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| Thread ID: 134643 | 2013-07-23 18:57:00 | Worn credit cards | tut (12033) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1349664 | 2013-07-23 23:38:00 | I don't understand it but during my 6 months in retail I used it a lot successfully so it certainly seems to work. Normally you swipe and fail 3-4 times then use the paper (unwanted receipts in my case) and swipe again, usually only once or twice and it works. Some cards require a lot of persistance though. Maybe it forces you to swipe more accurately because it's a tighter fit and has more resistance, but I agree in terms of magnetic fields there is no reason it should help. Maybe the reader is dirty/dusty and the paper/plastic cleans it??? |
Arnie (6624) | ||
| 1349665 | 2013-07-24 02:15:00 | When I've had this in the past I ring the bank who send out a new card pretty quickly. But yeah plastic bag or cellotape work if you're on the retail side of it. | Alex B (15479) | ||
| 1349666 | 2013-07-26 07:44:00 | Maybe the reader is dirty/dusty and the paper/plastic cleans it??? In fact this is the correct answer. Years ago, retailers used to be issued with cleaning kits to maintain their EFTPOS machines, but many didn't bother maintaining them and this is the result. Have a look at your card sitting in your wallet and see how grubby it is. Multiply that by hundreds of swipes through a machine relying on a contact with a magnetic strip and you can imagine the gunk that builds up on the card reader. The plastic bag (generally clean) tends to wipe clean the reader (somewhat temporarily), allowing the card to be read. The problem is caused by lazy/ignorant retailers not performing routine maintenance. Thank goodness for the new generation of PayWave machines!! |
johcar (6283) | ||
| 1349667 | 2013-07-26 10:54:00 | Maybe it forces you to swipe more accurately because it's a tighter fit and has more resistance I thought that it forces you to swipe it more accurately, not because of the tight fit, but, because your trying to keep the paper/plastic in place while swiping at a high speed. |
SanChippy (16951) | ||
| 1349668 | 2013-07-30 17:41:00 | I was also wondering about it. how does it actually works? :o | ethan12 (17129) | ||
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