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Back in the day, we used these machines to take a paper imprint of the card. You would get a copy and give it to the bank. There was a phone number you could ri
by chairmansteve 1y ago
Back in the day, we used these machines to take a paper imprint of the card. You would get a copy and give it to the bank. There was a phone number you could ring to check if the card was valid. I never phoned the number.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_imprinter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_imprinter
- jeffrallen 1y agoKa-chunk. It's why the letters are raised on the cards!
- Findecanor 1y agoMy latest Swedish credit card doesn't have raised letters...
- jen729w 1y agoSimilarly in the UK we had the concept of a 'cheque guarantee card'. Present your Barclays plastic card along with a paper cheque up to some value (£50 rings a bell; I was too young, it was my mam doing the transacting) and that cheque is guaranteed by the bank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheque_guarantee_card https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheque_guarantee_card
- jaza 1y agoThis was before my time, but older folks have told me that in the early days of credit cards here in Australia (70s and 80s), for larger purchases at department stores (which were virtually the only merchants who accepted credit cards back then), it was common for the checkout person to phone your bank to get authorisation for the transaction, before you could walk out the door with the merchandise.