B-039: Spanial (N-space to Jump Point)
Money card readers are provided by The Dominion Bank to merchants for the purpose of conducting transactions.
Again, as the dominion does not have a concept of a legal entity other than a person a Money card reader is registered to a person who is responsible for its use.
To obtain a Money card reader the person seeking it must demonstrate both a need and a clean history to The Dominion Bank. This involves many, many forms to the bank and a check by the Legion.
Periodically the registration for the machine must be renewed, and at that point the transaction history for the machine will be downloaded to the Bank (and possibly others.) The Legion or the Bank can require the transaction log at any time.
The person who the machine is registered to can authorise other users to operate it.
Money card readers have an internal Money card that is used as the equivalent as the float in a cash register, and is called the Float Card. This may be an actual removable card or be built into the machine, depending on the model.
The functions of a money card reader are:
- Transfer funds from an inserted Money card to the Float Card
- Transfer funds from the Float Card to an inserted Money card
- Display the balances of the Float Card or an inserted Money card
- Display or export to a storage widget or external device, details of one or more transactions
- Interface with another Money Card reader and transfer funds between them
Some Money card readers can also:
- Support multiple inserted Money cards and transfer Money between them without using the Float Card
- Print a hardcopy receipt of a transaction
- Import details about a transaction from an external device (allowing such things as stock control to be integrated with the monetary transaction)
The reader that Karmen has acquired has only a single reader slot and no printer attached.
All Money cards have a set of security parameters that determine under what circumstances withdrawals can be made from the card. The most common set up is to require fingerprint authorisation from the card’s authorised user before a fund withdrawal can be made. Many cards also require a fingerprint authorisation before displaying the card balance.
A typical transaction goes something like this:
- Buyer and Merchant (who has the Reader) agree to an exchange of the Merchant’s goods or services for some of the Buyer’s Money that is stored in the Buyer’s Money card
- Merchant (or an authorised user) authenticates with the Reader, usually by fingerprint, but other methods are possible
- Merchant enters the fee amount of the transaction
- Buyer inserts their Money card to the reader
- The fee amount is displayed on both the Reader and the Money card
- Buyer authorises the transaction by authenticating with the Money card (usually placing their finger on the Money card’s print sensor)
- Money is transferred from the Buyer’s card to the Reader’s Float Card
- Buyer removes their Money card, the transaction is complete
At the end of the trading day (or whenever – a busy shop might do this every Job) the Merchant will usually clear some or all of the funds from the Float Card by transferring them to another Money card that will be stored in a secure location.
For her Streetwise roll, Lia knows that certain shady types (who can be difficult to locate and are not common) can bypass security on Money cards to enable transactions and on the Reader. They may be able to do other things with the Reader as well. It’s not uncommon that someone with the means or contacts to crack security might buy money cards from, say, a pickpocket, either for a set amount or a percentage of the card’s revealed value. There are often bonuses if the pickpocket can supply other means to help bypass security (maybe an item the peron has touched with their prints on it) or the card owner’s identity. Cards themselves are deliberately designed to be poor at retaining finger prints or DNA.
Lia will ask Karmen to sit down as she attempts to pass on this information.