Magnets can ruin your credit cards

You may all have noticed the magnetic stripes on all types of banking and credit cards. It is a strip of magnetic material which stores the significant data in digital. The stored data includes cardholder's name, expiration date, account number, etc. The process of Magnetic stripes was first invented in 1960 by IBM. It is a fast and secured procedure of online payment widely adopted by banks, airlines, hotels and departmental stores.

The important information about the user and its account necessary to do the transaction are placed on the magnetic stripe in an encoding data form. While swiping the card the data goes to the computer. The swiping of the card is equivalent to typing the same information but the process is useful only as it very fast.

Yes it is true that magnets can spoil the credit cards. If you rub a piece of neodymium magnet just directly touching the magnet across the magnetic stripe of the card, then the data encoded within it will be erased. So keep a distance between the magnetic strip of a card and a neodymium magnet for the safer side. For magnet and a credit card a 1” distance is advisable while in case of hotel room key low coercivity card 5-6” distance is needed.

Many of us has been experienced the fact that after certain number of usages, the magnetic card fails to work. It is a condition occurs when the magnetic stripe on the back of the card becomes obsolete or corrupted here the most likely culprit is the demagnetization. Now the magnetic stripes technology is practiced in almost everything starting from Master Cards to the subway tickets. Demagnetization on the contrary can be indicated as an accident. However there are certain environments which are responsible for the magnets getting demagnetized.

Here, exposure is the factor more responsible than strength of the magnet. If the card is exposed to a small magnet for long then it can harm it rather than a short exposure to a strong magnet. The important data necessary to do the financial transaction is encoded at the back side of the card in the black stripe area. A prolonged exposure of a neodymium magnet of strong magnetic field can erase the data permanently from the stripe and can make the card unreadable. So now after knowing how magnets can be the undoing of your credit cards, it is highly significant to take proper care to keep it safely.

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