Mastercard, the issuing card network of Apple Card, has announced the company will be doing away with the magnetic stripes on the back of its cards. While Apple Card isn’t specifically mentioned in the press release, we assume these changes will also be coming to the Cupertino company’s credit card.
The changes were announced after a survey detailed that 81% of American cardholders reported they would be comfortable with a card that does not have the magnetic stripe, and 92% would increase or keep usage of their cards the same if the magnetic stripe was no longer on the card. The network also stated that usage of the chip as well as contactless payments make using your credit/debit card more secure and less vulnerable to theft.
The magnetic stripe will start to disappear in 2024 from Mastercard payment cards in regions, such as Europe, where chip cards are already widely used. Banks in the U.S. will no longer be required to issue chip cards with a magnetic stripe, starting in 2027. By 2029, no new Mastercard credit or debit cards will be issued with a magnetic stripe. Prepaid cards in the U.S. and Canada are currently exempt from this change.
