Card stock
Magnetic stripe cards
HiCo and LoCo magnetic stripe cards for membership, loyalty, gift and legacy hotel-lock systems, blank or encoded to your track layout. Also available as a stripe added to chip cards when a system needs both technologies during a migration.
For new deployments or authorised credential issuance. Existing secured cards are not copied.
What is the difference between HiCo and LoCo magstripe cards?
Both are CR80 magnetic stripe cards encoded to ISO 7811 track layouts; the difference is coercivity. HiCo stripes (2,750 or 4,000 Oe) resist accidental erasure and suit cards carried long-term, while LoCo (300 Oe) costs less to encode and suits short-lived hotel keys. American Key Cards supplies both blank or encoded to your track 1/2/3 specification, and can add a stripe to chip or prox card bodies.
Overview
About Magstripe cards
Reports of the magstripe’s death remain exaggerated: hotel locks in their thousands, gift and loyalty programs, campus systems, time clocks and countless point-of-sale integrations still swipe every day, and they all need card stock that encodes cleanly and survives the reader. We supply CR80 magstripe cards in high-coercivity (2,750 and 4,000 Oersted) and low-coercivity variants, blank or encoded to your track layout, printed or plain white.
The HiCo/LoCo decision is simpler than it sounds: HiCo resists accidental erasure from magnets and phones and is the default for anything carried long-term; LoCo is cheaper to encode and suits short-life cards like hotel keys, which is exactly where the industry uses it. We also add stripes to chip and prox card bodies for systems mid-migration that must swipe and tap simultaneously.
Technical details
Magnetic stripe cards specifications
- Stripe options
- HiCo 2,750 / 4,000 Oe and LoCo 300 Oe
- Track standard
- ISO/IEC 7811 — track 1: 79 alphanumeric, track 2: 40 numeric, track 3: 107 numeric
- Card dimensions
- CR80 ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 — 85.6 × 54 mm, 30 mil / 0.76 mm
- Encoding
- Blank, or encoded to your track 1/2/3 layout
- Combinations
- Stripe available on chip and prox card bodies
- Printing
- Dye-sub direct-to-card printable
- Use cases
- Membership, loyalty, gift, legacy hotel locks
- Durability note
- HiCo resists accidental erasure; LoCo suits short-lived cards
Available configuration
Choose the form factor after the technology
Where it fits
Common Magstripe cards applications
Hotel & resort key cards
LoCo and HiCo keys for magstripe lock systems, printed with property branding and encoded to the lock vendor’s track specification.
Gift & loyalty programs
Retail card runs with encoded account numbers, matching printed numbers and barcodes for POS reconciliation.
Membership & campus swipe systems
HiCo cards for gyms, clubs and campuses whose readers and software predate contactless and work fine.
Time & attendance
Employee swipe cards for punch-clock systems, numbered to match payroll records.
Before you order
How to order Magstripe cards correctly
- HiCo or LoCo — match the encoder and the life span
Readers read both; encoders and card lifetime differ. Long-carry cards want HiCo’s erasure resistance; disposable hotel keys are the classic LoCo economy case.
- Track layout is your system’s dialect
Three tracks, several standards, and every system expects its own arrangement. Your vendor spec or a working sample card defines it; we encode to that exactly.
- Stripe + chip combinations
Migrating systems often need cards that swipe today and tap tomorrow. Stripes can ride on MIFARE, DESFire and prox bodies — one card, both eras.
Questions we actually get
Magstripe cards FAQ
Which do hotel locks use — HiCo or LoCo?
Most magstripe hotel locks read either, and properties traditionally buy LoCo for cost on high-churn keys. Confirm with your lock brand; we encode to the lock vendor’s track spec either way.
Can you encode the cards before shipping?
Yes — supply the track layout and data (or a working sample) and cards arrive ready to use, with a manifest matching printed numbers to encoded values where applicable.
Why do our cards stop working after a few months?
Classic symptom of LoCo stock living next to phone magnets and bag clasps. If cards are carried long-term, move to HiCo — the erasure resistance is the entire point of the higher coercivity.
Are magstripe cards being phased out?
In open-loop payments, yes; in closed systems — hotels, gyms, gift cards, time clocks — the installed base is enormous and functioning. Buy for your system’s actual roadmap, and if migration is coming, ask about stripe-plus-chip cards that bridge it.
Need help identifying the technology?
Send a photo of the credential and the reader model. We'll identify the format before we quote a compatible product.
Lifetime parts & workmanship guarantee on every card