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From: plains!com50.c2s.mn.org!chris@uunet.uu.net (Chris Johnson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: AT&T Universal Card is Not Two Cards in One
Message-ID: <12593@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 24 Sep 90 19:27:56 GMT
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In article <12368@accuvax.nwu.edu> monty@sunne.east.sun.com (Monty
Solomon - Temp Consultant) writes:

>The fact: The AT&T Universal Card is simply a bankcard (VISA or
>Mastercard) with an AT&T credit card number embossed onto it.  The
>magnetic stripe on the back of the card indicates that the card is
>only a bankcard and contains no information about the AT&T credit
>card.  Hence, when run though a payphone (or any other device that
>reads the stripe), it is treated as a bankcard.

>Apparently, modern credit card technology cannot yet deal with
>magnetic stripes that contain "dual" identities, and so, some of the
>potential convenience of a combined bankcard/phonecard is, for now,
>lost.

Well, that seems like an awfully easy thing to rectify with no new
technology whatsoever: just put two magnetic stripes on the back of
the card, one with the bankcard data and one with the phonecard data.
Then in all those glossy brochures they send to holders of the
Universal Card (like me), they need only instruct the users to insert
the card one way to use the VISA/MC capabilities, and the other way to
use the AT&T phone card capabilities.

I'm amazed that this incredibly simple and inexpensive solution
escaped the designers of the card.  Is there some other reason they
didn't make the card completely dual purpose, I wonder?  Does the
ordinary AT&T phonecard give you a 10% discount on calls?


   ...Chris Johnson          chris@c2s.mn.org   ..uunet!bungia!com50!chris
 Com Squared Systems, Inc.   St. Paul, MN USA   +1 612 452 9522