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Magnetic Stripe Field Properties

The Magnetic Stripe field enables the printer to encode information on the magnetic stripe tracks on a card. Refer to this page for more information on Magnetic Stripe properties. For more information on configuring Magnetic Stripe fields, refer to Enable and Configure Magnetic Stripe

Note:Configuring Magnetic Stripe requires the Advanced bundle or any higher-tier bundle (Professional or Enterprise). If you do not have one of these bundles, contact your Service Provider.

  1. Enter a name for the field in the Name field.
  2. Modify the values in the Width and Height fields to adjust the size of the field on the credential design. The width is set by the width of the credential.
  3. Modify the values in the Left and Top fields to adjust the position of the field on the credential design.
  4. Select a Coercivity level to match the specifications of the printer and card stock.
    • High
    • Low
  5. For IAT track types, select ASCII Hex Format to indicate that the data is in ASCII Hexadecimal format. This enables the printer to properly encode the data to the magnetic stripe.

Magnetic Stripe Track Types​

Instant ID as a service supports IAT track types for magnetic stripe encoding. Instant ID as a service uses the track type for all tracks in the magnetic stripe on the card.

Track Type IAT​

Cards with IAT magnetic stripes contain three tracks for encoding data. The three tracks together are known as "IAT" referring to the type of requirements on the data. Refer to the information below for requirement for each IAT magnetic stripe track.

Note: Encoding IAT track types requires an ISO magnetic stripe option in the printer.

  • Track 1: Track 1 is the International Air Transport Association (IATA) format. It is located at the top of the magnetic stripe. Track 1 allows up to 76 characters including ASCII characters with decimal values from 32 to 95. Valid characters are:
    • Spaces
    • Uppercase alphabetic characters: A-Z
    • Numerals: 0-9
    • Special characters: !#$%'()*+,-./;:<@>=^]\["&_ and (space)
  • Track 2: Track 2 is the American Bankers Association (ABA) format. It is located in the middle of the stripe. Track 2 allows up to 37 characters including ASCII characters with decimal values from 48 to 63. Valid characters:
    • Numerals: 0-9
    • Special characters: :;<=>
  • Track 3: Track 3 is the Thrift Third Standard (TTS) format. It is located at the bottom of the stripe. This format allows up to 104 characters (ASCII characters with decimal values from 48 to 63, inclusive). Valid characters:
    • Numerals: 0-9
    • Special characters: :;<=>
  • ASCII Hex Format: Selecting ASCII Hex Format indicates that the data provided for the magnetic stripe track is in ASCII hexadecimal format. This enables the printer to properly encode the data to the magnetic stripe. For example, select this option if the data is in ASCII hexadecimal format and you do not want to convert the data to conform to the track requirements.