Methods and Apparatus for Enabling Secure Network-Based Transactions
A card reader has an input interface for accepting output from an output interface of transaction card, and a tip-ring pin as an integral part of the card reader, adapted to plug into a microphone port of a cellular telephone. The input interface accepts data from the transaction card, and provides that data to the tip-ring pin as an analog, variable-voltage signal.
1 . A card reader, comprising:
an input interface for accepting output from an output interface of transaction card; and
a tip-ring pin as an integral part of the card reader, adapted to plug into a microphone port of a cellular telephone;
wherein the input interface accepts data from the transaction card, and provides said data to the tip-ring pin as an analog, variable-voltage signal.
2 . The card reader of claim 1 wherein the input interface conforms to an International Standards Organization (ISO) 7816 standard.
3 . A method for providing data from a transaction card to a cellular telephone, comprising:
inserting a tip-ring as an integral part of a card reader having an input interface enabled to accept data from the transaction card, into a microphone port of the cellular telephone;
accepting the data from the transaction card at the input interface of the card reader; and
passing the data to the cellular telephone via the tip-ring through the microphone port, as an analog, variable-voltage signal.
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the data as an analog variable-voltage signal is transformed in the cellular telephone into digital data by software executing on a processor of the cellular telephone.
5 . The method of claim 4 wherein the transformed digital data in the cellular telephone is conveyed to a network-connected server, and used to facilitate transactions for an owner of the transaction card.