Resources for Magnetic Stripe Card Readers

Magnetic stripe card readers allow you to accept a variety of payment cards, from credit cards and debit cards to loyalty cards. You can also use magnetic stripe cards to ensure the security of items when you use employee ID badges equipped with a magnetic data strip. To identify the best magnetic stripe card readers for your business, you may want to consider key terms associated with the readers. These terms incorporate varying aspects of the technology used to electronically pass information from a card to a reader.

Reading head

The reading head, sometimes called an access point, is the part on a magnetic stripe card reader that translates, or reads, the encoded information from the magnetic stripe, commonly known as magstripe.

Point of sale, POS

A point of sale system is used to complete sales transactions. Many businesses opt to use a POS system with a magnetic card stripe reader included in the cash register, but some still use a separate card reader that interfaces with the register.

Coercivity

Magnetic card stripes rely on coercivity to determine the endurance of the magstripe. Most card manufactures will refer to their cards as high-coercivity, meaning it's difficult to damage or erase the data, or low-coercivity, meaning it's easy to damage the magstripe.

ISO cards

Access points for different applications can read different types of information. An ISO card is a specific type of card that meets security standards established by the ISO to ensure the safety of the data on the card.

Data density

The data density, measured in bits per inch (BPI), refers to the amount of data a magstripe can hold.

Track

A track, which is invisible to the eye, is the area in which a company embeds the data on a magstripe. Cards can have single, dual or triple tracks. The ISO regulates the type of information a company can use in certain tracks.