Battery charger for a transaction card

#Transaction cards (e.g., credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, automated teller machine (ATM) cards, rewards cards or client loyalty cards, and/or the like) and/or devices (e.g., a smart transaction card, a smartphone, and/or the like) may be used in transactions to pay for products or services at transaction terminals (e.g., point of sale (PoS) terminals) of individuals or businesses engaged in the sale of goods or services. The transaction cards may include an integrated circuit (IC) chip to improve security with respect to use of the transaction card.

#According to some implementations, a method may include detecting a transaction card is received within a charging slot; determining that an amount of remaining power in a charger battery is less than a first threshold level; requesting a user device to provide power to charge the transaction card based on determining the amount of remaining power in the charger battery is less than the first threshold level, wherein the user device is communicatively coupled to the charging device via a device interface of the user device and a charging jack of the charging device; receiving the power from a battery of the user device; and providing, via the charging device, the power to the transaction card to charge a battery of the transaction card via a charging terminal of the charging device.

#According to some implementations, a charging device may include a charging slot; a charging terminal; a user device holder to hold a user device; a charging jack that is to be inserted within a device interface of the user device when the user device is in the user device holder; one or more memories; and one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, to: detect that a transaction card is received within the charging slot; draw power from a battery of the user device to provide power to the transaction card; and provide the power to the transaction card via an integrated circuit (IC) chip that is in contact with the charging terminal.

#FIGS. 1-4 are diagrams of example implementations described herein.

#FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example environment in which systems and/or methods, described herein, may be implemented.

#FIG. 6 is a diagram of example components of one or more devices of FIG. 5.

#The following detailed description of example implementations refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

#In some instances a transaction card (e.g., credit cards, debit cards, ATM cards, gift cards, loyalty cards, security key cards, and/or the like) may include an electronic circuit with components that are powered by a battery. For example, the battery may provide power to one or more communication interfaces, one or more processors, one or more user interfaces, one or more memories, one or more storage components, and/or the like of the transaction card. In some cases, the battery of the transaction card can be charged when inserted into a transaction terminal (e.g., a point of sale (POS) terminal, a security terminal, and/or the like). As such, the battery of the transaction card is to maintain a high enough level of charge between transactions to ensure functionality of the transaction card. However, if there is an extended period of time between the transaction card being used at a transaction terminal and/or if the components of the transaction card are used too frequently between uses at a transaction terminal, the battery may run out of power and the functionality of the transaction card can be lost. Furthermore, a transaction card may be configured to have a standard size. For example, financial transaction cards may be approximately 86 millimeters (mm) by 54 mm by 0.75 mm. Accordingly, a size of the battery of the transaction card is limited to a portion of those dimensions, and thus it may not be possible to enlarge a size of the battery to increase the amount of power that can be stored by the battery.

#Some examples described herein provide a charging device (which may be referred to herein as a “charger”) for a transaction card that can enable the transaction card to be frequently charged without use of a transaction terminal and/or without increasing the size of a battery within the transaction card. The example charging device may provide power from a battery and/or may draw power from another device, such as a user device. In some implementations, the charging device may include a case that holds a user device, such that when the transaction card and the user device are inserted or held by the charging device, a battery of the transaction card can be charged using power from a battery of the user device. In some implementations, the charging device may serve as a security apparatus to notify a user and/or a security system that the transaction card is missing. For example, if the transaction card is removed from the charging device for a threshold period of time, the charging device and/or a user device in communication with the charging device may notify a user and/or a security system that the transaction card is missing. In such cases, one or more functions of the transaction cards may be disabled (e.g., by the security system) to prevent unauthorized use of the card by an unauthorized user.