magnetstripekort

Magnetstripekort, often referred to as a magnetic stripe card, is a type of card capable of storing data by magnetically encoding it on a strip of magnetic material attached to one side of the card. This magnetic stripe, typically made of plastic coated with a ferrous oxide material, can be read by a magnetic stripe reader. The data is stored in tracks, with standard credit and debit cards utilizing three tracks. Track 1 encodes alphanumeric characters, while Track 2 and Track 3 encode numeric characters.

The technology was first introduced in the 1960s and gained widespread adoption with the advent of credit cards in the 1970s. Magnetstripekort are commonly used for identification, transaction processing, and data storage. Examples include credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards, and hotel key cards.

While once ubiquitous, magnetic stripe technology is gradually being superseded by more secure alternatives like EMV chips (chip-and-PIN and chip-and-sign) and contactless payment systems. This is primarily due to the magnetic stripe's vulnerability to skimming and data theft. However, many cards still retain a magnetic stripe for backward compatibility with older payment terminals. The manufacturing process involves encoding data onto the magnetic stripe by passing it through a magnetic recording head.