UI: How to handle reading credit cards…

It amazes me how poorly designed most credit card readers are at gas pumps. This example, taken at a Conoco station near the Kansas City airport, shows how a machine should be designed... i.e. able to take whatever input a user gives it, rather than strictly reading a card in only on direction.

One suggestion: allow the strip to go on the bottom, too, either direction. Then you've got all your bases covered.