Mastercard has revealed that it plans to stop issuing new magnetic stripe debit and credit cards as the technology has become obsolete. According to the payments giant, by 2033 none of its debit or credit cards will have a magnetic stripe, and banks in many regions will start issuing stripless cards from 2024. Alors que le Royaume-Uni est passé à un système à puce et à code PIN pour tous les paiements par carte depuis 2006, les États-Unis n'ont pas été aussi rapides à rattraper leur retard car certains sistèmes de bande magétique sont toujours utilisés en el pais. Another reason Mastercard will remove magnetic stripes from its cards is because chip and PIN cards, as well as newer biometric cards, which use fingerprints, offer greater security. At the same time, the magnetic stripes used on debit and credit cards can wear out over time, forcing customers to ask their banks or credit card companies to issue them new cards.
A future without striptease
While other credit card companies, including Visa and American Express, also use magnetic stripes on their cards, Mastercard claims to be the first company of its kind to work to phase out outdated technology. In fact, magnetic tapes were invented in the 1960s as part of an IBM project to create identity cards for people working in the CIA. One of the engineers on the project, Forrest Parry, came up with the idea of attaching encoded information on a magnetic stripe to a plastic card, but it was his wife who came up with the idea of using heat to make sure the two stick well. Contactless payments were already becoming more popular before the pandemic began, but they became the norm once consumers became concerned about how credit and debit cards were treated by tellers and others. Staff members could help further spread the virus. Expect to see Visa, American Express and even banks follow suit after Mastercard's plan to issue cards without magnetic stripes takes effect in 2024. Via BBC