Campus ID News
Card, mobile credential, payment and security
FEATURED
PARTNERS
Thowback Thursday Slider 1 1

TBT: Debunking the demagnetized card myth

Andrew Hudson   ||   Jan 14, 2016  ||   ,

In honor of Throwback Thursday, each week we're going to pull and review a story from the CR80News archives. With any luck, in the time since these stories originally broke some form of progress will have been made, predictions will have come true -- or not -- and at the very least we can sit back and wonder what we were thinking.

The first edition of Throwback Thursday isn't the furthest jump back in time, but it's one of CR80News' most highly trafficked stories year after year. It's the infamous "cell phone demagnetizing a key card" myth. This story has been so popular over the years that it merited an update in 2011, and still the hits keep coming.

Citing a CPI Card Group study conducted in 2009, card users experienced issues while carrying mag stripe movie theater cards in their pockets with a cell phone.

Crucially, though, mag stripes vary in their coercivity, with higher coercivity stripes -- typically deployed on credit cards -- being more resistant to demagnetization than hotel key cards that traditionally fall lower on the coercivity scale. The lower the coercivity the more susceptible the card will be to demagnetization, but questions have long existed as to whether a cell phone has a powerful enough magnetic force to impact even a low coercivity card.

It's not clear exactly why this story remains so popular years after being published, but with mag stripe technology still a mainstay on a great number of college campuses nationwide, it is clear that fundamental questions surrounding mag stripe technology are still being asked.

From 2011, here's Mythbusters: Can a mobile phone erase a hotel key card?

To keep up with Throwback Thursday stories and other key happenings, follow and engage with CR80News on Twitter.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

RECENT POSTS

Sign saying show your ID card
Sep 29, 23 /

DePaul requires students to carry campus ID at all times on campus

Following a string of robberies on or near campus the Lincoln Park campus, DePaul University initiated a plan to tighten security. Part of the plan requires students, faculty, and staff to carry their DePaul ID at all times on campus. “Public safety officers will have the authority to remove anyone from a DePaul building who […]
Dawn Thomas, NACCU CEO, video on NACCU Near You event series
Sep 27, 23 /

CampusIDChat: NACCU launches regional NACCU Near You event series

In this edition of CampusIDChats, publisher Chris Corum catches up with Dawn Thomas, NACCU CEO, to learn about the upcoming NACCU Near You events series. Sometimes traveling to a conference is challenging due to schedules, budgets, and workloads. That is where the NACCU Near You events series fills a void. These one-day regional events offer […]
Penn State mobile credential banner
Sep 26, 23 / ,

Penn State’s mobile credential program serves students on 24 unique campuses with 81% adoption rate

  At the beginning of 2023, Penn State rolled out Transact Mobile Credential to students, faculty, and staff. Among mobile credential programs, this one stands out because it was rolled out simultaneously across all 24 campuses of Penn State. In partnership with Transact, the campus team faced a unique set of challenges presented by this […]
CIDN logo reversed
The only publication dedicated to the use of campus cards, mobile credentials, identity and security technology in the education market. CampusIDNews – formerly CR80News – has served more than 6,500 subscribers for more than two decades.
Twitter

Join us, @NACCUorg, and @TouchNet to explore how campus card programs can successfully navigate the sales and procurement process. Join the webinar on June 6, 2 pm EDT. https://go.touchnet.com/l/652093/2022-05-18/lsndq

Webinar: Learn how the University of Arizona uses campus cards, mobile ordering, kiosks, lockers, and robots to revolutionize campus dining. April 7, 2-2:30 EDT. Register Now at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7821245544009488910?source=campus-id

Load More...
Contact
CampusIDNews is published by AVISIAN Publishing
315 E. Georgia St.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.AVISIAN.com[email protected]
Use our contact form to submit tips, corrections, or questions to our team.
©2023 CampusIDNews. All rights reserved.