Magnetic Stripe Reader
Magnetic stripes are the dark-looking stripe that may be seen on the back of many plastic cards, for example, bank cards. The magnetic stripe holds data about the owner of the card, a bank card will contain details such as the bank account number (the card owner’s individual account number) and sort code (the code that identifies the branch of the bank where the account is held). The device reads the data on the magnetic stripe and money can be taken from the correct account to pay the bill. The money is taken from the bank account, not from the card. Data on a magnetic stripe does not change and there is no balance recorded on the card. It may be noted that the card does not contain details of the credit limit. Magnetic stripe readers are often seen at supermarkets and in many different types of shops, in fact anywhere where there is a ‘point of sale’ (somewhere we pay for our purchases).
When the data is read electronically, the point of sale is called EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale).
Advantages:
• The card can be read many times without damaging the stripe.
• The data is not visible to people because a machine is needed to read the data (although with debit cards the bank details are actually displayed on the card as well).
• Putting magnetic stripes onto cards is not expensive so the cards are quite cheap to produce.
• The data from the stripe is read very quickly and more conveniently.
Disadvantages:
• Magnetic stripes may get damaged or the magnetic stripe reader could break down.
• The biggest disadvantage of magnetic stripes is that ordinary equipment can read but not change the data. That is why Smart Cards are gaining more popularity. These cards contain a small chip (or tiny processor with some memory) instead of a magnetic stripe. The data on the chip may then be changed as the smart card is used.
