3 ms·

Magnetic strips are still very common in the United States.

by cbhl 8y ago

Maxion 8y ago
Magnetic strips are found on virtually all credit cards, even on EMV cards.
- gsnedders 8y ago
  Heck, virtually all cards still have embossed characters so you can take a carbon copy. That's just finally starting to go away in the past few years; magstripes will be here for a fair while longer.
  - SuperPaintMan 8y ago
    I actually had to use one of those the other day! I needed to check a guest into a hotel while the city municipality was working on the power so we were on emergency lights and no connectivity. Took a second, but that sound is just so satisfying.
  - rootusrootus 8y ago
    I'd like the card to disappear altogether. I do about half my daily transactions with NFC (Apple Pay) these days, and it's kind of irritating to have to reach into my pocket and fish out a card. Now, if Apple would allow me to nickname the damn cards so I could tell which is which, that would be grand. sigh
  - bradknowles 8y ago
    That's only true in the US. They got rid of those years ago in Europe. We are only now starting to catch up to where they were in about 1998. I know, because I moved to Europe in 1998, and I remember how huge of a change it felt like to me. I moved back to the US in 2006, and with regards to credit cards it felt like going back in time at least a couple of decades.
    - gsnedders 8y ago
      Almost every card I've ever had in the UK and Sweden has had embossed characters. All eight cards I currently have (in the UK) are embossed, including those issued by app-based banks. None have ever had a carbon copy made of them.
  - Tor3 8y ago
    The so-called 'Electron' cards (e.g. VISA Electron) don't have embossed characters - just ordinary printed characters. Banks often provide these as lower cost cards or cards for children. As the main difference from 'ordinary' cards is that you can't take a carbon copy I'm not sure why they're considered more 'child safe'. Maybe there's more than that, but as far as I can tell they work for everything else - my wife got one of those from the bank.

Magnetic strips are still very common in the United States.

by cbhl 8y ago

Magnetic strips are still very common in the United States.

Maxion 8y ago

Magnetic strips are found on virtually all credit cards, even on EMV cards.

gsnedders 8y ago
Heck, virtually all cards still have embossed characters so you can take a carbon copy. That's just finally starting to go away in the past few years; magstripes will be here for a fair while longer.
- SuperPaintMan 8y ago
  I actually had to use one of those the other day! I needed to check a guest into a hotel while the city municipality was working on the power so we were on emergency lights and no connectivity. Took a second, but that sound is just so satisfying.
- rootusrootus 8y ago
  I'd like the card to disappear altogether. I do about half my daily transactions with NFC (Apple Pay) these days, and it's kind of irritating to have to reach into my pocket and fish out a card. Now, if Apple would allow me to nickname the damn cards so I could tell which is which, that would be grand. sigh
- bradknowles 8y ago
  That's only true in the US. They got rid of those years ago in Europe. We are only now starting to catch up to where they were in about 1998. I know, because I moved to Europe in 1998, and I remember how huge of a change it felt like to me. I moved back to the US in 2006, and with regards to credit cards it felt like going back in time at least a couple of decades.
  - gsnedders 8y ago
    Almost every card I've ever had in the UK and Sweden has had embossed characters. All eight cards I currently have (in the UK) are embossed, including those issued by app-based banks. None have ever had a carbon copy made of them.
- Tor3 8y ago
  The so-called 'Electron' cards (e.g. VISA Electron) don't have embossed characters - just ordinary printed characters. Banks often provide these as lower cost cards or cards for children. As the main difference from 'ordinary' cards is that you can't take a carbon copy I'm not sure why they're considered more 'child safe'. Maybe there's more than that, but as far as I can tell they work for everything else - my wife got one of those from the bank.