Today’s Patent- SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DECODING CARD SWIPE SIGNALS
A new approach was adopted to enable an individual for completing his transactions by swiping a magnetic stripe card through a card reader connected to a mobile device. Sam Wen received his U.S. Patent for the invention, ‘Systems and methods for decoding card swipe signals’ in the year 2012.
This invention relates to plastic cards having a magnetic stripe that is embedded on one side of the card, useful for everyday commerce. These cards are used in various transactions such as to pay for purchases by using a credit card or a debit card that helps in the transaction of business with a bank using an automated teller machine (ATM).
As the magnetic stripe card is capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of magnetic particles embedded in the stripe, the data stored on it may be sensed or read by swiping the stripe past a read head. The analog waveform which is obtained by sensing the magnetic stripe undergoes a process known as decoding to obtain the digital information stored in the magnetic stripe of the card.
Such an approach enables a person to become either a payee or a customer (payer) without having to purchase expensive card reading devices or software.