Prepaid card
First Claim
1. A packaged debit card assembly comprising:
- a debit card having a rectangular configuration with first and second end edges and first and second side edges, a front and a back, and an area;
a magnetic strip provided on said debit card back face adjacent and substantially parallel to said second side edge, said strip inactivate but capable of being activated at the point of purchase;
a mounting envelope for mounting said debit card while said magnetic strip is exposed, said envelope comprising first and second panels, said panels each having an area at least 20% larger than said card area, the majority of said debit card sandwiched between said first and second panels but said magnetic strip being uncovered by either of said panels or any other packaging; and
said debit card removably affixed to at least one of said panels.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Debit cards, such as long distance telephone cards, may be attractively packaged and even readily mounted for point of purchase display, in such a manner that the card is inactive until activated at the point of purchase. The card may be activated at the point of purchase without the necessity of in any way opening up the attractive packaging, or moving any portion of the packaging out of the way, and by merely "swiping" the card while still mounted in the package through a conventional card reader. The card is mounted between first and second panels of primarily cellulose material including an area significantly greater than that of the card, with the card magnetic strip completely exposed (that is uncovered by the panels or any other packaging material). The majority of the card is typically sandwiched between the first and second panels and is removably held to the panels, for example by hold melt adhesive, and the panels are affixed to each other.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A packaged debit card assembly comprising:
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a debit card having a rectangular configuration with first and second end edges and first and second side edges, a front and a back, and an area; a magnetic strip provided on said debit card back face adjacent and substantially parallel to said second side edge, said strip inactivate but capable of being activated at the point of purchase; a mounting envelope for mounting said debit card while said magnetic strip is exposed, said envelope comprising first and second panels, said panels each having an area at least 20% larger than said card area, the majority of said debit card sandwiched between said first and second panels but said magnetic strip being uncovered by either of said panels or any other packaging; and said debit card removably affixed to at least one of said panels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of providing an active debit card, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a rectangular configuration with first and second end edges and first and second side edges, a front and a back and an area, with an inactive but activatable magnetic strip on said card back face adjacent and substantially parallel to said second side edge; (b) packaging the card between first and second primarily cellulosic panels of an envelope so that the majority of the area of the card is sandwiched between the panels and affixed to at least one of the panels, and so that the magnetic strip is uncovered by either of the panels or any other packaging; (c) mounting the envelope for display at a point of purchase location; and (d) during or after purchase of the envelope, with card, activating the card so that it may be used as a debit card by passing the card through a magnetic card reader without removing the card from the envelope or moving any portion of the envelope to expose the magnetic strip.
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Specification