Magnetic stripe card
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Magnetic stripe card is a plastic card which has a magnetic stripe on it. Different kinds of information can be stored on the magnetic stripe. Such stripes are usually made of small particles of iron (or another metal). Information is stored by changing the magnetism of the particles. Today such cards are widely used for
- Banking (debit or credit cards)
- Tickets issued for transportation or in parking lots.
- Keys in hotels and other buildings
- Systems to track working hours in companies
Different formats exist. They specify in what way the data is stored on the card.
Similar cards, which can also do calculations themselves, are called Smart cards
