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I use one for business. Sometimes (rarely) it works on the first card swipe. Much more often I have to swipe a card half a dozen times or more. This of course makes some people nervous. Because Im gonna commit credit card fraud for $5? Does anyone have experience with their chip reader? I dont want to get one if its performance is the same. They want $40-$50 for them

I use one for business. Sometimes (rarely) it works on the first card swipe. Much more often I have to swipe a card half a dozen times or more. This of course makes some people nervous. Because Im gonna commit credit card fraud for $5? Does anyone have experience with their chip reader? I dont want to get one if its performance is the same. They want $40-$50 for them

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[–] • 2 pts

Guy at a gas station 20 years ago showed me if you swipe a credit card through a platic shopping bag, it will go through the first time.

Hold the credit card tight so there are no creases in the bag.

Not sure why that works.

[–] • 1 pt

This works because the head is dirty. The plastic allows the strip to once again move over the head at a constant distance. Smoothing the data and lowering error count. See my comment on cleaning it with a dollar bill.