The magnetic stripe of any card is easily damaged. You can avoid damaging your card, however, if you are aware of the potential cause. The following items or conditions can potentially cause damage to the magnetic stripe of a card.

• Magnetic Materials - Keep magnets away from cards.
• Metal Paper Clips - Never use a paperclip to attach a card to other materials.
• Exposure to Intense Heat or Cold - Leaving your card lying on the dashboard of a vehicle or putting it through the clothes dryer, can cause problems.
• Scotch tape or plastic - Sometimes when a card doesn't swipe, merchants use tape or plastic bags over the magnetic stripe. This may cause future card reading failures.
• Scratches - The best protection from scratches is to store cards in a protective cover and never abuse the cards by using it for other purposes, such as scraping ice from car windshields.
• Card Storage - Store your cards front to back. Do not store them with the magnetic stripes facing each other.