Magnetic Stripe
Definition
Ferromagnetic strip on the card reverse encoding account data on three tracks per ISO/IEC 7811. Track 1 alphanumeric (79 chars), Track 2 numeric (40 chars, the primary track), Track 3 rarely used today.
- Standard
- ISO/IEC 7811
- Track 1
- Alphanumeric, 79 characters
- Track 2
- Numeric, 40 characters, primary track
- Track 3
- Rarely used today
Common questions
Which magnetic stripe track is most relevant to forensic card examination and why?+
Track 2 is the primary track examined in most cases because it holds the core account and expiration data used by payment terminals in numeric form, making it the most consistently populated and functionally important track.
Why is Track 3 rarely encountered in forensic card examinations today?+
Track 3 was intended for read-write applications like offline transaction data, but this use case was largely abandoned by the payment industry, so most cards leave it blank or unused.
Related terms
- BIN / IIN
- Bank Identification Number, formally the Issuer Identification Number under ISO/IEC 7812. The first six digits of the PAN identify the issuing institution...
- CVV / CVC
- Card Verification Value (Visa) or Card Verification Code (Mastercard). CVV1 is encoded on the magnetic stripe, CVV2/CVC2 is the 3-digit printed code...
- Embossing
- Raised characters on older card fronts produced by an embosser; modern cards are increasingly flat-printed because POS imprinters are obsolete.
- EMV Chip
- Integrated-circuit chip following the EMV (Europay-Mastercard-Visa) specification. Contact interface per ISO/IEC 7816, contactless per ISO/IEC 14443. Generates dynamic cryptograms that defeat static-data...
- Hologram
- Diffractive optical security feature: Visa dove, Mastercard interlocking globes, RuPay tricolour. Hard to reproduce without specialised embossing equipment.
- NFC
- Near Field Communication, the 13.56 MHz contactless radio interface used for tap-to-pay. Built on ISO/IEC 14443 and underlies UPI Lite and RuPay...
- PVC Card Body
- Standard payment card construction: polyvinyl chloride core sandwiched between two transparent laminated overlays. Card dimensions 85.60 by 53.98 mm per ISO/IEC 7810...
- Shimmer
- Thin sliver-shaped device inserted inside the chip reader of an ATM or POS to intercept data exchanged with the EMV chip.
- Signature Panel
- White panel on the card reverse printed with a tamper-evident background (often the issuer name repeated or the word VOID appearing if...
- Skimmer
- Overlay device fitted on an ATM card slot or POS terminal that reads and stores the magnetic stripe data of cards swiped...
- Tokenisation
- RBI-mandated mechanism that replaces the PAN stored at merchants with a token usable only by that merchant, reducing the value of stolen...