Reading Information From Scannable Cards?

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Not necessarily credit/debit cards, but what about membership cards, employee IDs, gate passes, drivers' licenses, etc.? Is there a way to scan and read them for the average schmuckus?

 

[SamirD]

Very, very easy. It was originally known as a 'keyboard wedge' because originally it plugged in between the keyboard and the computer. The first company that made these was a company called 'Magtek'. You can still get their first ps2 models for quite cheap on ebay (these were $100+ back in the day):

MAGTEK P/N: 21080141 MAGNETIC CARD SWIPE READER - PS2 PORT | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for MAGTEK P/N: 21080141 MAGNETIC CARD SWIPE READER - PS2 PORT at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

These days the same type of card readers connect via usb. And it seems Magtek is still making them too. Their newest model of stripe reader is the 'Dynamag'. There's a lot of other companies making these too now as you can find them for much cheaper on amazon etc (but may be of dubious quality at $15).

Different models will read different numbers of tracks (there's multiple tracks on some cards), so make sure you have a reader that will read all the tracks you need.