ISO/IEC 7811-6:2018

Overview

ISO/IEC 7811-6:2018 specifies requirements for high coercivity magnetic stripes on identification cards. It covers the physical characteristics of the magnetic stripe (including overlays), the encoding technique and coded character sets, and minimum performance criteria to ensure reliable human and machine interchange. The standard emphasizes improved resistance to erasure while maintaining read compatibility with magnetic stripes defined in ISO/IEC 7811-2. Test procedures referenced are defined in ISO/IEC 10373-2.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Magnetic stripe performance: Minimum signal amplitude, readback characteristics and environmental/test conditions for high coercivity media.
• Physical characteristics: Stripe height, surface profile, surface roughness, adhesion to the card body, wear from read/write heads and resistance to chemicals.
• Encoding technique: Angle of recording, nominal bit density, bit configuration, direction of recording, and rules for leading/trailing zeros.
• Track specifications: Separate encoding rules for Track 1 (alphanumeric) and Tracks 2 and 3 (numeric), including coded character sets, average bit density and maximum characters for ID‑1 cards.
• Error detection: Parity and longitudinal redundancy check (LRC) requirements to support robust data integrity during readback.
• Reference and test media: Use of primary and secondary reference cards (calibration cards) and definition of reference current/flux levels for validation (e.g., 8 flux transitions per millimetre / 200 flux transitions per inch is used in reference current definition).
• Compatibility objective: High coercivity stripe design seeks minimal probability of damaging adjacent stripes and retains compatibility with legacy magnetic readers.

Practical applications

• Issuance and personalization of payment cards, access control badges, transit passes, loyalty cards and government IDs that rely on magnetic-stripe interoperability.
• Material selection and process controls for card manufacturers and magnetic coating suppliers to meet durability and encoding requirements.
• Design and calibration of card readers, encoders and test equipment to ensure reliable read/write performance.
• Test laboratories and quality assurance teams verifying cards against ISO/IEC 7811-6 parameters using ISO/IEC 10373-2 test methods.

Who should use this standard

• Card manufacturers, personalization bureaus and laminators
• Magnetic stripe material and overlay suppliers
• Reader/encoder hardware and firmware developers
• Conformity assessment and test laboratories
• System integrators and procurement teams specifying interoperable identification cards

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 7811-2 (low coercivity magnetic stripe / read compatibility)
• ISO/IEC 7810 (physical card characteristics)
• ISO/IEC 10373-2 (test methods for magnetic-stripe cards)
• ISO 4287 (surface texture terminology)

Keywords: ISO/IEC 7811-6, magnetic stripe, high coercivity, identification cards, encoding technique, magnetic stripe standard, ISO, card manufacturing, card testing.