Campus ID News
Card, mobile credential, payment and security
FEATURED
PARTNERS
Thowback Thursday Slider 1 1

TBT: Debunking the demagnetized card myth

Andrew Hudson   ||   Jan 14, 2016  ||   ,

In honor of Throwback Thursday, each week we're going to pull and review a story from the CR80News archives. With any luck, in the time since these stories originally broke some form of progress will have been made, predictions will have come true -- or not -- and at the very least we can sit back and wonder what we were thinking.

The first edition of Throwback Thursday isn't the furthest jump back in time, but it's one of CR80News' most highly trafficked stories year after year. It's the infamous "cell phone demagnetizing a key card" myth. This story has been so popular over the years that it merited an update in 2011, and still the hits keep coming.

Citing a CPI Card Group study conducted in 2009, card users experienced issues while carrying mag stripe movie theater cards in their pockets with a cell phone.

Crucially, though, mag stripes vary in their coercivity, with higher coercivity stripes -- typically deployed on credit cards -- being more resistant to demagnetization than hotel key cards that traditionally fall lower on the coercivity scale. The lower the coercivity the more susceptible the card will be to demagnetization, but questions have long existed as to whether a cell phone has a powerful enough magnetic force to impact even a low coercivity card.

It's not clear exactly why this story remains so popular years after being published, but with mag stripe technology still a mainstay on a great number of college campuses nationwide, it is clear that fundamental questions surrounding mag stripe technology are still being asked.

From 2011, here's Mythbusters: Can a mobile phone erase a hotel key card?

To keep up with Throwback Thursday stories and other key happenings, follow and engage with CR80News on Twitter.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

RECENT ARTICLES

Tatiana Tomley, Secanda video interview
May 21, 26 / , ,

Inside SECANDA’s approach to modern campus identity and mobile access

In this episode of CampusIDNews Chats, Tatiana Tomley, Marketing and Business Development Manager for SECANDA, discusses the company’s expansion into North America and explains how its flexible campus identity platform supports both traditional cards and mobile credentials. Building a flexible approach to campus identity Tomley explains that while SECANDA may be newer to the US […]
Warning message from hackers to Canvas users
May 19, 26 / ,

Student ID numbers exposed in Canvas cyberattack

Canvas, a learning management system used by schools and universities worldwide, fell victim to a major cyberattack that disrupted access for millions of students during finals week. Students and educators across North America suddenly found themselves unable to access assignments, exams, grades, and course communication at one of the busiest times of the semester. The […]
illustration of hand holding phone

Your Campus Went Mobile. Now What?

The first wave of mobile credential adoption is behind many institutions. Mobile IDs are live, students are tapping their phones at residence hall doors, and card offices are fielding fewer walk-ins during orientation. But for many campuses, that progress has stalled at the door. The broader campus ecosystem – dining, recreation, printing, events, administrative systems […]
CIDN logo reversed
The only publication dedicated to the use of campus cards, mobile credentials, identity and security technology in the education market. CampusIDNews – formerly CR80News – has served more than 6,500 subscribers for more than two decades.
Twitter

Great inverview on the Public Key Open Credential (PKOC) standard with ELATEC's Jason Ouellette, Chairman of the Board for the @PSIAlliance.

Attn: friends in the biometrics space. Nominations close Friday for the annual Women in Biometrics Awards. Take five minutes to recognize a colleague or even yourself. http://WomenInBiometrics.com

Load More...
Contact
CampusIDNews is published by AVISIAN Publishing
315 E. Georgia St.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.AVISIAN.com[email protected]
Use our contact form to submit tips, corrections, or questions to our team.
©2026 CampusIDNews. All rights reserved.