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Visa Card Holograms Shut Down POS Terminals

Written by Evan Schuman
December 1st, 2008

In a trial of new holographic magnetic stripes for its payment cards, Visa found the cards “emitted an electrostatic discharge that caused POS terminals to shut down,” according to a report in The Nilson Report, a respected credit card industry newsletter.

The report, which said the problems happened “on very few occasions,” is why Visa is not using the same kind holographic mag stripes as MasterCard and American Express, the newsletter said. The issue came up because Discover Card is now using the new technology on its cards, according to Discover rules that went into effect Oct. 16.

Posted in IT Strategy/Industry, Mobile/Wireless/Contactless, Payment Systems, Security/Fraud
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