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Card Technology

Plastic Payments

The number of Americans with cash in hand is dwindling. Instead of cash, they have plastic.

Even fast-food restaurants and convenience stores recognize that, unless they accept credit and debit cards, they have to turn customers away. With many merchants accepting charges even for less than a dollar, and many others waiving signature requirements for low ticket items, the die is cast: consumers expect to pay with plastic.

The Mag Stripe The magnetic stripe on the back of a credit card provides all the information merchants need to process a payment. In use since the 60’s, the mag stripe has found countless applications – from airline tickets and subway passes; gift cards and driver’s licenses; and, of course, credit cards and debit cards.

Mag Stripe Readers For most merchants, the days of “knuckle busters,” credit card imprinters, are over. Now, relatively inexpensive electronic mag stripe readers pick up all the information a merchant needs with a single swipe.