Custom Colored Magnetic Stripe Film for Plastic Cards

Custom Colored Magnetic Stripe for Plastic Card Manufacturing

Wallis supplies custom colored magnetic stripe materials for professional plastic card manufacturers that require reliable magnetic data functionality together with a distinctive branded appearance. Available colors include black, blue, red, gold, and silver, with additional color-matching options subject to material grade, quantity, and technical evaluation.

The magnetic stripe can be integrated into PVC, PET, or PC coated overlay sheets for card lamination. Customized stripe width, position, direction, coercivity, surface appearance, sheet size, and packaging can be developed for gift cards, loyalty cards, membership cards, hotel key cards, access cards, employee cards, transportation cards, identification cards, and other swipe-card applications.

Colored Magnetic Stripe Product Specifications

Final color, magnetic performance, width, position, coating, encoding compatibility, and card-reader compatibility must be confirmed through an approved physical sample and production test.

What Is a Customized Colored Magnetic Stripe?

A customized colored magnetic stripe is a functional magnetic recording layer with a visible colored or metallic surface instead of the conventional black or brown appearance. It stores machine-readable data while helping the finished card match a brand identity, product category, membership level, or premium design.

For card-lamination production, the colored stripe can be integrated into a transparent coated overlay. The overlay and printed core sheets are laminated together before the card is punched, encoded, inspected, and delivered.

Color is a visual customization feature. Magnetic recording performance is determined by the stripe's magnetic layer, coercivity, signal quality, physical dimensions, encoding process, and reader compatibility.

How Do Magnetic Stripes Work?

A magnetic stripe contains magnetizable particles that can be encoded with data. A compatible encoder creates magnetic transitions along the stripe, and a card reader detects these transitions when the card is swiped past the reading head.

Depending on the system, the stripe can store identification numbers, membership data, room-access information, account references, ticketing information, or other machine-readable records.

The magnetic stripe is only one part of the complete system. Data security depends on the encoding format, backend database, reader settings, access rules, credential management, and any additional chip or authentication technology.

Customized Colored Magnetic Stripe Surface

Magnetic Stripe Film for Card Production

HiCo and LoCo Colored Magnetic Stripe Options

LoCo Colored Magnetic Stripe

LoCo means low coercivity. A common LoCo grade is approximately 300 Oe, although other grades can be evaluated. It requires a lower magnetic field for writing and is commonly considered for hotel key cards, temporary access cards, event cards, loyalty cards, and applications that may be rewritten or frequently reissued.

LoCo cards should be protected from strong external magnetic fields that could affect the encoded data.

HiCo Colored Magnetic Stripe

HiCo means high coercivity. Common project options can include approximately 2750 Oe, 3000 Oe, or 4000 Oe. HiCo stripes provide greater resistance to accidental magnetic erasure and are commonly evaluated for employee access cards, transportation cards, long-term membership cards, identification cards, and financial card projects.

How to Choose Between HiCo and LoCo

Choose LoCo when easy rewriting, short service life, and cost efficiency are the main priorities. Choose HiCo when resistance to accidental erasure and longer-term use are more important. The selected magnetic grade must match the customer's encoder, reader, track format, data system, and finished-card qualification requirements.

Available Colors and Color-Matching Options

Black Magnetic Stripe

Black is the conventional magnetic stripe color and is suitable for standard hotel, access, membership, transportation, and identification card designs.

Gold and Silver Magnetic Stripes

Gold and silver finishes create a premium metallic appearance for VIP cards, luxury membership cards, gift cards, hospitality cards, and branded financial products.

Red and Blue Magnetic Stripes

Red and blue stripes can coordinate with corporate colors or visually distinguish different card programs, departments, product tiers, access levels, and customer groups.

Custom Color Matching

Project-specific colors can be evaluated according to a physical sample, color card, printed card, or agreed color reference. Exact appearance depends on the magnetic material, pigment, metallic effect, protective layer, surface texture, substrate, lighting, and production batch.

Because monitor displays and digital artwork cannot accurately represent every metallic or magnetic surface, a physical color sample should be approved before mass production.

Neutral and Metallic Stripe Options

Custom Color and Contrast Effects

Magnetic Stripe Width and Track Configuration

Single-Track Stripe

A narrow single-track stripe can be selected for applications requiring a limited data field or a compact visual design. A common reference width is approximately 6.35mm, but the final width must match the intended reader and card specification.

Two-Track Stripe

A two-track magnetic stripe can use an approximately 8.4mm reference width. It is suitable where two encoded tracks are required and the card system supports the selected format.

Three-Track Stripe

A three-track stripe commonly uses an approximately 12.7mm reference width and can support Track 1, Track 2, and Track 3 when required by the card program.

Customized Width

Wider decorative stripes, over-the-edge effects, and project-specific widths may be possible. However, decorative width and actual encoded-track location must be engineered so the finished card remains compatible with the intended encoder and reader.

Key Benefits of Colored Magnetic Stripes

Stronger Brand Consistency

A stripe color coordinated with the card artwork helps create a consistent visual identity across gift cards, membership programs, hotel systems, employee credentials, and premium card collections.

Visual Card Classification

Different stripe colors can visually identify membership levels, departments, customer groups, card categories, access programs, or product versions.

Premium Appearance

Metallic gold, silver, and specialty colors can improve the perceived value of premium loyalty, hospitality, gift, financial, and VIP cards.

Functional Magnetic Data Storage

Qualified colored stripes retain the magnetic recording and reading function required for compatible swipe-card systems when the correct grade, encoding method, width, location, and reader are used.

Flexible Card-Material Integration

Colored magnetic stripe material can be integrated with PVC, PET, or PC overlay constructions and combined with printing, signature panels, barcodes, QR codes, contact chips, RFID inlays, or other card functions.

Applications of Customized Colored Magnetic Stripes

Membership and Loyalty Cards

Retailers, gyms, clubs, entertainment venues, libraries, and service providers can use different stripe colors to distinguish membership levels, reward programs, or customer categories.

Hotel Key Cards

Colored LoCo or HiCo stripes can be customized for hotel key-card programs, depending on the lock encoder, reader, rewriting requirements, card life, and visual brand standards.

Gift and Promotional Cards

Gold, silver, red, blue, or custom-colored stripes can coordinate with seasonal campaigns, retail branding, entertainment programs, promotional cards, and prepaid gift-card designs.

Access and Employee Cards

Organizations can use colored stripes to visually classify employees, visitors, contractors, departments, sites, or credential levels while retaining compatibility with an existing magnetic access system.

Event Passes

Event operators can use colored stripes to differentiate general admission, staff, media, exhibitor, backstage, sponsor, and VIP cards.

Transportation and Parking Cards

Magnetic stripe cards can support parking, ticketing, transportation, fare collection, and visitor-management applications that continue to use compatible swipe-card infrastructure.

Financial Card Projects

Colored magnetic stripes may be evaluated for banking and financial cards. Finished-card construction, stripe position, encoding, performance, security, payment-network requirements, and applicable certification must be approved by the card issuer and relevant program.

Customized Magnetic Stripe Cards

Loyalty, Access, and Gift Card Applications

How Colored Magnetic Stripe Overlay Is Used

1. Confirm the Card Structure

Define the front overlay, printed core, internal card layers, rear overlay, magnetic stripe position, finished-card dimensions, and target thickness.

2. Approve the Stripe Color

Select a standard color or provide a physical reference for custom matching. Metallic, glossy, matte, and special effects should be confirmed through a physical sample.

3. Select HiCo or LoCo

Match the coercivity with the intended encoder, reader, rewrite requirement, service environment, card lifetime, and existing system.

4. Confirm Width and Position

Provide a dimensioned drawing showing the stripe width, distance from the finished-card edge, stripe direction, card orientation, sheet layout, cutting marks, and positional tolerance.

5. Stack and Laminate the Sheets

Stack the coated overlay and printed card-core sheets in the approved orientation. Apply the tested temperature, pressure, heating time, cooling time, release plate, and lamination cycle.

6. Punch the Finished Cards

Punch the laminated sheets and inspect the card dimensions, stripe location, surface appearance, color consistency, edge bonding, flatness, and card thickness.

7. Encode and Read-Test

Encode the required track data with the intended production encoder and verify the cards using the actual field reader. Check swipe direction, data accuracy, signal quality, track configuration, and read reliability.

How to Specify a Custom Colored Magnetic Stripe

• Required stripe color or physical color sample.

• Metallic, glossy, matte, or standard appearance.

• HiCo or LoCo magnetic grade.

• Required coercivity, such as 300 Oe, 600/650 Oe, 2750 Oe, 3000 Oe, or 4000 Oe.

• Stripe width and required track configuration.

• Stripe position relative to the finished-card edge.

• Card size, thickness, and material.

• Sheet size and number of cards per sheet.

• Overlay material, coating, and surface finish.

• Encoder and reader model.

• Required application and expected card life.

• Sample quantity, annual volume, packaging, and destination.

Quality Control and Sample Testing

Color Inspection

Production color should be compared with the approved physical sample under controlled viewing conditions. Metallic appearance, gloss, surface texture, and substrate can affect the perceived color.

Stripe Dimension Inspection

Inspect stripe width, location, direction, edge quality, alignment, continuity, and distance from the finished-card edge according to the approved drawing.

Surface and Adhesion Inspection

Check for scratches, wrinkles, contamination, bubbles, peeling, weak adhesion, uneven edges, color defects, and surface damage before and after lamination.

Magnetic Performance Testing

Test the stripe with the required encoder and reader to verify writing, reading, track data, signal consistency, swipe direction, and compatibility with the customer's system.

Lamination and Finished-Card Testing

Evaluate card flatness, thickness, bonding, stripe position, abrasion resistance, bending, surface appearance, and magnetic read performance after lamination, cooling, and punching.

Approved Sample Requirement

A signed sample, color sample, technical drawing, or agreed specification should be approved before bulk manufacture. This reduces disputes involving color, stripe location, magnetic grade, reader compatibility, and finished-card appearance.

Colored Magnetic Stripe and Card Security

A custom stripe color can make a card easier to recognize and more difficult to reproduce casually. However, color alone should not be treated as a secure authentication feature.

Projects requiring stronger protection can combine the colored stripe with contact or contactless chips, secure authentication, holograms, UV printing, microtext, laser engraving, variable data, signature panels, barcodes, or controlled backend verification.

The appropriate security design depends on the application, threat level, card issuer, reader network, data-management system, and applicable industry requirements.

Packaging and Global Shipping

Colored magnetic stripe materials must be protected from dust, moisture, scratches, bending, excessive pressure, surface abrasion, direct sunlight, uncontrolled heat, and strong magnetic fields during storage and transportation.

• Protective PE film or clean inner wrapping.

• Moisture-resistant kraft paper or sealed packaging.

• Flat cartons, reinforced boxes, wooden cases, or pallets.

• Corner, edge, and surface protection.

• Material, color, coercivity, width, direction, and lot labels.

• Customized packaging, private labels, shipping marks, and packing lists.

Reinforced Export Packaging

Palletized Global Shipping

Why Choose Wallis?

Wallis supports plastic card manufacturers, security printers, converters, personalization companies, hotel-card suppliers, gift-card manufacturers, distributors, and OEM customers requiring customized magnetic stripe and overlay materials.

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

• Custom black, blue, red, gold, silver, and project-specific colors.

• HiCo and LoCo magnetic stripe options.

• Customized stripe width, position, direction, coercivity, and sheet layout.

• PVC, PET, PC, coated overlay, strong-coated overlay, and related card materials.

• Sample support for color, lamination, encoding, and reading tests.

• Customized packaging, labeling, batch control, and export documentation.

Wallis Exhibitions

Global B2B Customers

Wallis Factory

Customer Feedback

Customer feedback helps demonstrate communication quality, sample support, material consistency, and repeat-order experience for customized card-material projects.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a colored magnetic stripe made from?

A colored magnetic stripe normally contains a magnetic recording layer, a bonding layer, and a colored or metallic visible surface. The complete construction depends on the magnetic grade, application method, substrate, and card-production process.

Which magnetic stripe colors are available?

Standard project options include black, blue, red, gold, and silver. Additional colors can be evaluated according to a physical reference, required quantity, magnetic specification, and production feasibility.

Can you match a Pantone color or physical card sample?

A Pantone reference can be used as an initial target, but a magnetic or metallic surface may not reproduce a paper Pantone color exactly. A physical production sample should be approved before bulk manufacturing.

What is the difference between HiCo and LoCo colored stripes?

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

Are 300 Oe, 2750 Oe, and 4000 Oe options available?

These are common magnetic stripe project references. Availability in a specific color, width, substrate, and order quantity must be confirmed before quotation and sample production.

Can the magnetic stripe width be customized?

Yes. Common reference widths include approximately 6.35mm, 8.4mm, and 12.7mm. Other widths can be evaluated according to the card design, encoded-track location, application equipment, and minimum order quantity.

Can the stripe position be customized?

Yes. Provide a technical drawing showing the finished-card dimensions, stripe width, distance from the card edge, direction, sheet layout, cutting marks, and tolerance.

Are colored magnetic stripes compatible with all card readers?

Compatibility cannot be guaranteed with every reader. The stripe coercivity, track location, encoding format, signal quality, card thickness, swipe direction, encoder, and reader must be matched and tested.

Does the stripe color affect encoding and reading?

A properly qualified color layer should not prevent normal magnetic operation. However, every color and magnetic-grade combination should be tested because the complete stripe structure, surface, thickness, application process, and protective layer can affect performance.

Can colored stripes support Track 1, Track 2, and Track 3?

Yes, subject to the stripe width, encoded-track position, magnetic grade, encoder, reader, and required card standard. The track configuration should be stated when requesting a quotation.

Does a colored magnetic stripe improve card security?

A custom color can support visual identification and make casual reproduction more difficult, but it is not a secure authentication method by itself. Stronger security requires controlled data, chips, encryption, backend verification, or additional anti-counterfeiting features.

Can the stripe be combined with RFID or chip cards?

Yes. Colored magnetic stripe functionality can be combined with contact chips, RFID or NFC inlays, barcodes, QR codes, signature panels, and other card features. The full card construction must be tested before mass production.

Will the colored magnetic stripe fade?

Color durability depends on the pigment, metallic layer, protective surface, card usage, abrasion, chemicals, heat, sunlight, and storage conditions. Samples should be tested against the intended service environment.

Can I receive a sample before placing a bulk order?

Yes. Sample approval is recommended to confirm the color, metallic appearance, magnetic grade, width, position, lamination, encoding, reader compatibility, and finished-card appearance.

What information is required for a quotation?

Please provide the required color, physical sample or color reference, HiCo or LoCo grade, coercivity, stripe width, position drawing, card material, overlay thickness, sheet size, encoder, reader, estimated quantity, packaging, and delivery destination.