About CommStar, Inc.

CommStar Corporate Profile

CommStar, Inc.
- Corporate Profile
- Offices

Unattended Credit
- Description
- Request
information
- Customers

Minor Checker
- Description
- Benefits
- How to order
- Customers

BACKGROUND

CommStar, Inc. designs, produces, and markets electronic products for the data communications, financial and ID markets.

CommStar, a private company, was incorporated in 1986 in the State of Minnesota by persons with engineering and marketing backgrounds and extensive experience designing niche products for the Point-of-Sale (POS) marketplace.

When first incorporated, CommStar concentrated on custom design products for the financial community. These products were primarily POS access devices or data communications transmission and protocol conversion units.

In 1991 CommStar was approached with an application for using POS technology for unattended application. This application would require that the typical credit card terminal would have to operate completely alone in a remote environment without a clerk present to start and monitor transactions. The consumer would simply pay with the credit card and the goods would have to be dispensed, and the funds collected and transmitted to the banking system and on to the vendor's bank account. This was a difficult challenge because there are many error conditions and clerk functions that had to be automated. By early 1992, a system was ready and the EasyReaderUnattended Credit Card Reader Product line was born. Since that time many capabilities have been added such as PC remote control of the field units, hot list for bad cards, proprietary card capabilities, and solutions for situations where no telephone line is available.

In 1996, CommStar was approached with a plan to develop a driver's license reader product that would read the information from the magnetic stripe on the driver's license at locations that are required to restrict underage purchases such as liquor stores. This product would provide a method for an establishment owner to automate the task of checking an ID before selling certain products. In the fall of 1997, the MinorChecker System was introduced in Pennsylvania. This product can read and verify age, and also store the "carding" information for transfer to a PC for later analysis. During 2000, the company developed a DLL module that can parse state issued driver's licenses for any Windows application.

MISSION STATEMENT

CommStar designs, develops, produces and markets products that involve processing information contained on or in ID devices such as credit cards or driver's licenses.

MARKET SEGMENTS

CommStar is focused on two markets. Applications or products that require the acceptance of payment at the point-of-sale where there is no clerk present, and applications where the ID of a person should be verified when making a sale.

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©2001, CommStar, Inc.

		CommStar Corporate Profile
CommStar, Inc. - Corporate Profile - Offices Unattended Credit - Description - Request information - Customers Minor Checker - Description - Benefits - How to order - Customers		BACKGROUND CommStar, Inc. designs, produces, and markets electronic products for the data communications, financial and ID markets. CommStar, a private company, was incorporated in 1986 in the State of Minnesota by persons with engineering and marketing backgrounds and extensive experience designing niche products for the Point-of-Sale (POS) marketplace. When first incorporated, CommStar concentrated on custom design products for the financial community. These products were primarily POS access devices or data communications transmission and protocol conversion units. In 1991 CommStar was approached with an application for using POS technology for unattended application. This application would require that the typical credit card terminal would have to operate completely alone in a remote environment without a clerk present to start and monitor transactions. The consumer would simply pay with the credit card and the goods would have to be dispensed, and the funds collected and transmitted to the banking system and on to the vendor's bank account. This was a difficult challenge because there are many error conditions and clerk functions that had to be automated. By early 1992, a system was ready and the EasyReaderUnattended Credit Card Reader Product line was born. Since that time many capabilities have been added such as PC remote control of the field units, hot list for bad cards, proprietary card capabilities, and solutions for situations where no telephone line is available. In 1996, CommStar was approached with a plan to develop a driver's license reader product that would read the information from the magnetic stripe on the driver's license at locations that are required to restrict underage purchases such as liquor stores. This product would provide a method for an establishment owner to automate the task of checking an ID before selling certain products. In the fall of 1997, the MinorChecker System was introduced in Pennsylvania. This product can read and verify age, and also store the "carding" information for transfer to a PC for later analysis. During 2000, the company developed a DLL module that can parse state issued driver's licenses for any Windows application.

		MISSION STATEMENT CommStar designs, develops, produces and markets products that involve processing information contained on or in ID devices such as credit cards or driver's licenses. MARKET SEGMENTS CommStar is focused on two markets. Applications or products that require the acceptance of payment at the point-of-sale where there is no clerk present, and applications where the ID of a person should be verified when making a sale.
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Return to CommStar		©2001, CommStar, Inc.