Starting 2024, you won't be able to swipe your Mastercard credit and debit cards anymore

[jsilva]

Forward-looking: Credit and debit cards have evolved significantly over the years, becoming more convenient and easier to use by owners and shop clerks. At the moment, most cards still have a magnetic stripe, but that is set to change as card providers will remove it in favor of chip-based payments, with Mastercard being the first payment network to do it.

Credit and debit cards have come a long way, from shop clerks having to write the card's owner data or using flatbed imprinting machines to register the card, using credit and debit cards as a payment method became more streamlined with the addition of the magnetic stripe.

First implemented in the 1960s, the magnetic stripe was brought to us by none other than IBM. The technology would allow banks to encode information onto the card's magnetic tape, offering more security than older methods. Moreover, it marked the beginning of electronic payments and the addition of chips into the cards, providing real-time authorization for any business regardless of its size.

However, new technologies such as NFC are expected to replace the magnetic stripe altogether, with Mastercard being at the forefront of this change. Starting 2024, Mastercard will be phasing out payments through card swiping in favor of chip-based payments, but the stripe will remain until 2033, giving time for partners to adapt to the new standards.

New Mastercard's card dummy without the stripe

"True progress also means retiring technologies that no longer meet our needs," says Howard Hammond, EVP and head of consumer banking at Fifth Third Bank. "The way we shop, pay and interact is changing, and we are meeting these evolving needs with smarter and more secure experiences."

The decision of removing the magnetic stripe was based on results obtained from various surveys conducted by Phoenix Consumer Monitor. In a study made in December 2020, 89% answered that they prefer making chip-based payments over swiping the card. This outcome further increases to 91% when only considering cardholders with experience using contactless payments.

Another survey held in July 2021 showed that 81% of American cardholders wouldn't mind using a card without a magnetic stripe, and 92% would increase or keep use of its card without a magnetic stripe.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/90825-starting-2024-you-wont-able-swipe-mastercard-credit.html

 

[RudyBob]

My metal charge card don't work no more neither. Nice but short history.

 

[psycros]

Half the machines won't even read my card's chip so I have to fall back to swiping. I predict mass chaos unless they improve the tech first.

 

[hahahanoobs]

NFC (Tap) is complementing chip based cards in Canada.
I can't even remember the last time swiping was even an option since chip based cards became the norm here.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

I thought this was phased out in Europe ages ago?

 

[Shadowboxer]

I didn’t even know you can still swipe our current cards..

 

[bviktor]

Half the machines won't even read my card's chip so I have to fall back to swiping. I predict mass chaos unless they improve the tech first.

Then you're living in a backwards country. In mine nfc payments are REQUIRED at all cc terminals.

 

[HofyPC]

The damn chip doesnt work about 80% of the time and I still have to go back to swiping the card.

 

[Farkinell]

The damn chip doesnt work about 80% of the time and I still have to go back to swiping the card.

This has happened a handful of times in the 15 years we’ve had chip and pin here in Europe.

Are you in the US by any chance, because those guys are so oddly behind on payment tech. Even stranger when both the biggest payment providers are American.

 

[HofyPC]

This has happened a handful of times in the 15 years we’ve had chip and pin here in Europe.

Are you in the US by any chance, because those guys are so oddly behind on payment tech. Even stranger when both the biggest payment providers are American.

Yes the US. We are so far behind on somethings it isnt funny.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I pretty much use my iPhone and applewatch for everything.

 

[elementalSG]

I miss swiping my credit card. There was just something satisfying from that swiping motion and hearing the *beep* which, today, when I put a smart chip into the reader and wait for it to process just doesn’t give me anymore

 

[Eroctheone]

First of all the chip is not all that is meant to be, sometimes it doesn't work but also it is more susceptible to being read now you need special RFID blocking wallets. Making it easier to capture Card numbers from a distance. And as for why the US is behind the rest the world there is so.much red Tape in America ans coordinating with the vast banks and credit unions, payment processors, as well as State and Federal governments. I mean look at medicine the years of testing snd trials and development before you can submit it to FDA and then years usually before they will approve it for trials and then whe. Approved for use they set all sorts of label requirements, sale restrictions, age restrictions, if you need a prescription or over the counter. And in USA remember government agencies hardly ever communicate with one another each has their own rules and procedures own chain of command. Not to mention let us not forget the issue In USA with people and lawsuits, ans fact many people in US do not like change they like the old ways they feel comfortable with the familiar

 

[p51d007]

I pretty much use my iPhone and applewatch for everything.

Phone & my samsung watch about 99% of the time.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

LOL, stupid USA still using signatures and why credit card fraud is rampant.

 

[Stiqy]

Strange experience being a Canadian visiting the USA the last few weeks. I haven't swiped my card or had to sign a receipt in almost 10 years in Canada.... now I have to sign for my card like 3 times a day... sometimes *even when I pay with the chip/PIN* they still whip out the receipt and hand me a pen to sign it... so weird. There are actually a lot of POS locations here that literally can't take a chip or NFC card yet.

 

[B5S46M]

Strange experience being a Canadian visiting the USA the last few weeks. I haven't swiped my card or had to sign a receipt in almost 10 years in Canada.... now I have to sign for my card like 3 times a day... sometimes *even when I pay with the chip/PIN* they still whip out the receipt and hand me a pen to sign it... so weird. There are actually a lot of POS locations here that literally can't take a chip or NFC card yet.

Looking at you Home Depot. All new self checkout machines and none of them are able to do contactless payment. I was just in Germany for a couple weeks, and everything there is contactless. Even the shitters. Although that's where Europe needs to change. Paying to use the facilities when you are at a gas station or anywhere else should not be a thing.

 

[BadThad]

Just like pennies, the mag strip needs to go NOW. It's taking too long to purge this haxors delight!

 

[BadThad]

Looking at you Home Depot. All new self checkout machines and none of them are able to do contactless payment. I was just in Germany for a couple weeks, and everything there is contactless. Even the shitters. Although that's where Europe needs to change. Paying to use the facilities when you are at a gas station or anywhere else should not be a thing.

Odd, the USA hasn't had pay toilets for a few decades now. Pay toilets are a GREAT incentive for people to pee and crap in the streets!

 

[Avro Arrow]

Well, that's weird. My current MC has a stripe and doesn't expire in 2024. Mind you, in Canada anyway, we generally tap for everything under $100. I can't remember the last time that I swiped my MC.

I'm forced to wonder if debit cards will also lose the stripe. My Credit Union card has tap and a chip but since I never use it to buy anything, I don't even know if they work. I use my credit card for everything and then pay it off completely every month to collect the points.

 

[Goamist]

Odd, the USA hasn't had pay toilets for a few decades now. Pay toilets are a GREAT incentive for people to pee and crap in the streets!

Wrong - paying for toilets ensures those money go into cleaning the facility and modern equipment. I've seen how a "free-to-use" toilet looks and smells like, in other countries, and I regretted setting foot inside.

On topic - here in this part of Germany I still see stores using both swipe and chip reading, without the possibility of touch-less pay.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Wrong - paying for toilets ensures those money go into cleaning the facility and modern equipment. I've seen how a "free-to-use" toilet looks and smells like, in other countries, and I regretted setting foot inside.

On topic - here in this part of Germany I still see stores using both swipe and chip reading, without the possibility of touch-less pay.

Yeah, paying for toilets has been a thing in Europe for a long time. I remember when I was in Europe, one of my destinations was the Italian island of Capri and our tour guide named Leonardo who was a bit of a comedian. He was actually funny as hell and sounded like an Italian version of Robin Leach. When my tour group walked past a guy sitting next to two open doorways, Leonardo declared "And this is the RICHEST man on the island of Capri, because he owns the public toilet!".

The entire group nearly bust a gut laughing at that one and I'll never forget it for as long as I live!

 

[Raytrace3D]

Hmm, don't have a MasterCard but I haven't swiped one of my Visas in over year.

 

[0dium]

I never used magnetic strips and now contactless payment is everywhere

 

[Farkinell]

Yeah, paying for toilets has been a thing in Europe for a long time. I remember when I was in Europe, one of my destinations was the Italian island of Capri and our tour guide named Leonardo who was a bit of a comedian. He was actually funny as hell and sounded like an Italian version of Robin Leach. When my tour group walked past a guy sitting next to two open doorways, Leonardo declared "And this is the RICHEST man on the island of Capri, because he owns the public toilet!".

The entire group nearly bust a gut laughing at that one and I'll never forget it for as long as I live!

I live in London and pay toilets are very much a thing here, although they've just removed the payment from the Tube stations.

If you get caught short almost all pubs will let you go there and there's certainly no shortage of those. The issue is you'll have to stay for a pint, which means you'll need the loo again, which means you'll have to find a second pub, then stay for another pint, and so on. It's a vicious cycle, you see.