topic Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card.... in Credit Cards

I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

ohnomyfigo — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 22:24:11 GMT

So I accidently signed the magnetic strip part on my credit card instead of the authorized signature box. Do you think it will still swipe?

Edit: Both of the strips were the white version, and the signature box had the credit card number in it. oops.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Loquat — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 10:50:23 GMT

Only way to find out is to try it...

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 11:39:19 GMT

That's hilarious !

As long as you didn't damage the strip, it should work.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

tcbofade — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 11:49:29 GMT

Yes, it will still work.

DW has done this more than once. It happens.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 12:12:06 GMT

Why aren't you using the chip? 🙃

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 12:32:19 GMT

One does need to be careful about that - some issuers who are under a misguided compulsion to act cool or different will make their magnetic strips white instead of black. It's not so much of an issue these days because most places have up-to-date chip readers, but there are some retrograde places that still require stripe swipes (frex, at my apartment complex when one refills the laundry cards - which do have chips for reading by the washers and dryers - one has to swipe their credit or debit card to load the laundry card. Go figure.)

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

NRB525 — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 13:39:18 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why aren't you using the chip? 🙃

Some places will still check the card back to see if there is a signature before accepting the card. And not all places have chip readers activated.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Hightechredneck — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 14:10:43 GMT

Strips are magnetic not optical. Just like my 8 track tape!

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

kugel — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 14:54:39 GMT

Lol I never signed my cards

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 16:22:43 GMT

I don't sign mine either but I do write "see ID" on them then cover it with scotch tape.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 17:42:55 GMT

Just order another card, to be safer. Most banks issue it for free.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 18:44:52 GMT

Try paying at the pump at a gas station.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 20:44:52 GMT

LOL it should work. I have never signed any card I have ever had. I always write CID... Just always been weird like that. I did write CID on the strip once and it still worked.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 20:58:07 GMT

Yes, it should work. Magnetic strips are just that:magnetic. Magnetic fields can pierce many materials. It is the reason that a refrigerator magnet is able to fasten paper to the refridgerator door. So any material that you interpose between the strip and the reader will only intefere if it ...well..is capable of interfering. General ink is not capable, and even if it were, the reader works by something called quadrature encoding, a system that is able to tolerate moderate anomalies against the strip (dirt/scratches/etc.) In some cases, if you take a razor blade, and scratch the strip purposely, and swipe it, it will still work, because the reader, after seeing most of the strip, will say, "OK...everthing seemed find except for a blip somewhere...WT?...." Then, it will read a small piece of information at the very end of the card that was not damaged by your razor blade, and, unless you went hog-wild with the blade, it will be able to reconstruct the information on the part of the strip that was damaged. Pretty amazing huh?

Also, if you are wondering, it is not necessary for the card to touch the reader while being swiped. It is only necessary that the strip get close enough to the reader head. You can test this by putting a thin piece of paper over the strip, and swiping it, and it will still work, because the reader will still be able to "feel" the magnetic field from the strip.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

jawbrkr — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 03:12:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't sign mine either but I do write "see ID" on them then cover it with scotch tape.

I used to do that until I kept going to the store without my ID just to pickup a few small things...they always refused my card. I only had myself to blame for that one. I stopped writing that on my cards. Hell, I dont even sign them anymore. I'm supposed to fit my sig in that small space? Yeah ok.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 12:06:11 GMT

Curious.. Were you wearing a blindfold? LOL!

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

MrDisco99 — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 14:12:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't sign mine either but I do write "see ID" on them then cover it with scotch tape.

Curious... why the tape?

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 14:57:01 GMT

It keeps the ink from rubbing off (or being intentionally wiped off) and covers the 3 digit security code so that stays readable to me.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

MrDisco99 — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 16:35:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It keeps the ink from rubbing off (or being intentionally wiped off) and covers the 3 digit security code so that stays readable to me.

That's a really good idea. I'm going to start doing that.

Re: I accidently signed the magnetic strip on my credit card....

ohnomyfigo — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 22:22:50 GMT

Thanks for all the replies. I had one too many cocktails. My friends and family got a lot of entertainment out of the whole ordeal. They do work!