Case Study: Magstripe Is So Old School

Settled within the city landscape of central Texas sits a major university known as one of the best facilities for academic achievement in the state and called home by over 35,000 students. So, you can imagine that trying to track books being checked in and out of the library that caters to the population of a small city can be a difficult task. Such was the case at this university.

The issue arose after the university upgraded student and faculty ID badges from a magstripe to a more reader friendly and flexible iCLASS contactless smart card. Using contactless cards and readers means no more having to use readers and cards that have a limited lifespan. Because the magstripe badges make contact with the reader when swiped, the friction causes them to wear out over time. The upgrade was used to mitigate this problem, but from it another issue surfaced.