Credit Card Swiper Format

Question

I have a magnetic card reader and I'm trying to parse the information in my ColdFusion site to send off to PayPal. However, I can't seem to get the 3 digit CV code on the back. Here's the format I get:

%B4444555566667777^DOE/JOHN G^10051010101010106000000?;4444555566667777=10051010101010106000000?

So, from this I can get: Name: John
Middle Name: G
Last Name: Doe
Card Number: 4444555566667777
Expiration: 05/10

Where can I get that three digit number that's on the back? Or do I need it? Is it a different number when you swipe the card?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

The CV/CVV code on the back is not encoded in any way on the magnetic strip, it's printed on the card just to verify that the person using it has the actual physical card.

Since a magnetic strip is easily created if someone hacks a card database and gets the card numbers, the CVV code was added to add an extra, non electronic security measure. Since the CVV is not allowed to be stored, that will never be in the database.

Answer 2

The CVV code is not included in the magnetic data - it cannot be read by the reading device. If you need the CVV number, include a place for your users to enter it.