Patent ID: 7044394

Claim:
A magnetic data storage array comprising: a stripe of magnetic material having a uniform width and depth along a longitudinal length, and a front side and a back side, and able to store electronic data as a magnetic recording comprising a plurality of bits; at least one magnetic write head permanently positioned on said back side of the magnetic stripe at a particular data bit location of one of said plurality of bits, and providing for electronic-magnetic alteration of a data bit so as to be magnetically readable on said front side; a magnetic recording serially accessible to a read head moving longitudinally on the surface of said front side of the stripe, and that includes at least one data bit writeable by the magnetic write head and another set of data bits only writeable directly by a card programmer; a financial account access code of a user encoded within the magnetic recording; and a controller connected to the magnetic write heads and providing for obfuscation of the financial account access code by automatic re-programming of the magnetic recording to disallow a second use of the same financial account access code and to complicate a correct guess of a proper next code; wherein, said front side of the stripe of magnetic material is such that a read head has available to it a continuous, homogeneous, and uninterrupted surface to shuttle along.