From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Magnetic stripe, sometimes called magstripe, refers to a band of magnetic material on credit cards, transit fare cards or identification cards to store information. The magnetic stripe is read by physical contact and swiping past a reading head.
This is in contrast to the newer generation of smart cards which contain an actual computer chip with metal contacts, or contactless cards which use a magnetic field for close-proximity reading.
See also: Octopus card
