You go shopping, purchase a lot of clothes and items and then stylishly pull out your credit card to pay for it. The attendant takes your credit card and swipes, and then with the same style, he hands the credit card back saying it isn’t working. Well, what do you think happened? Why did the card not work?
There are multiple reasons for your credit card not to work, some of the prime reasons for the same are listed below:
1. You have magnet being used in your wallet
The credit card has a magnetic stripe on which information is generally encoded. According to experts having any sort of magnetic material in your wallet often tends to disrupt the data present on this magnetic stripe and hence making the card unusable. This results in the credit card swiping machine not being able to read the data and hence the transaction cannot carry forward.
You may think that the there isn’t any magnetic material in your wallet, however, there are chances the coin pocket in your wallet does have a magnet at the closing and opening point and keeping your credit card here for long often tends to affect the working of your card.
2. Your Mobile Device Also Tends to Affect The Working
Some experts also say if you do tend to carry your credit card and mobile in the same pocket, it often tends to affect the functioning of your credit card. Although this isn’t the common case, however leaving your credit card with your mobile for too long often tends to disrupt its functioning. The positioning of your mobile, the part of your mobile which has come into contact with your credit card are some of the crucial factors which decide the extent of effect a cell phone has on your credit card,
3. MRI machines Affect It Largely
Do you frequently visit a physician or a doctor? Well, then there is a good chance that your credit card was damaged because of being placed close to an MRI machine. Expert says that the strong electromagnetic waves of the MRI machine are sufficient enough to scramble the data present on the magnetic stripe of your card and hence the card doesn’t swipe.
4. Your Card Probably Is Dirty
Excessive dust accumulation, frequent contact with rough dust particles are some of the key reasons why your credit card won’t swipe. People often tend to leave their cards in drawers or in their cars where it attracts dirt and hence the stripe stops working. Some people have started using adhesive tape to remove such particles from the magnetic stripe, however, this practice in some cases may scratch the card even further.
5. The Card Has Overheated
Exposing your card to sunlight or excessive heat for a long time often tends to disrupt the functioning of same. Such prolonged exposure to heat disrupts the information embedded or encoded in the magnetic strip and hence leaving your card unusable.
6. Your Card Has An Embedded Chip
If you have got your card recently, then there is a good chance that you have an embedded chip in your card which has been introduced as an added security measure for your card. While swiping these cards at the terminal you ought to ensure the section with the chip is inserted first, with chip side facing up. If you do it the other way around the card might not swipe and the terminal will ask you to enter the card again.
These are the top 6 reasons which may affect the working of your credit card and may not allow it to swipe. If you are looking for some good magnetic card readers, then click here, to find the best such product available in the market.
