[Dgate]

Has anyone experienced problems with credit cards due to the embedded chip failing? :?
In recent months my chip has failed twice and my wife's once and I am wondering if EMFs could be to blame. we only use the Insight sporadically so cannot be sure.
Has the influence of EMFs on these little chips (which when kept in a back pocket very close to the electronics) been addressed anywhere before :?:

DGate

 

[Insightful Trekker]

Yes the Insight produces higher EMF that non hybrid other cars of all types. And the topic of hybrid EMF and credit card "damage" has not been covered here at all. AFAIK USA based credit cards don't use an embedded chip, its a magnetic strip. So I'm not sure what your expereincing.

I keep my credit cards in my right rear hip pocket and almost exclusively drive my Insight. No credit card failures of any kind.


On a related note to all:

PLEASE let's not start the EMF and health "issue" debate in this thread again :!: :roll: Search the forums on that topic if you want to review the information. It's been well covered.

Sincerely,

 

[boogetyboogety]

DGate may be referring to "smart cards" that have a "chip" embedded in the card itself (the information on the magnetic strip itself is also surprisingly hard to destroy, even running a fairly strong magnet over it a few times will not completely erase most of the data, leaving it recoverable by many processing terminals). Having had some past experience with credit card processing venues and the precautions taken with the manufacture of these smart cards, I can't begin to imagine any damage or alteration of these chips as a result of normal EM fields. You should be aware that smart cards are designed to outlast, by a factor of two or three, regular credit and debit cards, which normally have a predicted 3-year life span.

You probably pass through much stronger EM fields than those present in an Insight dozens of times a day without any ill effect, either biological or electronic. If your cards are exhibiting anomalies, for my money, something else is causing it, not EMFs... happy Insight motoring!

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

Hmmm..not sure about EMFs but there are other possibilities why your cards might be failing:

Damage to the chip - if you regularly use the same cash machine or a chip & pin reader (in a local garage or shop for example) there might be something physically damaging the chip inside the 'slot' of one machine. I remember one of my cash point cards getting severely scratched over time by using one particular cashpoint.

Sitting on your cards - I see that you mention keeping your cards in your back pocket (handy for pickpockets!) - you could possibly be damaging the chip by compression...

Poor quality card - were all three examples of failure supplied by one bank? If so, that would suggest poor quality control by their card manufacturers.

Just some alternative ideas. I doubt any Insight EMFs would be the culprit otherwise we would have other examples of electronic equipment failures within Insight cabins. HTH.

 

[b1shmu63]

No problem with the hip pocket credit card scenario after 4 years with the Insight.

The magnetic clasps on some purses could theoretically damage a magnetic strip card. The magnetic coils used to deactivate the anti theft devices in stores put out an /EMF puse strong enough to melt the foil inside the device. The sensors you walk through on the way out of the store (essentially huge copper wire coils) put out strong EMF fields and sense the resonance of the passive device if it has not been deactivated (burned out by the coil in the counter). These are many times more powerful than the fields in an Insight.

 

[Mark Elvin]

Keep my cards in my coat pocket, the coat lives lying in the boot when I drive the Insight, it it was an issue I'm sure I would have found it in 50,000miles, not reported problems though.