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by macNchz 1065 days ago
Makes me think about intentionally corrupting the magstripe on my cards. I wonder if that’d cause any issues.

I can’t remember having to fall back from the chip to a swipe in ages, and I have a couple of cards, so I could keep one as a backup with a working stripe just in case (long ago I found myself far from home and low on gas, with no cash, a dead cell phone and a “suspicious transaction” blocked credit card, and I’d rather not repeat that experience).
1 comments
throwaway42968 1065 days ago
It's only an issue with EMV Fallback, which you'd probably not need if you have a backup card that is good. Basically if the chip or near-field antenna on your card fail, the fallback is to collect a magnetic stripe read. Properly-configured readers don't need the stripe read to complete a transaction.
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gorkish 1065 days ago
Properly configured merchants don't even need the payment terminal to complete a transaction. They should be able to key the card number if all else fails. I say corrupt your magstrip if it makes you feel better.
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