Magnetic stripe dimensions and position (ISO/IEC 7811)

A magnetic stripe runs along the top of the card’s back, from one short edge to the other. A 3-track stripe is a 12.70 mm (1/2 in) tape and a 2-track stripe usually an 8.40 mm tape, each laid with its top edge about 4.5 mm below the card’s top edge. ISO/IEC 7811 sets the limits: the magnetic material must start within 5.54 mm of the top edge and reach at least 15.95 mm for three tracks or 11.89 mm for two.

To see what your back design puts under or beside the stripe, open it in the free CR80 card template and artwork checker. It draws a 2-track or 3-track stripe at this position, at true scale, and flags detail that would end up under it.

Where does ISO 7811 put the magnetic stripe?

On the back, along the top edge: the magnetic material must start within 5.54 mm of that edge and run to at least 11.89 mm (two tracks) or 15.95 mm (three tracks). The top edge of the back is the same long edge as the top of the front, so the stripe runs behind the chip’s side of the card. Encoding starts at the end behind the chip.

The limits are the same in ISO/IEC 7811-2, the part for low-coercivity stripes, and ISO/IEC 7811-6, the part for high-coercivity ones (both 2018). Both also give every value in inches, shown in the table.

Two numbers follow from these limits. A 12.70 mm tape meets them with its top anywhere between 3.25 and 5.54 mm below the edge, and an 8.40 mm tape between 3.49 and 5.54 mm.

How wide is a magnetic stripe, and how far from the edge?

A 3-track stripe is 12.70 mm (1/2 in) wide and a 2-track stripe usually 8.40 mm, though some cards use the wider tape for two tracks too. Factories lay either one with its top edge 4 to 5 mm below the card’s top edge, typically about 4.5 mm.

The tape is laminated across the whole printed sheet before the cards are punched out, so it reaches both short edges of every card. One card maker’s published production specification places both widths at 4.50 mm. Other factories’ artwork guides give 4 mm (plus or minus 1) or 5 mm, and some templates round the 3-track tape to 12 or 12.5 mm.

Where are tracks 1, 2 and 3 on the stripe?

Track 1 is the band 5.66 to 8.46 mm below the top edge, track 2 is 8.97 to 11.76 mm and track 3 is 12.52 to 15.32 mm. Each track is about 2.79 mm (0.110 in) wide.

These nominal bands come from ISO/IEC 7811-4 and 7811-5 and sit inside the track limits of ISO/IEC 7811-2:2001; the 2018 edition lists no change to track locations. Density is given in bits per inch (bpi) along the track. Track 1 is the only one that stores letters as well as digits.

Sources: the MagTek magnetic stripe card standards summary and the Q-Card magnetic stripe glossary for the center lines.

Should you use a 2-track or a 3-track stripe?

Choose by the reader, not by the artwork. A 2-track stripe carries tracks 1 and 2, the tracks payment cards use; a 3-track stripe adds track 3. Ask the system supplier which tracks its readers use. If nobody knows, choose the 3-track stripe: it carries all three tracks at the same positions.

The narrower tape does free some room on the back. With both tapes laid at 4.50 mm, a 2-track stripe ends 12.90 mm below the top edge and a 3-track one at 17.20 mm, so the 2-track card gains 4.30 mm of height for text. The flat zone still runs to 19.05 mm either way.

HiCo or LoCo: what is the difference?

HiCo stripes need a strong magnetic field to write or erase, about 2750 oersted (Oe), and are usually black. LoCo stripes need about 300 Oe and are usually brown. Coercivity is how hard the stripe is to magnetize, so a HiCo stripe resists accidental erasure by everyday magnets.

That makes HiCo the choice for bank cards, ID badges and other cards that must last for years. LoCo is easier to erase and rewrite, which suits short-life cards whose data changes often, such as hotel keys and season passes. ISO/IEC 7811-6 covers high-coercivity stripes and 7811-2 low-coercivity ones, but neither fixes the coercivity value itself.

Colored stripes in silver, gold, blue, red or holographic film exist too, so the color does not prove the type; the figures above come from CardLogix and the Q-Card glossary. Check that your encoder supports the stripe you order: many HiCo encoders also write LoCo, but not the other way round.

What must stay clear of the magnetic stripe?

Nothing raised may sit between 2.54 and 19.05 mm below the top edge, on either face, and no hole or slot may cross the stripe. ISO requires that flat zone to be free of “surface distortions, irregularities or raised areas”.

• Raised items: a hot-stamped signature panel, raised UV ink or a hologram patch starts at 19.05 mm or lower. A common 75 × 8 mm signature panel has no ISO position and typically sits with its top about 19.9 mm down.
• Text and logos: keep them 2 mm from the stripe; some factories ask for 3 mm. Stripe’s card artwork templates use 2 mm around chips, panels and stripes.
• Punches: put slots and holes on the edge opposite the stripe. A punch through the tape cuts the tracks.
• Printing on the stripe: ISO allows it only if it does not impair the stripe, so leave the tape unprinted unless your factory offers a colored stripe.

The same 2 mm rule applies around the chip on the front; where the chip goes on a card gives that zone in millimeters.

Can a matte or frosted card have a magnetic stripe?

Yes, if the stripe area stays smooth. The 2001 edition of ISO/IEC 7811-2 caps the average surface roughness (Ra) of the stripe area at 0.40 µm.

Ra is the average height of a surface’s tiny peaks and valleys, and 0.40 µm is four ten-thousandths of a millimeter. Standard matte plates (Ra 0.46–0.70 µm) and coarser ones, up to about 3 µm for frosted plates, are all rougher than that, and a card takes on its plate’s texture. So bank cards are commonly pressed on gloss or silk plates, and a matte card with a stripe needs a smooth zone under the stripe. One plate supplier recommends plates of Ra 0.2 to 0.4 µm for magnetic stripe cards, and some plates combine smooth and textured zones.

Before you order a matte or frosted card with a stripe, ask the factory how it keeps the stripe area smooth. Gloss vs matte vs frosted cards explains the plate scale and which finish suits which card.

How do you check the stripe area on your design?

Lay the back artwork over a true-size template with the stripe switched on, and keep anything raised below 19.05 mm. The free CR80 card template and artwork checker draws 2-track and 3-track stripes in black HiCo, brown LoCo or silver and flags detail under the tape. To see the finished back with its stripe and panel in place, add the stripe in the free 3D credit card mockup generator and turn the card over. Hotel key cards have their own checks, collected in the hotel key card artwork approval checklist; for the card’s overall size, see CR80 card size.

If you make stripe cards for customers, ProofScene turns your production proof-sheet PDF into an interactive 3D proof, stripe and signature panel included, that the customer can turn over before signing off. See card and credential proofing or try it with a free account.