How To Encode A Credit Card?
Making sure that your credit card details are safe is vitally important in the modern technological world in which we live.
Ensuring that you can keep your credit card details safe is fundamentally key to making sure that your money stays where it should be – in your bank and in your credit card account.
However, you might be wondering how you can keep your credit card truly safe, how you can ensure that it is as safe as it can possibly be. There are plenty of fakes these days. Should you keep it in a special part of your wallet?
Should you only pay for certain things with it? Do you think you need to know how to encode a credit card?
All these questions and more will be answered in this piece which will hopefully give you peace of mind about the safety of your credit card.
Are Credit Cards Already Encoded?
Before we explain you might or might not be able to encode a credit card, let’s set out whether credit cards are encoded in the first place.
The simple answer is that yes, credit cards are already encoded with your credit card information meaning that they aren’t easily hackable. You see your credit card, when it is printed, is made to be as unbackable as possible.
This is primarily done by using the magnetic strip or “mag stripe” as it is sometimes known to encode the information on your card and ensure that you can pay for items simply by scanning them with the bottom side of your credit card rather than having to enter your pin or any other information.
The magnetic strip is designed to look like a simple clear black piece of plastic on your card however, this belies the sheer amount of information that is encoded on to this simple bit of plastic.
Whilst apparently looking completely black to the naked eye, when used by a credit card reader the information contained within the magnetic strip includes not only your name and credit card number but also the number of your bank.
In a matter of seconds, the black strip can communicate with your bank, authorise the transaction you are paying for and communicate with the card reader that said transaction is okay.
All this information is processed in seconds and allows for the credit card to not take forever to ensure that your products are paid for in a timely manner.
Of course, you may be potentially worried about skimmers who might be able to seize your credit card information easily.
It is important that if you are worried about skimmers that you use your PIN number as often as possible because, if you are vigilant, skimmers are less likely to get the PIN number than they are any other information related to your credit card.
Now that we’ve dealt with whether or not credit cards are encoded themselves or not let’s look at how you might be able to encode a credit card and whether or not you should.
How To Encode A Credit Card?
Now that we’ve taken a look at how credit cards are encoded lets explain how you can encode a physical credit card. You can encode a physical credit card simply using a blank card, a card encoded and a card encoding software.
Simply place your blank card into the card encoder and link the card encoder up to your computer.
Load up the card encoding software and begin the process of encoding the card.
The process of actually encoding the card shouldn’t take too long as the software and card encoder are both relatively straightforward and will allow you to easily transmit the information from the card encoding software to the card encoding device easily.
Once the information has gone from your computer to the card encoder it will begin to be encrypted onto the card. This may take between ten minutes and half an hour, depending on the card encoder that you have but shouldn’t take much more time than that.
Credit Card encoding is also particularly important on digital cards. If you have a digitally generated card, then you might want to ensure that it is properly encoded.
This you can do by using a random number generator to produce the perfect set of information to put into your digital card in order to ensure that the data that is contained within the card isn’t easily linked to you.
Most digital card providers will ensure that the information that is included on your digital card is encoded anyway but it is important to make sure it is if you want to keep safe online by using a digital card rather than your own card.
It should be stressed that most credit cards are usually encoded anyway and that credit card encoding shouldn’t be your first point of call if you need a new credit card. Credit cards are usually well protected on their own and when produced by banks and or credit companies.
Knowing About Your Card Makes Sure You Keep It Safe
Knowing about your credit card is vitally important because it truly does make it much safer than if you don’t know how your card works. Knowing how your card works ensures that you not only know its strengths but all of its weaknesses as well.
This is why you must make sure that you can be sure that your card is not only safe from being accidentally scratched but also safe from being misused.
Knowing in what ways your credit card is encoded and knowing how best to stop your card information being snatched by skimmers and other criminals means that your card will always be safe when it is in your hands.
If you credit card isn’t well protected, then it could quite easily end up hurting not just you but your family as well. Credit card theft and fraud are at an all time high in the United States so making sure that you can keep your card as safe as possible is just what you need to do.
