ISO/IEC 7811-2:2018

Overview - ISO/IEC 7811-2:2018 (Magnetic stripe: Low coercivity)

ISO/IEC 7811-2:2018 is the international standard that specifies requirements for low coercivity (LoCo) magnetic stripes on identification cards. It is part of the ISO/IEC 7811 series and focuses on the physical characteristics, encoding technique and coded character sets for magnetic-stripe media intended for international interchange. The standard addresses both human and machine aspects, defines minimum performance criteria, and references test procedures for verification.

Key technical topics and requirements

• Physical card and stripe characteristics
  • Card conformance prerequisites (referencing ISO/IEC 7810).
  • Surface profile and height of the magnetic stripe area, surface roughness, stripe adhesion and resistance to chemicals.
  • Wear characteristics from read/write heads and limits on stripe abrasivity.
• Magnetic material performance
  • Signal amplitude requirements, test recording currents and operating/testing environment considerations.
  • Note: the document states that coercivity influences many parameters but does not itself prescribe a coercivity value.
• Encoding technique and signal geometry
  • Angle of recording, nominal bit density, bit cell and subinterval definitions, and flux transition concepts.
  • Detailed encoding specs for three tracks (Track 1 alphanumeric, Track 2 numeric, Track 3 numeric): average bit density, flux transition spacing variation, coded character sets and maximum characters for ID-1 cards.
• Error detection and data integrity
  • Parity rules and Longitudinal Redundancy Check (LRC) requirements to detect read/encoding errors.
• Reference and conformance
  • Use of primary and secondary reference cards for calibration; failure-to-conform handling is negotiated between parties.
  • Test procedures are specified in ISO/IEC 10373-2.

Practical applications and typical users

• Practical uses: issuance and interchange of magnetic-stripe identification cards for access control, transit, membership and financial/payment systems where low-coercivity stripes are still deployed.
• Who uses the standard:
  • Card manufacturers and embossers - to control stripe quality, adhesion and encoding.
  • Card issuers and integrators - to ensure readable, interoperable magnetic data for international use.
  • Test laboratories and QA teams - to validate card performance against ISO/IEC 7811-2 criteria using ISO/IEC 10373-2 test methods.
  • Hardware vendors (readers/writers) - to align head design and signal expectations.

Related standards (for implementation and testing)

• ISO/IEC 7810 - Identification cards: physical characteristics (prerequisite).
• ISO/IEC 7811 (other parts) - Recording techniques and complementary parts (e.g., ISO/IEC 7811-6).
• ISO/IEC 10373-2 - Test methods for cards with magnetic stripes (procedures to verify ISO/IEC 7811-2 parameters).

Keywords: ISO/IEC 7811-2:2018, magnetic stripe, low coercivity, identification cards, encoding, track 1 track 2 track 3, ISO/IEC 7810, ISO/IEC 10373-2.