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Magnetic Stripe Cards

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Magnetic stripes cards store data in a band of magnetic material on the card. This stripe, sometimes called the magstripe, is read with a magnetic card reader through the action of swiping the card past the reading head. There are many types of cards that have a functioning magnetic stripe, including credit cards, identity cards, transportation tickets, and so forth. The physical properties of the card, such as its size, flexibility, the location of the magstripe, and its magnetic characteristics, are defined during the manufacturing process.

The stripe itself is contained in a plastic-like film and is located .223 inches from the edge of the card. There are two types of magstripes: high-coercivity and low-coercivity. Coercivity is the measure of how difficult it is to encode information on the magnetic stripe. A standard bankcard has a coercivity of about 300 Oe (Oersteds). Cards with high-coercivity are designed for frequent use since they are more difficult to erase. Cards with low-coercivity are cheaper to manufacture since they have lower amounts of magnetic energy to record.

Smart cards are a newer type of card and contain an integrated circuit chip. They may either have metal contacts, which connect the card physically to the reader, or use a magnetic field or radio frequency for close-proximity reading. Hybrid cards combine the technology of the smart card with the magnetic stripe. These types of cards are commonly used for payment cards, since they can be read by both smart card readers and magnetic stripe readers.

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