Credit card imprinter

Short description: Mechanical device for transferring payment card details to paper

Manual card imprinter File:Janome imprinter m220.jpgAnother type of manual card imprinter (Janome M220) with a smaller sliding handle

A credit card imprinter, colloquially known as a ZipZap machine, Click Clack or Knuckle Buster, is a manual device that was used by merchants to record payment card transactions before the advent of payment terminals.[1]

The device works by placing the customer’s credit card into a bed in the machine, then layering carbon paper forms over the card. A bar is slid back and forth over the paper to create an impression of the embossed card data and the merchant information on the imprinter. The customer signs these paper forms, with one copy as the customer receipt and the other kept by the merchant.[2]

## History

Receipt from 1997 – card physically swiped and information imprinted on the receipt

These devices were used from the advent of charge cards and payment cards in the 1950sTemplate:Nbnd60s until the 1980sTemplate:Nbnd90s when electronic payment terminals started to replace them. Imprinters had several disadvantages compared with cash and electronic terminals, including confusion as to whether banks treated slips as cheques or cleared cash,[3] and the ability to use blocked cards.[4] However, they continued to be used well into the 2000s for places where network access was difficult, such as mobile locations like taxis and airplanes, or as a backup system in case of payment terminal failure.[5] This practice has been abandoned as of the 2020s,[6] with payment terminal failure now typically resulting in businesses accepting cash only or refusing to process transactions until the system is restored.[citation needed]

Starting in the late 2010s, some credit card issuers began to use cards without embossed numbers, making them incompatible with card imprinters.[7]

## See also

* EFTPOS
* Payment terminal

## References

1. ↑ "Knuckle Buster" (in en). https://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/knucklebuster.asp.
2. ↑ "What Is a Credit Card Imprinter?" (in en). 2017-12-07. https://www.business.com/articles/what-are-credit-card-imprinters.
3. ↑ Trapp, Roger (8 October 2000). "Retailers rail at plastic fiasco - Rules for credit card transactions cause cash-flow problems for small firms, says Roger Trapp". The Independent.
4. ↑ Morgan, Joe (21 February 2004). "Credit cards dodge 'block' - Banking". The Times.
5. ↑ Sharwood, Simon. "Why embossed credit cards are here to stay" (in en). https://www.theregister.com/2012/05/03/embossed_credit_cards_are_here_to_stay/.
6. ↑ Omar, Kashmala (2023-06-29). "How to Handle Credit Card Processing Outages". Lightspeed. https://www.lightspeedhq.com/blog/credit-card-processing-outages/.
7. ↑ Dunaway, Jaime (2018-04-18). "Why Are Credit Card Numbers on the Back Now?" (in en-US). Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. https://slate.com/business/2018/04/why-are-credit-card-numbers-on-the-back-of-the-card-now.html.

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Credit, charge and debit cards

Major cards|

* American Express
* Diners Club
* Mastercard
* Debit Mastercard
* Maestro
* Visa
* Visa Debit
* Visa Electron

Regional and
specialty cards|

* Bancomat
* BC Card
* BCA Card
* Cabcharge
* Dankort
* Discover
* EFTPOS
* Electronic Payment Services (EPS)
* Elo
* Forbrugsforeningen
* Girocard
* Interac
* Isracard
* JCB
* Mir
* MEPS
* NETS
* PayPak
* RuPay
* Troy
* UnionPay
* UATP
* V Pay
* Verve

Defunct cards|

* Access
* Bankcard
* Carte Blanche
* Carte Bleue
* Choice
* enRoute
* Eurocard
* Everything
* Laser
* Rail Travel Card
* Revolution Card
* Solo
* Switch
* PIN

Accounts|

* Payment card number
* Card association
* Card enclosure
* Credit card balance transfer
* Credit limit
* Installment credit
* Revolving account
* Deposit account
* Current/checking account
* Savings account
* ATM card
* Fees

Debt|

* Cash advance
* Charge-off

Interest|

* Grace period
* Introductory rate
* Universal default

Payment|

* Card not present transaction
* Chargeback
* Controlled payment number
* Dispute

Interchange|

* Interchange fee
* Surcharge
* Card scheme

Security|

* Card security code
* Chargeback fraud
* Credit card fraud
* Credit card hijacking

Technology|

* Automated teller machine
* Contactless payment
* EMV
* Hardware security module
* Interbank network
* Magnetic stripe card
* Payment terminal
* Personal identification number
* Secure cryptoprocessor
* Smart card

Banking|

* Issuing bank
* Acquiring bank

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