They accepted sets of punched cards, paper tape, and/or magnetic tape (all old ways to transfer data and programs to a system) and operated solely in batch mode to support back office functions, such as customer billing.
They accepted sets of punched cards. They accepted paper tape. They accepted/or magnetic tape (all old ways to transfer data and programs to a system). They operated solely in batch mode. This was to support back office functions, such as customer billing.