Swipe Science
During a checkout at the store, what would happen if the credit card was not swiped, but just held motionless in the card reader’s slot?
A credit card’s number, expiration date, and cardholder name are coded into a magnetized pattern in a stripe on the back. When the card is “swiped” through a card reader, the moving stripe bathes the reader’s circuitry in a varying magnetic field that induces current in the circuits. This current transmit the information in the stripe to the cardholder’s bank. And then the checkout is done. So, no swiping, no shopping.
A credit card’s number, expiration date, and cardholder name are coded into a magnetized pattern in a stripe on the back. When the card is “swiped” through a card reader, the moving stripe bathes the reader’s circuitry in a varying magnetic field that induces current in the circuits. This current transmit the information in the stripe to the cardholder’s bank. And then the checkout is done. So, no swiping, no shopping.
