Magnetic Stripe Gift Cards: Encoding, HiCo and LoCo

How does a magnetic stripe gift card work?

The strip carries the card’s number and your till does the rest, so the strip stays the same each time the card is used: only the balance on your till changes. You need a till or gift card system with a swipe reader that can look a card up by its number. You may also see them called mag stripe or magstripe gift cards.

1. EncodeEach card’s strip carries its own number, printed on the card too.
2. SellStaff swipe it and the till loads the value against that number.
3. SpendStaff swipe it again and the till takes off the amount spent.
4. BalanceAnything left stays on the till, for next time.

A strip on its own isn’t security. It keeps the number out of sight, but strip data is easy to copy, which is why bank cards moved to chip and PIN. A card is worth nothing until it’s sold and your till loads a value against its number, and our guide to stopping gift card fraud covers the rest. For what a strip is and what it can hold, see magnetic stripe cards.

No gift card feature on your till? A strip won’t help, so use numbered gift cards and a gift card register instead.

Which tills can read a magnetic stripe gift card?

Only some: a till needs a swipe reader and a gift card feature that accepts cards from another supplier. We read each system’s help pages in November 2026, and this is what they say about swiping gift cards. Features change, so confirm with your till supplier.

Using Square? Printed cards from another supplier, ours included, can’t be sold as Square Gift Cards through Square POS’s normal Sell physical gift card steps. Square’s documented routes are to record them as a custom payment method, where Square logs the sale but doesn’t hold the balance, or to build on its Gift Cards API, which needs a developer or an app. None of the Square help pages we read says another supplier’s strip will swipe. Our guide to plastic gift cards and Square has the detail.

If your till scans rather than swipes, a barcode or QR code is the better choice. A card can carry a strip and a barcode with the same number, so it works on both.

Should a gift card have a HiCo or LoCo strip?

HiCo, if your system can use it. Gift cards can spend months in a purse or wallet, and a phone case magnet can wipe a LoCo strip, so we recommend HiCo for gift cards.

Any standard reader reads both, because the difference is how hard the strip is to wipe, and to write. It matters if you encode the cards yourself: a LoCo encoder can’t reliably encode HiCo cards, while a HiCo encoder can encode both.

Systems differ in what they ask for. Toast’s help says either works and its own cards are LoCo, while Mindbody’s says its readers use HiCo on track 2. So ask your till supplier, and see HiCo vs LoCo magnetic stripes for the full comparison.

What should I ask my till supplier, and what do I send you?

Ask your till supplier how its gift cards must be encoded, then send us those details with the numbers. For every strip we need three things: HiCo or LoCo, which track or tracks, and what goes on each one.

Questions for your till supplier

• Does it swipe gift cards from another supplier? Some systems only take their own, or need other cards switched on first.
• HiCo or LoCo? Ask which it uses, and whether HiCo is fine.
• Which track, and what format? Track 1 holds up to 76 letters and numbers, track 2 up to 37 numbers and track 3 up to 104 numbers, so a number with letters in it can only go on track 1. Ask how long the number should be, and which digits it can or can’t start with.
• Where do the numbers come from? Some systems create them and export a file; others take any unique number you give them.
• How do we test a card without leaving a live balance on it?

What to send us

• HiCo or LoCo, and which track or tracks to encode, with what. For example: “Track 2 to be encoded with sequential numbers from 00005000”, or “Tracks 1 and 2 to be encoded from columns A and B of my Excel file”.
• A start number, including any zeros at the front, and the cards run on from it in order. Re-orders carry on from the last number issued.
• Or an Excel or CSV file, one row per card, with a column for each track and one for the number printed on the card.
• Or ask for blank strips, if you’ll encode the cards yourself with your own encoder.

Your till holds the balances, so random numbers are safer than numbers in order: one number in order gives away the next. Use the length and format your till supplier asks for. For random numbers, send us a file: an export from your till or gift card system, or a list you make yourself. Our guide to sequential or random gift card numbers has the detail.

When a number is on the strip and printed too, the two have to match on every card, so give each its own column, even when they’re the same. Format the columns as Text before you paste anything in, or Excel drops the zeros from the front of a number. We encode and print your file as it is, and our artwork check is technical and doesn’t cover numbers, so check the file before you send it. Our guide to gift card codes in Excel or CSV shows the layout step by step.

Where does the strip go, and how do I design the back around it?

On the back, 3mm down from the top edge: the strip is 13mm deep and runs the full 86mm width of the card. So keep words, logos and the printed number out of the top 16mm of the back, and plan the rest of the back around it.

1. The magnetic strip, 13 x 86mm, 3mm down from the top edge. HiCo strips are generally black, LoCo brown.
2. The card number, the same one that’s on the strip, so staff can type it in if a swipe fails.
3. A barcode, if you also scan cards: the same number again, on a white box with the number underneath.
4. A write-on panel for the valid-until date, on a white area of your design, filled in when the card is sold: see VAT and expiry rules. Nothing prints on the panel, so its label goes beside it.
5. Your terms, in two or three short lines. The rest can go on your website.

A strip, a write-on panel and a barcode all want the back of the card, and an 86 x 54mm card fills up quickly, so plan the back first. Put a write-on panel on a white area, because on a colour it picks up the colour behind it. Keep everything else 3mm inside the edge, and set your artwork up at 92 x 60mm with 3mm of bleed. The front stays free for your design: see how to design a gift card.

Which cards can have a strip?

• Full colour PVC cards at our standard 760 microns, the thickness a strip needs.
• Recycled PVC and biodegradable cards can have a strip too: see eco plastic cards.
• RFID cards are thicker, and can have a strip too.
• Not available on EcoTough, Plastic-Free Board, event passes, key fobs or combo cards. For our hot foil ranges, ask us.

Our magnetic strip specifications have the details.

How do I test magnetic stripe gift cards before the full run?

Add a postal proof to your order: we post you a few real cards before the rest are printed, so you can swipe them on your own till. We can’t test cards for you, because every till and reader is different.

It’s optional, for full colour cards only, £65 +vat, and takes around 5 working days. Once you approve it, the rest are printed in around 7 working days.

To try a card, make sure its number is set up on your till, swipe it and check the till finds it. Ask your till supplier how to do that without leaving a live balance on the card. Your free email proof shows where the strip sits, but you can’t swipe a picture, so the postal proof is how you test the encoding.

When your order arrives, swipe a few cards before you put any on sale. Our terms ask for any problem to be reported in writing within 24 hours of delivery.

How do I order magnetic stripe gift cards?

Email sales@cpcards.co.uk or use our gift card quote form. We often reply within minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Tell us:

• The strip: HiCo or LoCo, which track or tracks, and what goes on each, or that you’d like the strips blank.
• The numbers: your Excel or CSV file, or a start number.
• Your artwork, at 92 x 60mm with 3mm of bleed, using our gift card templates, or your logo and wording for our £29 +vat design service.
• How many cards, and whether you’d like a postal proof.

Magnetic stripe gift cards are 86 x 54mm and 760 microns thick, printed in full colour on both sides, then bonded between clear PVC sheets and cut, so the print can’t scratch or wear off. Every order gets a free email proof, so you can check the layout and wording before anything is printed. The colours on the proof are a guide only, because every screen shows colour differently.

Production takes 7 working days from proof approval and payment, and that includes extras such as magnetic strips. Express takes 3 to 4 working days: ask us for cost and availability.

Selling them over the counter? Our card carriers and wallets turn a card into a present.

How much do they cost?

Gift cards start at £75.00 +vat for 25, and the price per card falls as the quantity goes up, because much of the work in an order is the same whatever the quantity. Magnetic strips are priced on your quote. See how much gift card printing costs.

Prices are for one design from your print-ready artwork. Delivery is free within Great Britain, and our delivery prices list the charges for Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands. They exclude VAT and extras such as magnetic strips, barcodes and numbering, which are priced on your quote.