Magnetic stripe on the back of Credit card .. !!

Sudhanshu Rathore2nd yr Electrical

At ATM

For Shopping

Details on card

Magnetic Stripe A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the

magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on the band of magnetic material

on the card.

The magnetic stripe is sometimes called swipe card or magstripe.

This is read by swiping past a magnetic reading head.

This is made up of tiny-iron based magnetic particles in a plastic-like film.

Each particle is really a very tiny bar magnet about 20 millionths of an inch long.

The magnetic stripe can be written because the tiny bar magnets can be

magnetized.

This can be done either in a north or south pole direction.

The magnetic stripe on the back of a credit card is similar to

a piece of cassette tape fastened to the back of a card.

Instead of motors moving the tape so it can be read, our

hand provides the motion as we swipe a credit card through

a reader or insert at the gas station pump.

Design of card

Track 1Track 1 is the only track that may contain alphabetic

text, and hence is the only track that contains the card

holder’s name.

The minimum cardholder account information needed

to complete a transaction is present on both track 1

and track 2.

Track 2 Track 2 format was developed by the banking industry (ABA).

This track is written with a 5-bit scheme (4 data bits + 1 parity), which allows for sixteen

possible characters, which are the numbers 0-9, plus the six characters : ; < = > ?.

The selection six punctuation may seem odd, but in fact the sixteen codes simply map to

the ASCII range 0x30 through 0x3f, which defines ten digit characters plus those six

symbols.

Point-of-scale card readers almost always read track 1, or track 2, and sometimes both, in

case one track is unreadable.

The minimum cardholder account information needed to complete a transaction is present

on both track 1 and track 2.

Track 3Track 3 is a read-write track, but its usage is not

standardized among banks.

This track includes an encrypted PIN, country code,

currency units, amount authorized.

Track 3 is virtually unused by major worldwide networks.

This is often isn’t even physically present on the card by

virtue of a narrower magnetic stripe.

How it works? After we or the cashier swipes the credit card through a reader, the EDC software at the point

of sale (POS) terminal dials a stored telephone number via a modem to call an acquirer.

An acquirer is an organization that collects credit authentication requests from merchants and

provides a payment guarantee to the merchant.

When the acquirer company gets the credit card authentication request, it checks the

transaction for validity and the record on the magstripe for: Merchant ID

Valid card number

Expiration Date

Credit card limit

Card usage.

Single dial-up transactions are processed 1200-2400

bps, while direct internet attachment uses much higher

speeds via this protocol.

In this system, the cardholder enters a Personal

Identification Number (PIN), using a keypad.

Problems why an ATM doesn’t accept the card? If the ATM isn’t accepting our card, the problem is probably either:

Dirty or scratched magstripe.

Erased magstripe (The most common causes for erased magstripes are

exposures to magnets, like the small ones used to hold notes and pictures on the

refrigirator, and a store’s electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag demagnetizer.