Led by Jerome Svigals in 1969, IBM spearheaded the establishment of standards for magnetic stripe technology. Chief concerns were the number of tracks and the type of information to be stored on them. In 1969, the American National Standards Institute accepted Forrest Parry’s specifications.
U.S. standards for magnetic stripe technology were established by a joint effort involving IBM, the American Bankers Association and the air transportation industry. Two years later, the IBM magnetic stripe card was recognized as the global standard by the International Organization for Standardization.
Setting the standard
“Standards are absolutely imperative. Without standards every country does their own thing.”
Gerard (Jerry) Hergenroeder
Financial services payments executive, IBM sales
“A major contribution of the ASDD [IBM’s Advanced Systems Development Division] effort was negotiating all of the interrelations to get an acceptable common specification and standard across multiple industry groups, between major corporations, with major executives and between major internal IBM forces, while driving consumer costs down to acceptable levels. … It was a serious balancing act that, in my opinion, exceeded the technical challenges.”
Jerome Svigals
IBM manager, magnetic stripe cards
Telephone interview
August 18, 2010“The magnetic stripe is the second most widely distributed information technology. What is the most widely distributed? Lead pencils.”
Jerome Svigals
IBM manager, magnetic stripe cards
Telephone interview
August 18, 2010