swipe card

American  

noun

1. a plastic card with magnetically encoded data that is decoded when passed through a slotted electronic reader, especially for payment or identification purposes.

---

swipe card British  

noun

1. a credit card, identity card, etc, with a magnetic strip that holds encoded information that can be electronically interpreted as it is passed through the slot of a machine designed to read it

---

Etymology

Origin of swipe card

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

Two said that at one point he had his own swipe card, so he could come and go freely.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2025

Maine authorities have managed to thwart poaching in the state using new controls including a swipe card system meant to deter illegal sales.

From Seattle Times • May 1, 2024

Can it successfully use the weird electronic swipe card that I need to get into our office building?

From The Verge • Feb. 11, 2022

At the hospitals where he worked, Fuller had an "access all areas" swipe card, and the mortuary was an area he regularly visited.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2021

Locking myself out of the lab because I left my swipe card on my desk was a reasonably common occurrence.

From Nature • May 7, 2020