Anatomy of a credit card

By David Munns

The long string of numbers, the magnetic stripe, the signature strip and the hologram all play roles in making credit transactions work. Get to know the standard parts of a credit card by moving your mouse around the image below. Click the arrows to flip the card and e-mail us with any anatomically correct factoids we could add. You may need to scroll down to see explanations.

See related: "Understanding your card's ID number," "Common credit card appearance."

Updated: September 2, 2008

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