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An integrated credit/information exchange module includes a bill examination portion, a card examination portion, a display portion, and a data entry portion connected to and controlled by a processor portion. The integrated module also includes a modular housing and faceplate configured for simple

An integrated credit/information exchange module includes a bill examination portion, a card examination portion, a display portion, and a data entry portion connected to and controlled by a processor portion. The integrated module also includes a modular housing and faceplate configured for simple retrofit installation into existing vending machines having bill acceptor slots to overcome the space limitations of such vending machines. The faceplate includes a bill insertion opening, a card insertion opening, a display screen, and a set of data entry keys located thereon. Bill examination, card examination, and advanced vending machine features such as data retrieval, reprogramming, card revaluation, smart message displays, and control operations are provided through programming of the processor portion.

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[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An integrated credit/information exchange module installed within a vending machine, the vending machine including a door handle assembly for opening the vending machine for access to the interior thereof, the door handle assembly including a latching mechanism to latch t

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An integrated credit/information exchange module installed within a vending machine, the vending machine including a door handle assembly for opening the vending machine for access to the interior thereof, the door handle assembly including a latching mechanism to latch the vending machine closed, and an electrically controllable locking mechanism for preventing operation of the door handle assembly to open the vending machine, said integrated credit/information exchange module comprising a modular housing having a faceplate, said integrated credit/information exchange module including a bill examination portion, a card examination portion, a processor portion for controlling both said bill examination portion and said card examination portion, a display portion, and an interface portion operatively connected to the vending machine for passing information thereto, said faceplate positioned within a bill acceptor slot of the vending machine and including a bill insertion opening therethrough, a card insertion opening therethrough, and a display opening therethrough, said processor portion and said bill examination portion being operable with one another to control the examination and verification of a bill inserted into said bill insertion opening and to provide to said interface portion an output signal representative of the value of the bill examined, said processor portion and said card examination portion operable with one another to control examination of a card inserted into said card insertion opening and to provide to said interface portion an output signal in response to information encoded on the card, said display portion including a multi-character display screen located within the display opening of said faceplate, said processor portion connected for controlling said display portion, said interface portion including a control interface connected to the electrically controllable locking mechanism of the vending machine such that the locking mechanism is controllable by a signal present thereat, said processor portion and said card examination portion operable to produce at said control interface, in response to information encoded on the card, a signal to effect operation of the locking mechanism to permit operation of the door handle assembly when a properly encoded card is inserted into said card insertion opening, so that the door handle assembly can then be operated to permit access to the interior of the vending machine.