ISO/IEC 7811 defines the characteristics of identification cards. ISO/IEC 7811-6:2008 provides criteria to which cards shall perform and specifies the requirements for such cards used for international interchange. It takes into consideration both human and machine aspects and states minimum requirements.

ISO/IEC 7811-6:2008 specifies requirements for a high coercivity magnetic stripe (including any protective overlay) on an identification card, the encoding technique and coded character sets. It includes a modified algorithm for waveform measurement which produces more consistent results (incorporated from ISO/IEC 7811-6:2001/Amd.1:2005), and an additional requirement has been added for signal amplitude.

ISO/IEC 7811-6:2008 specifies the following:

• the conditions for conformance;


• physical characteristics for the card (warpage and surface distortions) and the magnetic stripe area (location, height and surface profile, roughness, adhesion, wear, and resistance to chemicals);


• the signal amplitude performance characteristics of the magnetic stripe;


• the encoding specification including technique (F2F), angle of recording, bit density, flux transition spacing variation, and signal amplitude;


• the data structure including track format, the use of error correction techniques;


• the location of encoded tracks.

ISO/IEC 7811-6:2008, together with a standard for test methods, provides for interchange between various types of identification card processing devices and systems.