Credit card, Debit card gold chip question?

Sometimes my "NEW" card works & sometimes it does not work. If card does not work I pinch 2 fingers around the card and rub it clean if I rub the Gold chip a few times both sided of the card it fixes the problem.

I carry card in leather wallet in back pocket. Card is inside its own leather pocket. I set on it when I drive. It might get used twice a week and maybe it gets used 3 times a day.

When I pinch 2 fingers around the card and rub the chip is cleaning fixing the card. Or am I removing static electricity. Or is oil on my fingers fixing it. I have no clue why rubbing it fixes it. Last week at gas station I had to rub chip twice for it to work. ???

When card does not work machine says, card denied. Then I rub and try again.

I think you are cleaning the contacts. (oil, dirt, oxide?)
OR
Magic. Prity certain it is magic.

Think of how many times the card readers are used in a day, easily hundreds of times. If the person before you had jelly (or pocket lint, or mayo from his lunch, or what not) on his card and inserted it into the reader, the next few people after will have trouble with the card reader. The trouble will persist until the jelly is cleared from the reader. When you rub your card, you're cleaning off any contaminates your card may have picked up.

One thing to note, you should probably clean your card with a tissue or a soft clean cloth, not your fingers. The oils and dirt on your fingers can be abrasive and/or corrosive. Tissues, while still abrasive, are far less so.

Lo_volt said:

Think of how many times the card readers are used in a day, easily hundreds of times. If the person before you had jelly (or pocket lint, or mayo from his lunch, or what not) on his card and inserted it into the reader, the next few people after will have trouble with the card reader. The trouble will persist until the jelly is cleared from the reader. When you rub your card, you're cleaning off any contaminates your card may have picked up.

One thing to note, you should probably clean your card with a tissue or a soft clean cloth, not your fingers. The oils and dirt on your fingers can be abrasive and/or corrosive. Tissues, while still abrasive, are far less so.

Click to expand...

I never thought about that, card reader full of peanut butter will be trouble. LOL. My card is new I only had it a week. The old card was never a problem. Winter I always have a flannel shirt on I will use it to clean card. Today I used card 2 times at 2 different stores it worked perfect each time I cleaned the card before using it each time. I know how the old magnet strips use to work but no clue how the new chips work.

gary350 said:

I carry card in leather wallet in back pocket. Card is inside its own leather pocket.

Click to expand...

The leather could also be a problem. The chemicals used during tanning or dying the leather could be off gassing and tarnishing the chip.

I remember a story many years ago where cards used in a magnetic strip reader would only work if held in a thin plastic bag, guess it had something to do with closing the airgap or holding it at a consistent distance.

I have a Cannon DSLR camera which I'd left for a few months unused. Unfortunately, I'd removed the SD card and when I inserted one it reported "SD Card not found". I spent the next 5 minutes inserting then removing the card. Voila, all working again - the action of in and out had cleaned the contacts. Moral of the story, in and out normally works wonders.

Mike.

Pommie said:

I remember a story many years ago where cards used in a magnetic strip reader would only work if held in a thin plastic bag, guess it had something to do with closing the airgap or holding it at a consistent distance.

I have a Cannon DSLR camera which I'd left for a few months unused. Unfortunately, I'd removed the SD card and when I inserted one it reported "SD Card not found". I spent the next 5 minutes inserting then removing the card. Voila, all working again - the action of in and out had cleaned the contacts. Moral of the story, in and out normally works wonders.

Mike.

Click to expand...

My previous debit card was really problematic. Many times, it worked when held in a plastic bag but the current one (still with magnetic strip), works with no flaws.

I noticed that cards that fail at the first swipe, are treated with more violence in successive attempts. My first above became almost unusable because of that.