Credit Card and Bill Acceptor Cleaners

If you’re looking for a quick, cheap, and safe way to clean the acceptors on your coin vacs and air machines, cleaning cards may be the solution you’re looking for! Without dismantling anything or using hazardous cleaning chemicals, you can do preventative cleaning and maintenance on acceptors. Simply enter cleaning cards into the bezel and it will remove dirt, grime, and other foreign contaminants.

Keeping your credit card and bill acceptors clean makes vac and air transactions smoother and cuts down on failures and errors. Avoid customer issues and complaints while adding years to the life of your acceptors!

Benefits of Cleaning Your Credit Card Reader

Reduces transaction errors and misreads, resulting in smoother customer experiences and fewer disputes.
Extends the lifespan of your credit card readers, minimizing costly replacements or repairs.
Improves equipment reliability, which keeps your wash operating and reduces downtime due to payment failures.
Helps prevent customer complaints and frustration by ensuring terminals accept cards on the first try.
Offers quick, easy, and cost-effective preventative maintenance that can be performed without specialty tools or training.
Protects your investment in payment terminals by maintaining the sensitive internal components free from dirt, dust, and corrosion.
Supports better cash flow by keeping payment systems running efficiently and maximizing accepted transactions.
Reduces the likelihood of lost sales or missed revenue during peak car wash hours due to reader malfunction.

How Cleaning Cards Work and How to Use Them

It's very simple to use a card reader cleaning card. Made of thick paper or light cardstock, these handy cards basically mimic a standard credit card with similar dimensions and weight. Instead of a magnetic stripe or chip, though, they feature a subtly textured surface that physically cleans harmful dirt, oils, and debris from the magnetic-sensitive reader or tiny metal terminals that connect to a chip. Additionally, these cards are usually lightly pre-saturated with an alcohol-free cleaning solution that breaks down soils while still being safe for the electrical components inside the terminal.

All you have to do is swipe or insert the card into your reader, just like you would if you were conducting a transaction. Once inserted, the textured surface and cleaning solution do their magic. It may be helpful to swipe or insert a couple times in quick succession to create a light scrubbing effect that ensures all residue and grime is completely removed.

We stock cleaning cards designed and manufactured by the respected KICTeam that specializes in these products. Their popular cleaning cards feature Waffletechnology, a textured surface design that strategically targets mag-stripe readers and pins that connect to chips. Plus, they are premoistened with either MiracleMagic cleaning agent or Evanish electronics cleaner. These cards are designed to be virtually universal and work with nearly any credit card terminal found on car wash coin boxes and vacuums, ATMs, POS, and vending machines. You can take a look at this quick video to see a card in use! Additionally, you can visit KIC's case studies and white papers page to see some real-world examples of how their cleaning cards have helped businesses! Read an example of one of these studies below.

NCR Case Study with KIC Cleaning Cards

Read about NCR's experience using KIC products with failing magnetic stripe reading modules in POS machines. You can also find this case study on KIC's website.

Background: NCR Corporation is a leader in omni-channel solutions, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables nearly 700 million transactions daily across retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology, and small business.
Objective: NCR wanted to maximize front-end through put and increase customer loyalty with optimum card reads.
Solution: As a result of a series of early-life point of sale failures due to magnetic strip reader failures, NCR scientists decided to carry out a study to determine the effectiveness of cleaning cards to recover Magnetic Strip Reader modules that had failed previously during the point-of-sale refurbishment process.
Method: The study was conducted on 723 modules that were pre-tested to ensure they failed the card reader test. The same modules were then thoroughly cleaned using Waffletechnology cards and retested using the same testing procedure.
Results: Of the 723 POS modules tested, 565 POS were considered recovered by registering 5/5 card reads during testing after the cleaning cards were used.
Statistics: 78% of POS modules were considered recovered by registering 5/5 card reads during testing after the cleaning cards were used.
Conclusion: Waffletechnology cleaning cards were proven to be an effective way to optimize the lifespan of magnetic strip card readers and improve point-of-sale transactions.

How Often Should I Clean My Readers?

While there isn't an explicit recommended schedule for cleaning your readers, especially since needs may differ by application, it's a good idea to make it part of your regular monthly or even weekly cleaning and maintenance procedures. At a minimum, you should be seasonally cleaning your readers. The cards are relatively inexpensive, and the cleaning process is quick, so this preventative maintenance is remarkable easy. If you're experiencing an unusual number of failures or errors, consider cleaning your reader immediately before doing any technical service. You may be surprised how often a simple cleaning can solve the problem!

Types of Cleaning Cards

We offer three basic types of cleaning cards for different applications. Here's a quick explanation to help you understand the distinctions between them:

Credit Card: Similar to the size and shape of a standard credit card, these cleaning cards are intended for systems that accept cc and debit payments. Some have textured surfaces that will clean swipers, while others are designed for smart EMV chip readers. For example, if you are using a traditional swiper, the K2-H80B50 GEN H is a great choice, while a KW3-HSCB40 would be an ideal option if your equipment has a smart chip reader.
Bill Acceptor: These have dimensions that match a US dollar bill. The waffle-like textured spots on the card are placed in a way so that when the card is inserted from its side, they accurately target the components inside the bill validator.
Currency Counter: These are also the same size as US bills, but the textured surface is slightly different than the ones for bill acceptors. That's because bills are generally inserted and read horizontally when run through a currency counter, and the components inside the counter are different than a bill acceptor. The design of these cleaning cards reflects that difference.

Cleaning Card Safety Information

KICTeam cleaning cards are generally safe for their intended use, but potential safety warnings include getting the solution in your eyes, which may cause irritation, and skin irritation if contact persists. While ingestion is unlikely, medical attention should be sought if any symptoms occur.

General Safety Notes

Eye contact: No first aid is usually required, but flush eyes with water. Seek medical attention if irritation continues.
Skin contact: No first aid is usually required, but discontinue use and seek medical attention if skin irritation develops.
Inhalation: No first aid is typically needed. If you experience breathing difficulties, move to an area with fresh air and seek immediate medical attention.
Ingestion: Ingestion is unlikely, so no first aid is needed for small amounts transferred from hands to mouth. If a large amount is ingested, get medical attention immediately.

Before Using

Handle with care: While the cards are safe for electronic components, handle them with care and follow the instructions.
Wash hands: Wash your hands thoroughly after handling the cards to avoid potential skin irritation.

After Using

Seek medical attention: If any symptoms persist after following the first aid steps, get medical attention.
Store properly: Store any leftover cards in their original container and keep them away from children and pets.