Contactless Payments vs Magnetic Stripe Cards

Developers should learn contactless payments to build or integrate payment solutions in mobile apps, e-commerce platforms, and IoT devices, as it's increasingly standard in retail, public transit, and event ticketing for its fast, hygienic, and user-friendly experience meets developers should learn about magnetic stripe cards when working on legacy payment systems, point-of-sale (pos) hardware integration, or security assessments, as they are still common in many industries despite being phased out for more secure technologies. Here's our take.

Contactless Payments

Nice Pick

Developers should learn contactless payments to build or integrate payment solutions in mobile apps, e-commerce platforms, and IoT devices, as it's increasingly standard in retail, public transit, and event ticketing for its fast, hygienic, and user-friendly experience

Pros

• It's essential for roles in fintech, mobile development, and security-focused projects, where implementing NFC APIs, handling payment gateways, and ensuring PCI DSS compliance are common requirements
• Related to: near-field-communication, payment-gateways

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Magnetic Stripe Cards

Developers should learn about magnetic stripe cards when working on legacy payment systems, point-of-sale (POS) hardware integration, or security assessments, as they are still common in many industries despite being phased out for more secure technologies

Pros

• Understanding their data formats (e
• Related to: emv-chip-cards, contactless-payments

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Contactless Payments is a platform while Magnetic Stripe Cards is a tool. We picked Contactless Payments based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Contactless Payments wins

Based on overall popularity. Contactless Payments is more widely used, but Magnetic Stripe Cards excels in its own space.