes. In other words, this sheet is not only a record; it is both a bill to the credit card company and one step in a process that will result in a bill to the card holder.
The third sheet is a record of the transaction that the seller keeps in order to account for the money owed by the credit card company. The credit card itself goes back in the wallet of the buyer. It has functioned as a plate for making slips of paper meaningful.
Verifiability
One of the major problems in the history of credit cards is the problem of verification. At the point of a credit card transaction, the user of the card needs to be identified as the owner of the card, and the card needs to be identified with a valid account that has not been canceled. The possibility of verifying these two identities are explained in the 1972 patent for a credit card verification system. These are the problems that the patent proposes to address:
"A very substantial amount of purchases made in this country are by credit card. However, as credit cards have gained popularity, there has been an increasing amount of monetary losses due to either unauthorized charges made on lost credit cards or charges made by persons whose credit card has been cancelled or revoked but not picked up. Losses also result from instances in which the credit of a customer is limited to an amount commensurate with his ability to pay, but the establishment accepting the credit card permits excessive charges due to lack of knowledge of recent charges or lack of knowledge of the limit imposed on a particular credit card holder." (U.S. Patent 3,671,717. June 20, 1972. Credit Card Verification System.)
THE OBVIOUS: people are travelling - increased movement - interstate highway act, commercial air travel - both post-war phenomena
Portability of Device - Performance of transaction in front of customer
Mechanical Pressing of entire document (minus amoutn of transaction)
A transition to a mode of analysis based on historical precedent rather than manifest personal character.
1) Signature on the slip 2) Signature plate on back of card 3) Unique credit card number affiliated with central credit card issuer 4) EXPIRATION DATE? Added variable or original functional attribute (why do they expire?) 5) Computer Legibility (OCR) ensures credit Card issuer records the number on the slip 6) Imrinted Number ensures transfer of number to slip is accurate and immune from human error (as opposed to OCR typewriter) 7) Unique numberd series on slips ensures sequential documentation of transacitons and accoutnability of copies to masters 8)Name of Card Owner 9) Name/Address of Merchant 10) Contracts / Checks / Bond 11) Account Humber identifies IP ADDRESS - Geography, Institution,
In attempting to maximize speed, efficiency and security, the ideal form of transaction seems to be one that overlaid multiple forms of verification and authentication on a single sight, and the credit card imprinter presents itself as the most efficient and cost effective solution to this problem.
History of Credit Cards
"Although the first charge card was issued by Western Union in 1914, it wasn't until 1958 that Bank of America (BofA) issued its BankAmericard, which combined the convenience of a charge account with credit privileges. When BofA extended its customer base outside California, the interchange system controlling payments began to falter because of design problems and fraud.
In 1968 Dee Hock, manager of the BankAmericard operations of the National Bank of Commerce in Seattle, convinced member banks that a more reliable system was needed. Two years later Natioanl BankAmericard Inc. (NBI) was created as an independent corporation (owned by 243 banks) to buy the BankAmericard system from BofA.
With its initial ad slogan, 'Think of it as Money,' the National BankAmericard Inc. developed BankAmericard into a widely used form of payment in the US. A multinational corporation, IBANCO, was formed in 1974 to carry the operations into other countries. people outside the US ressited BankAmericard's nominal association with BofA, and in 1977 Hock changed the card's name to Visa. NBI became Visa USA, and IBANCO became Visa International. (From Hoover's Company Records - In-depth Records;, VISA INC. Copyright 2008 Hoover's Inc., All Rights Reserved. P.4)"
Problematics surrounding credit cards: 1) The idea of the credit card is to make it easier to spend money, to encourage consumption. 2) An early problem was to become international, which involved removing "America" from the company name, and switching to the name, Visa. The rise of credit card use corresponds to a rise in international monetary flows. 3) In the history of credit cards, the speed of payment is always an issue (Cite Restaurant revolt of 1959). 4) The problem of identification is always an issue.
How does the credit card imprinter address each of these issues? What does it make possible and what are its limitations?
Credit Card Imprinter
Physical description:
History of Invention:
The development of the magnetic strip that makes this obsolete:
Critical Notes
Marx -- Universal equivalent. Is money really a universal equivalent? Move from money form to capital. Receipts
Derrida-- Signature is absurd final compensatory gesture to signal that what I've written down is from me. To tie what you say to who you are.
If you burn money, value is gone. Credit card is return to the value not being embodied in the artifact. Return to contractual... money as promissory note. Contract-producing instrument. Credit card is return! What these receipts actually represent historically.
Carrying a credit card rather than cash prevents theft because if someone steals your money, the money and the value it represents are gone. However, if someone steals your credit card, they have only stolen the means for making a contract, and you can call the company and cancel the card.
Even after the advent of the magnetic strip, the customer's written signature remains the unique identifier. This identifies the buyer with the card. The card's number identifies the card with the credit card account.
History of physicality of card, PATENT for the first embossed card. History of embossing plastic in general, PATENT for machine that embosses. History of death of this machine, PATENT for magnetic strip.
PATENT for carbon paper, carbon paper receipts.
Lagtime between invention of magnetic strip and universal use of it. Magnetic strip is about immediate verification. Can't be used until the business has a modem. Credit card co. needs to provide incentive for merchant to have immediate verification to deter fraud. Law that says if you accept fraudulent card it's your fault?
Carbon paper wasn't accepted in court bc of forgery from late 1800s to end of 19th century (From "Exciting History of Carbon Paper") Credit card receipts are not using carbon paper. Actually using a chemical reaction bc less messy. Top sheet has to be ultra thin.
Spacing between characters embossed on credit cards. Spacing within characters to make it possible to emboss. But also tight enough that you can't switch numbers. Can't turn 3 into 8. 2 and 5 don't look alike. Security font. Designed to be impossible to tamper with.
Carrying a credit card rather than cash prevents theft because if someone steals your money, the money and the value it represents are gone. However, if someone steals your credit card, they have only stolen the means for making a contract, and you can call the company and cancel the card.
Machine and human readable typeface—OCR
Overcoming the problem of anonymity--this is no longer your local pub. How do you evaluate something's credit worthiness. How do you minimize risk in order to increase commerce.
The emergence of the individual--air travel, interstate highway act, etc.
Exonumia
Sites of interest
