Credit card display system

A card-oriented transaction system (10) is provided with the capability of communicating with the card user. Specifically, the system is provided with a user card (11) having a surface region (13) capable of receiving an erasable visual image, a card reader (14) capable of detecting the card and writing on the display surface, and a data processor (16) adapted for providing information to be written on the display surface. In a preferred embodiment, the erasable visual display surface (13) is a plastic film embedding droplets of oil containing reflecting magnetic flakes. The film can be laminated onto the user card and reset by a magnetic field in the plane of the major surface. Writing can be effected by application of a magnetic field perpendicular to the surface.Published versio