Abstract: A method of securely conducting a financial transaction includes receiving, at a card reader, a first plurality of messages from a smart card; identifying, using the reader, one or more sensitive messages in the first plurality of messages, where the first plurality of messages conforms to a protocol of the financial transaction; encrypting, using the reader, the one or more sensitive messages using a cryptographic key of the reader to generate encrypted messages; formatting, using the reader, a second plurality of messages according to the protocol to send to a mobile device, where the second plurality of messages includes the encrypted messages and messages in the first plurality of messages that are not sensitive; determining, using a mobile device, action steps according to the protocol, where the action steps are determined from the second plurality of messages; and executing the action steps.

Abstract: A card reader comprising a display configured to optionally graphically display a character; one or more sensors configured to receive user input, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to send one or more signals that modify and select the character; a microcontroller configured to process the user input, wherein the processing comprises modifying or selecting the character based on user input at the one or more sensors; and memory configured to store selected characters based on processing the user input.