Dangers Your Credit Cards Must Face
Be Careful That Your Credit Cards Don’t Become Demagnetized
When you have credit cards, there are certain situations that can be somewhat embarrassing. Imagine that you are at the store waiting in line to get checked out and it is finally your turn. You wait patiently while the sales associate checks out all your purchases. Then you go to pay using your credit card. The sales associate tries to scan your card, but it won’t go through. She tries again and again, but the card still won’t read. To make matters worse, the numbers on the front are so faded that the card can’t be read manually. You don’t have your checkbook on you and you don’t have enough cash. What in the world is going on?
Technology Isn’t Foolproof
It has happened to all of us at one time or another. Some technical error occurs and your credit card is rejected. You certainly know that you paid your credit card bill and you make sure you mumble that fact loud enough for those who witnessed the transaction to hear. You’re probably wondering what happened or what you can do to prevent such a problem in the future.
More Convenience Means More Inconvenience
Oftentimes when a credit card won’t scan properly, it is because the magnetic strip on the back of the card has been demagnetized.
There was actually an urban legend surrounding how credit cards become demagnetized. The legend was that wallets made from eelskin could demagnetize credit cards because eels have an electromagnetic property that could interfere with the magnetic strip on your credit cards. Although this legend is two decades old, it has already been disproved. However, if your wallet has a magnetic snap on it, the magnetic snap could potentially demagnetize your credit card if the magnet is strong enough, but that has nothing to do with eels.
In most cases, the reason that credit cards get demagnetized has to do with something that occurs when you are out shopping. Have you ever noticed those gray soft pads near checkout counters? There the ones used to erase security tags from items that contain a security tag. They can actually erase the information on your credit cards too. Many consumers, when they are waiting for the cashier to ring up their purchases, hold or rest their card on or near the security pads. The result is an erasure of their credit card information. The technology that makes security convenient for stores has just made credit card erasure inconvenient for you.
Do yourself a favor. The next time you’re at the store, keep your credit cards off of the checkout counter. You’ll be glad you did.