Mastercard announces that its cards will no longer have a magnetic stripe

Mastecard cards will offer one less way to pay, after the company has announced the end of the magnetic stripe.

The measure will affect all credit and debit cards, and it will be implemented over the next decade; the plan is that, for the 2033 , Mastercard will not have any magnetic stripe cards.

The magnetic strip has fallen into disuse in the last decade, due to the arrival of new identification technologies that allow accepting to obtain payment data without having to read them directly from the strip. Swiping the card through a magnetic reader has always been problematic, even since its birth in the decade of the 60 , especially as time passes and the card suffers the damages of its use; but in its day, it was the best alternative to record payments quickly and directly.

It was based on the same technology as magnetic tapes used in computers to record information, and was developed by IBM engineers . On the tape was recorded the information of the card and the issuing entity; in this way, it was not necessary to make a copy of the card and check the payment information manually with the bank, as before.

The magnetic stripe has been largely replaced by the EMV chip , which has already been adopted by all payment platforms for its security and ease of payment, as it only requires the introduction of a secret PIN number to authorize the transfer. Furthermore, in recent years “contactless” payments have gained great importance, especially in times of pandemic.

Contactless payments have gained importance According to Mastercard, the 86% of in-person transactions are made with the EMV chip, and users prefer it for the added security , although there are still those who prefer the traditional method. For this reason, the process of eliminating the magnetic stripe will be very long, giving clients and entities the opportunity to adapt to the new times.

The process will begin in 2024; thereafter, entities will be able to choose not to include a magnetic strip on the cards they offer to their customers. It will not be mandatory, but you can continue to include it if you want. However, for the 2033 they will have to make the transition, when no Mastercard credit and debit card can have a magnetic stripe.