Comments on: Will a permanent magnet erase data on my credit cards?

By: wangarific

wangarific — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:55:59 +0000

It depends on how strong the magnet is but in general I would keep credit/debit cards away from them. You don't want to find out they've been affected at the register!
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By: xezlec

xezlec — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:37:59 +0000

Yes, but if it's not a very strong magnet, it might take a long time.
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By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:32:59 +0000

Yes, I would advise keeping credit cards away from magnets of all types. I am in AP Physics at the moment, and we have done experiments testing this. Mythbusters HAS been wrong before, and they are here.

It depends on the cardmaker, but in most cases, magnets will DEmagnetize the strip on a credit/debit card, making the card practically useless.
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AP Physics

By: lavalamp3773

lavalamp3773 — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:56:59 +0000

You need a REALLY strong magnetic field to wipe out a credit card. A large neodymium magnet might do it.

Basically, I wouldn’t worry about it much.

I think the mythbusters did a segment about this, testing to see which size magnets could erase the magnetic strip on a card, and only the biggest baddest magnet could do it.
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By: Sweetu

Sweetu — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:36:59 +0000

yea, i think you do/
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