The difference between encoding – Magnetic Stripe
Since the 1960’s magnetic stripe cards have been the most widely used form of encoding in the world, due to its multiple applications amongst banks, loyalty cards and access control systems. There are two types of magnetic material used to form the mag stripe:
- 300 Oersted magnetic tape (Generally Brown) used in (LoCo) low coercivity cards.
- 2750+ Oersted magnetic tape (Generally Black) used in (HiCo) high coercivity cards.
An Oersted (Oe) is the CGS electro-magnetic unit of field strength. Available from numerous sources, standard magnetic tape is similar in many ways to audio or videotape. Co (Coercivity) refers to the values of coercive force behind these substances, originally magnetized to saturation in order to change the orientation of the material. For this, HiCo cards require up to 13 times the magnetic force compared to standard cards. One of the main differences behind these two options is durability; the higher the oersted, the less likely the data is to unintentionally be erased when exposed to a external magnetic field.
When selecting a card with this encoding, the main question you’d need to ask when presented with these two options is ‘How long to do I want the card to last?‘. While LoCo is a good alternative for users who intend to use the product for short term applications such as gift cards, HiCo is recommended for everything else, where decay from usage and age is less likely to occur.
