HiCo/LoCo Coated Overlay with Magnetic Stripe for Cards

HiCo and LoCo Coated Overlay with Magnetic Stripe for Card Lamination

Wallis coated overlay with magnetic stripe is a functional card-lamination material that combines a transparent protective overlay, a bonding coating, and an integrated magnetic stripe in one production-ready sheet. It can be laminated together with printed card-core sheets before the finished cards are punched and encoded.

Available in HiCo and LoCo magnetic stripe options, the overlay is designed for professional card manufacturers producing hotel key cards, access cards, membership cards, loyalty cards, employee cards, transportation cards, banking cards, identification cards, and other machine-readable plastic cards.

Magnetic Stripe Coated Overlay Specifications

All technical parameters should be confirmed through the approved specification, magnetic-stripe layout drawing, and production sample. Finished-card performance depends on the complete card structure, stripe grade, encoder, reader, ink, lamination equipment, and processing conditions.

What Is Coated Overlay with Magnetic Stripe?

Coated overlay with magnetic stripe is a transparent card overlay sheet that already contains a magnetic data stripe and a lamination bonding surface. During card production, the material is stacked with the printed card core and other functional layers, laminated under controlled heat and pressure, and then punched into finished magnetic cards.

Integrating the magnetic stripe into the overlay can eliminate a separate stripe-application process. This helps card manufacturers simplify layer preparation, improve stripe-position consistency, reduce handling steps, and create a protective finished-card surface in the same lamination cycle.

How the Magnetic Stripe Works

The magnetic stripe contains magnetizable particles that can be encoded with machine-readable data. Compatible magnetic encoders create a pattern of magnetic transitions on the stripe, and card readers convert those transitions into digital information used by the corresponding access, identification, membership, hospitality, payment, or transportation system.

The stripe itself is a data-recording medium. System security depends on the complete card program, including data format, backend verification, reader configuration, access rules, chip technology, visual security features, and credential-management procedures.

Barcode and Magnetic Stripe Card

Blank Cards Ready for Printing and Encoding

HiCo vs LoCo Magnetic Stripe Overlay

LoCo Magnetic Stripe Overlay

LoCo means low coercivity. A common LoCo specification is approximately 300 Oe. It requires a lower magnetic field for encoding and can be suitable for hotel key cards, temporary access cards, event cards, promotional cards, and other applications where cards are frequently reissued or rewritten.

Because LoCo data can be more easily affected by strong external magnetic fields, buyers should evaluate the intended service environment, card life, encoding equipment, and reader system before selecting it.

HiCo Magnetic Stripe Overlay

HiCo means high coercivity. Common project specifications can include 2750 Oe or 4000 Oe. HiCo stripes offer greater resistance to accidental magnetic erasure and are commonly considered for frequently handled or longer-service cards such as employee access cards, transportation cards, membership cards, identification cards, and financial cards.

Which Magnetic Stripe Should You Choose?

Choose LoCo when easy rewriting and lower-cost short-cycle use are the primary requirements. Choose HiCo when improved resistance to accidental erasure and longer data retention under frequent handling are more important.

Final selection must also match the customer's encoder, reader, data format, magnetic-stripe standard, track configuration, service environment, and finished-card qualification process.

Benefits for Card Manufacturers

Integrated Stripe and Overlay Structure

The magnetic stripe is supplied as part of the overlay layer, reducing the need to apply a separate stripe after printing or lamination. This can simplify material preparation and production scheduling.

Strong Lamination Bonding

The coated side is designed to bond with compatible printed card-core materials during thermal lamination. Correct coating selection can help reduce bubbles, edge lifting, weak adhesion, and interlayer separation.

Consistent Magnetic Stripe Position

Stripe position can be manufactured according to an approved technical drawing, helping maintain repeatable alignment after sheet lamination and card punching.

Printed Surface Protection

The transparent overlay protects printed graphics, text, barcodes, logos, photographs, and variable data from routine abrasion, moisture, dirt, and repeated handling.

Custom Production Flexibility

Material, thickness, sheet dimensions, stripe grade, stripe position, stripe width, surface finish, coating, packing, and labeling can be customized for different card-manufacturing lines.

Reduced Processing Steps

By combining the protective overlay and magnetic stripe into one material, manufacturers may reduce separate stripe-transfer operations, handling time, alignment work, and production-stage inventory.

Magnetic Stripe and Chip Card Solutions

Magnetic Overlay for Card Lamination

Available Overlay Materials

PVC Magnetic Stripe Overlay

PVC overlay is widely used for conventional plastic cards because it provides a practical balance of lamination performance, flexibility, print compatibility, surface quality, and cost.

PET or PETG Magnetic Stripe Overlay

PET and PETG grades can be evaluated for card structures requiring higher mechanical strength, chemical resistance, dimensional stability, or compatibility with PET-family card cores.

Polycarbonate Magnetic Stripe Overlay

Polycarbonate overlay can be considered for high-durability card constructions, secure identification documents, and applications requiring PC-compatible lamination or laser-personalization materials. The complete layer structure must be validated before production.

Card Manufacturing Process

1. Prepare the Printed Card Core

Print the card-core sheets using the approved ink, printing method, drying process, and registration marks. Confirm that the ink system is compatible with the selected coating.

2. Confirm Overlay Orientation

Identify the coated side, magnetic-stripe side, stripe direction, and top or bottom overlay orientation before assembling the card layers.

3. Stack the Card Layers

Place the front overlay, printed core layers, inlay or functional core, and rear magnetic overlay in the approved order. The bonding sides should face the intended card-core surfaces.

4. Laminate Under Approved Conditions

Apply the qualified temperature, pressure, heating time, cooling time, release plate, and stacking method established during sample testing. A universal lamination recipe should not be assumed for every material combination.

5. Punch and Inspect the Cards

Punch the laminated sheet into finished cards and inspect card dimensions, stripe position, surface quality, flatness, edge bonding, and visual appearance.

6. Encode and Test the Magnetic Stripe

Encode the stripe using the intended production encoder, then verify reading performance, track data, signal consistency, swipe direction, error rate, and compatibility with the target card readers.

Industry Applications

Hotel Key Cards

LoCo magnetic stripe overlays are commonly evaluated for hotel guest-room cards because the credentials are often rewritten and reissued during the card's service cycle.

Access Control and Employee Cards

HiCo magnetic stripes can support frequently used access cards, employee badges, campus cards, facility credentials, and identification cards requiring improved resistance to accidental erasure.

Membership and Loyalty Cards

Magnetic stripe overlays can be used for gym cards, club cards, retail loyalty cards, library cards, entertainment cards, and customer identification programs.

Transportation and Ticketing Cards

Magnetic cards can support fare collection, ticketing, passenger identification, parking access, and other transportation applications when matched with the designated reader infrastructure.

Banking and Financial Cards

HiCo magnetic stripe materials may be evaluated for financial card structures that require machine-readable magnetic data. Finished cards must be validated against the buyer's applicable technical, security, payment-network, and regulatory requirements.

Hybrid Magnetic Stripe and Smart Cards

Magnetic stripe functionality can be combined with contact chips, contactless RFID or NFC inlays, printed barcodes, QR codes, signature panels, and visual security features to support legacy and newer reader systems within one card.

Customized Magnetic Cards

Membership and Loyalty Cards

Hybrid Magnetic and Smart Cards

How to Specify Magnetic Stripe Position

Magnetic-stripe position must be defined relative to the finished card, not only the uncut overlay sheet. The supplier needs a dimensioned drawing showing the sheet orientation, card layout, cutting marks, stripe direction, distance from the finished-card edge, stripe width, and tolerance.

• Finished-card size and card orientation.

• Number of cards arranged on each printed sheet.

• Magnetic stripe width and color.

• Distance from the stripe edge to the finished-card edge.

• Stripe direction and swipe direction.

• HiCo or LoCo coercivity specification.

• Required positional and cutting tolerance.

• Any signature panel, chip, barcode, or printed area near the stripe.

Quality Control and Testing

Reliable magnetic card production requires inspection of both the transparent overlay and the functional stripe. Wallis can coordinate project-specific inspection requirements according to the material grade, card structure, order volume, and customer acceptance criteria.

Overlay Inspection

• Material and coating-grade verification.

• Thickness and sheet-dimension inspection.

• Transparency, haze, gloss, and surface-cleanliness inspection.

• Coating uniformity and coated-side identification.

• Dust, scratch, wrinkle, pinhole, and edge-damage inspection.

• Trial lamination, flatness, and peel-strength evaluation.

Magnetic Stripe Inspection

• HiCo or LoCo grade confirmation.

• Stripe width, position, direction, and visual consistency.

• Stripe adhesion and resistance to peeling during processing.

• Surface defects, contamination, breaks, or irregular edges.

• Encoding and reading verification using compatible equipment.

• Finished-card swipe, track, and reader compatibility testing.

Finished-Card Qualification

Where an ISO, customer, banking, transportation, hospitality, government, or access-control requirement applies, conformity must be evaluated on the finished encoded card using the appropriate test method. Raw overlay supply alone does not establish finished-card compliance.

Sample Approval Before Bulk Production

Magnetic overlay should be tested with the buyer's actual printed core, card-body material, lamination machine, encoder, reader, cutting layout, and finished-card design before mass production.

1. Approve the material, thickness, stripe grade, width, color, and position drawing.

2. Test coating compatibility with the actual printed ink.

3. Confirm lamination temperature, pressure, time, and cooling cycle.

4. Inspect stripe alignment after lamination and punching.

5. Encode all required tracks using the production encoder.

6. Read the cards with the intended field readers.

7. Evaluate adhesion, abrasion, bending, flatness, aging, and handling performance.

8. Sign the approved sample or technical specification before bulk manufacture.

Packaging and Global Shipping

Magnetic stripe overlay must be protected from moisture, dust, surface abrasion, bending, edge damage, and uncontrolled magnetic exposure during storage and transport. Export packaging can be customized according to sheet size, order quantity, destination, and handling requirements.

• Clean protective inner film or PE wrapping.

• Moisture-resistant kraft paper or sealed protective packaging.

• Carton, reinforced box, wooden case, or palletized export packing.

• Corner and edge protection to reduce sheet deformation.

• Lot number, material grade, coated-side and stripe-direction labels.

• Customized labels, packing lists, and shipping marks.

Protected Export Packaging

Palletized International Shipping

Why Choose Wallis as Your Magnetic Overlay Supplier?

Wallis supplies card materials to card manufacturers, printing companies, smart card factories, converters, distributors, and OEM customers. We support customized magnetic stripe overlay projects from specification review and samples through bulk production and export delivery.

• More than 15 years of experience in plastic sheets and card materials.

• Multiple production facilities and scalable manufacturing capacity.

• PVC, PET, PETG, PC, coated overlay, core sheet, and card-inlay supply.

• HiCo and LoCo magnetic-stripe customization.

• Customized thickness, dimensions, stripe position, surface, and coating.

• Sample and pilot-order support for lamination and encoding verification.

• Customized packaging, labels, shipping marks, and export documentation.

Wallis Exhibition

Global B2B Customers

Wallis Factory

Customer Feedback

Frequently Asked Questions

What is coated overlay with magnetic stripe used for?

It is used as the protective outer layer and magnetic data layer in laminated plastic cards. The overlay protects printed card information while the integrated stripe supports compatible magnetic encoding and reading.

What is the difference between HiCo and LoCo magnetic stripes?

LoCo stripes require a lower magnetic field for encoding and are commonly used for shorter-cycle or frequently rewritten cards. HiCo stripes require a stronger encoding field and provide greater resistance to accidental magnetic erasure.

Do you supply 300 Oe, 2750 Oe, and 4000 Oe magnetic overlay?

Yes. Wallis can discuss 300 Oe LoCo and 2750 Oe or 4000 Oe HiCo options. Final availability and suitability depend on the material, stripe supplier, color, width, position, quantity, and project requirements.

Can magnetic stripe position and width be customized?

Yes. Stripe width, position, direction, color, coercivity, and distance from the finished-card edge can be customized according to an approved technical drawing.

Can you supply A4, A3, or customized overlay sheets?

Yes. Wallis can supply A4, A3, and customized sheet dimensions. The layout should be matched with the buyer's printing format, card imposition, lamination plate, and punching process.

What overlay materials are available?

Available material options can include PVC, PET, PETG, and polycarbonate. The correct material depends on the card core, printing method, lamination temperature, required card life, and personalization process.

Can the magnetic overlay be laminated directly with printed sheets?

Yes, when the overlay coating, printed ink, card-core material, and lamination process are compatible. The coated side should face the intended printed or core layer, and samples should be tested before bulk production.

Does the magnetic stripe provide encryption or anti-counterfeiting by itself?

No. A magnetic stripe is primarily a machine-readable data medium. Security depends on the encoded data, backend system, reader controls, credential-management process, and any additional chip, holographic, printed, or laser-personalized security features.

Can the overlay be combined with RFID, NFC, or chip cards?

Yes. Magnetic overlay can form part of a hybrid card containing a contact chip, RFID or NFC inlay, barcode, QR code, signature panel, or other card function. The complete layer structure must be tested for bonding, flatness, card thickness, and encoding performance.

Can existing finished cards be upgraded by adding this overlay?

This material is primarily designed for use during card manufacturing, before lamination and punching. Adding it to an already finished card is generally not equivalent to producing a properly laminated magnetic card and may affect card thickness, dimensions, flatness, and reader compatibility.

Can samples be tested before bulk production?

Yes. Sample testing is strongly recommended to verify coating compatibility, stripe position, lamination bonding, punching accuracy, encoding, track reading, surface appearance, and finished-card performance.

What information is required for a quotation?

Please provide the overlay material, thickness, sheet size, HiCo or LoCo specification, coercivity, stripe width, stripe color, stripe-position drawing, coating requirement, card application, printing method, estimated quantity, packaging, and destination.

How should magnetic overlay sheets be stored?

Store the sheets sealed in their original packaging in a clean, dry, temperature-controlled environment. Protect them from moisture, dust, bending, scratches, strong magnetic fields, direct sunlight, and uncontrolled heat.