A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data. The magnetic stripe, sometimes called a
magstripe, is read by physical contact and swiping past a reading head. The magnetic stripe on the back of
the card has up to three tracks of data, identified as tracks 1, 2 and 3. Each track has a different format.
Track 1 contains up to 79 alphanumeric characters. Tracks 2 and 3 contain only numeric characters; 40 and
107 characters respectively.
Example of Magstripe Applications Include:
· Restaurant and Nightclubs (Gift Cards, Loyalty Cards, Membership Cards)
· Corporate (Employee Identification Cards, Security Access Control Cards)
· Colleges and Universities (Student ID Cards, Library Cards)
· Hotels (Amenities Access Card, Room Keys, Private Parking Access Cards)
· Fitness Club (Membership Cards)
· Travel and Leisure (Phone/Calling Cards, Fuel Cards, Frequent Flyer Miles)
· Electronic Cash Cards (Transportation, Vending Machines, Phone Cards)
Magstripes come in two varieties: high-coercivity and low-coercivity (a.k.a. HiCo and LoCo). High-coercivity
magstripes are harder to erase, and therefore are appropriate for cards that are frequently used or that need
to have a long life. Selecting which type of mag stripe to use depends on how the card is to be used. The
following chart demonstrates common usage requirements:
| Application |
HiCo |
LoCo |
Usage Requirements |
| Employee Identification Cards |
x |
|
Daily |
| Frequent Flyer Cards |
|
x |
Weekly/Monthly |
| Fitness Club/Gym Cards |
x |
|
Daily |
| Restaurant Member/Loyalty Cards |
|
x |
Weekly/Monthly |
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triple redundancy data checks and 100% in-line camera verification for an added level of data security.
