Change on card method and apparatus

A point of sale apparatus comprising:

• a cash/coin processing engine configured to receive a cash payment for a transaction that exceeds a purchase price of the transaction;
• a user interface configured to:
• prompt a user on whether an amount of the cash payment exceeding the purchase price is to be returned to the user as change on a payment card;
• receive a first response from the user indicating that the change is to be returned to the user on a payment card;
• prompt the user on whether the user has a payment card that can accept the change;
• and
• receive a second response from the user indicating that the user does not have a payment card that can accept the change;
• a card printer configured to print a payment card with a unique account number for the user in response to receiving the first and second responses from the user;
• a network interface configured to:
• receive, from an issuer, the unique account number for the payment card after the cash payment is received;
• electronically deposit at least a portion of the change into an account associated with the payment card based on the unique account number, the payment card being unactivated at the time of deposit;
• and
• activate the payment card, wherein the payment card is a substitute for the change.

A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with data and instructions, when executed by a computing device the instructions causing the computing device to:

• receive from a user, via a cash/coin processing engine, a cash payment for a transaction that exceeds a purchase price of the transaction;
• prompt the user, via a user interface, on whether an amount of the cash payment exceeding the purchase price is to be returned to the user as change on a payment card;
• receive, via the user interface, a first response from the user indicating that the change is to be returned to the user on a payment card;
• prompt the user, via the user interface, on whether the user has a payment card that can accept the change;
• receive, via the user interface, a second response from the user indicating that the user does not have a payment card that can accept the change;
• receive, from an issuer, a unique account number for a payment card after the cash payment is received;
• based on the first and second responses from the user, print, via a card printer, the payment card with the unique account number;
• electronically deposit, via a network interface, at least a portion of the change into an account associated with the payment card based on the unique account number, the payment card being unactivated at the time of deposit;
• and
• activate the payment card with the issuer via the network interface, wherein the payment card is a substitute for the change.