Self-service payment solutions have been...

Summary

Self-service payment solutions have been widely adopted in the retailing and commercial sectors, but are still not very well developed within the library environment. Although the recent use of stored value smart cards provides an option for users to settle payments by non-cash method, the payment process is still manually operated and very much tied to the circulation counter. There is thus a need for a solution to provide a self-service fine payment process within the library environment.


This invention is an automated library payment system that enables a library user to carry out an overdue payment transaction without staff assistance. The library payment system includes a collection module and a smart card payment module. The collection module is connected to a reader for reading data from an identity card to identify a library user and is configured to communicate with a library system to retrieve the overdue payment data from the library system. The smart card payment module is connected to a card reader for reading data from the smart card and executes payment transfer action. The fine collection system transmits the overdue fine data to the smart card payment module, receives payment transaction data from the smart card payment module after a transaction, and updates the overdue payment data in the library system.

Technology Application

It can be used as a standalone fine payment kiosk or as an additional function in a library self-check machine (e.g. UHF RFID self-check machine). In addition, it can also be applied as an additional system to streamline the fine payment process. This is the first of its kind among the university libraries in Hong Kong and can also be used in 15 other local institutions which use the same library system.

Country/Region

Hong Kong

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