A long, long time ago people needed money to buy things they liked to buy, like food and toys. But they lacked a card as we have today to assist with their purchases. Instead, they used cash, real money in the form of paper and coins. Now a lot of people have a type of card, known as a magnetic swipe cards, in their wallets, and this type of card makes shopping much easier!
A Magnetic Stripe Card is a special type of card which has a stripe at the back of it. The stripe is formed from tiny, tiny, hard to see pieces of iron. These tiny fragments contain significant details about you and your finances. When you go to purchase something, you swipe your card through a device referred to as a card reader. This machine is very smart! It reads the information on the stripe with the help of a magnet.
There are many things the magnetic stripe card can contain. It can have your name on it, which tells the machine who you are. It may also have the number referred to your account number, which is like an ID for your money. At times, the card even shows your balance! So when you swipe your card to buy something, the computer reads this information to ensure you have enough funds. If you do, it withdraws the correct amount from your account, and you receive whatever you wanted.
It dates back to the first magnetic stripe card production in the 1960s. This period coincided with increasing numbers of people beginning to use computers for various things in their lives. They faced the challenge of needing to efficiently and safely track people’s money and information. The answer was to create a magnetic stripe card!
Unfortunately, these magnetic stripe cards are incredibly simple to use. Just swipe your card through the machine and it works immediately! There isn’t much you need to do to use them. They’re also inexpensive to produce, which allows many manufacturers to distribute them to a large number of people without incurring excessive costs.
However, magnetic stripe cards also have certain issues. One of the big downsides is how easily they can be stolen from someone. This way, if a bad guy gains access to your card, they can use the data on the stripe to purchase things with your money while not having to ask you for permission. That’s why it’s vital to protect your card. Additionally, magnetic stripe cards are quickly become outdated, as new technology is developed.
With the advent and improvement of technology over time, we can expect that magnetic stripe cards will become obsolete in future. This thing already has alternative ways to make a payment, like chip and pin cards, as well that are much safer, and easier to use as well, and there is contactless payments which is completely safer. With contactless payments, you can simply tap your card on a machine to pay!
