Credit Card Machines: A Thing of the Past

By Randall C. Resch In a dusty ole’ box, deep in storage, I discovered an old-style credit card machine similar to those mounted at the pumps of Dad’s gas station. I thought this a fun opportunity to peek back as to what services, processes, and technologies were available to towers forty-year’s ago compared to today’s market. On the contrary, they weren’t “machines” as known in the current sense as these manual devices weren’t power operated. If you worked in a gas station back then, you’ll remember credit card machines as large, clunky, number adjusting, slide handled devices that were part of the island’s cash drawer. With the customer’s card in-hand, machines mechanically rolled over the card’s raised numbers and info on to a three-inch by seven-inch, multi-sheet form, typically bearing the company’s logo and info. The form’s top copy was “tracing paper,” followed by the same size sheet of carbon paper. The bottom sheet was the thickness of business card stock. The form and the customer’s credit card laid into an elongated slot where the user adjusted rows of sliding numbers to reflect the purchase amount. Once the form was seated and amount set, the user operated the machine’s slide handle right to left. With little effort, rollers rolled-over raised numbers leaving the card numbers and customer’s name embossed through carbon-paper. To complete the transaction, the customer received the only the top copy. The carbon and hard copy were turned in. When it came to day-to-day use, all of my tow trucks and the dispatch office had portable machines. Once considered state of the art (beyond hand printing), these machines were awkward to use and required diligent inspection to ensure the credit card’s raised numbers were visible and complete. Honestly, I hated using them, yet there were no chips to deal with and no plug-in modules; they didn't stall and a server wouldn't go down. They were problematic in the rain and when stored under the tow truck's seat, dust caused even more problems. Looking Back While there’s not much history as to where credit card machines originated, business historians suggest credit card machines morphed out of a need to formalize countertop banking transactions. My research didn’t determine a better explanation, but lore suggested, in 1949, a businessman forgot his wallet and couldn’t pay his client’s dinner. Out of an embarrassing situation came “Diner’s Club,” where merchants retained the card’s information and customers were charged. Once transactions were completed, if the company’s employee wrongly tossed trashed the carbon copy, an enterprising thief could rifle the trash, retrieve discarded carbon sheets and gain access to credit card information. Forgery became a cottage industry. Here’s Your Reward Because credit card forgery was easy business, Dad’s station had this “phone book-sized” manifest listing stolen credit card numbers. Part of every transaction’s process required the station’s attendants to watch for stolen cards that were listed in the manifest. If a card was listed as stolen, the finder received a $5 reward in their weekly paycheck … cha’ ching! Credit card machines had their problems, but when they worked, they worked well and were far better than trying to cipher a driver's scribbled printing. But as we all know, they went the way of the dinosaur as technology marched on. For a fun look at what the process was about, watch the movie “The Jerk” and see what I’m talking about. ___________________ Operations Editor Randall C. Resch is a retired California police officer and veteran tow business owner, manager, consultant and trainer. For 51-years, he has been involved in the towing and recovery industry. In 24-years, he has contributed more than 625-articles for American Towman Magazine and TowIndustryWeek.com. He was inducted to the International Towing and Recovery Industry Hall of Fame and was the 3rd recipient of the industry's, "Dave Jones Leadership Award." Email Randy at rreschran@gmail.com.