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Magnetic Stripes and the Q Card
Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:33 AM

 

Will the computer chip in the Q Card mess up the magnetic stripes on your other credit cards if you place the Q Card next to a credit card in your wallet?

No. Technologically, these chips don’t affect magnetic stripes on credit cards.

One of our testers said his Q Card wiped out all the information on his credit cards. METRO’s project manager and a consultant on the project later accompanied the tester to see if they could duplicate the wipe-out. They couldn’t, and concluded something else erased the tester’s credit cards.

There’s a difference between magnetic stripes on credit cards and cards with computer chips embedded in them.

If you place the Q Card next to a card with a computer chip, for example, an employer ID card, the two cards won’t wipe each other out – but the antenna in each card may interfere with each other, and the signals may not be picked up.

Photo of Erik Oistad“Two smart cards next to each other may prevent them from being read at all. So to read it correctly, simply separate the two,” advised Erik Oistad, vice president/chief information officer at METRO.

But neither card will be permanently damaged. This is true of all cards with computer chips and is not unique to the Q Card. The Q Card was designed to international standards (ISO 14443).

“Obviously, the people who write standards are not going to design a card that would wipe out other cards,” said Oistad, adding that he carries his American Express card next to his Q Card – all tucked together in a magnetic bill holder. All of that is placed next to his employer ID card with a computer chip.

Oistad doesn’t recommend that pocket arrangement but so far, he said he hasn’t had any issues with any of his cards.

Posted by Mary Sit
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    • Comments

    Woody Speer said:

    This will work great when you board a METRO bus with both arms full.  Looks like all you have to do is have your METRO smart card tucked away in your right hip pocket wallet, board the METRO bus; wave your booty in front of the Q-card reader and bam. METRO has your money!  Speaking of having your money, Mary I’ve got a few questions for you.

    1. If I have a stored value card with a $204 value that I purchased discounted for $150 will METRO give me credit at the discounted amount of the card or the full value amount on the day that I convert my stored value card to a smart card?

    2. Does the fare hike take place on the same day as the Q card reader roll out or is the timing different?

    3. On a lighter note, when METRO does away with the discounted stored value card, the cost of riding the Park and Ride goes up by 36% which of course is 1-( $204/$150 *100).   To celebrate the 36% fare hike, will the mariachi bands be playing at the bus stops to console the passengers or the METRO building in celebration?  Still wondering how this is going to pan out.

    I love your blog, keep up the great work!

    # January 25, 2007 8:53 PM

    Mary Sit said:

    Mr. Rorschach, as a fellow reader once put it: There's critical and then there's rude. Please, no name-calling. Please follow our User Guidelines and the Living Room policy (see first post, "Welcome to our Blog"). Second time, you're out.

    # January 26, 2007 2:34 PM

    Rorschach said:

    Mary, trust me when I say, I have yet to be rude. When I'm going to be rude, trust me you will know it.

    # January 26, 2007 4:53 PM

    Mary Sit said:

    Woody, thanks for the encouragement! When the conversion to the Q Card occurs, the balance on your stored value card will be transferred to your Q Card. However, only the amount you actually paid - the discounted amount, not the value-added amount, will be transferred. In other words, if you paid $150 for a card valued at $204, the $150 will transferred to your Q Card.

    # January 26, 2007 8:48 PM

    Matt Bramanti said:

    "adding that he carries his American Express card next to his Q Card – all tucked together in a magnetic bill holder"

    Magnets might not affect the chips in Q Cards, but they have been known to affect MAGNETIC STRIPES of the kind found in American Express Corporate Cards.

    # January 29, 2007 2:44 PM

    Rorschach said:

    Now now Matt. You might be accused of being rude for pointing that out.

    # January 30, 2007 10:51 AM

    bweldon said:

    What matt being rude.. he would never do that...

    # January 30, 2007 11:02 AM

    Rorschach said:

    Do the cards follow the Calypso protocol standard (which is open)? or does it use the MIFARE which is patented by NXP semiconductor. Or does it use something completely proprietary?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calypso_%28RFID%29

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIFARE

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_14443

    one would hope that METRO would have opted for the open multi-source standard instead of foolishly loking yourself into a single source.

    # January 31, 2007 9:01 PM

    Rorschach said:

    I'm going to lay even money that it is MIFARE based since Seimens is one of the licensees and we all know how deep Seimens has it's hooks embedded into METRO's purchasing department.

    # January 31, 2007 9:12 PM
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