Patent ID: 8397998

Claim:
A card processing system comprising: a data processing station; and a portable card including: a protective housing; and a data storage device movably coupled to the protective housing for interacting with the data processing station when the portable card carrier and the data processing station are moved relative to each other, said data storage device including: a substrate having a generally rectangular shape; a hard disk drive recording medium including at least one layer of high density, high coercivity magnetic material including a plurality of magnetic domains for storing magnetic signals, said plurality of magnetic domains having an areal density of between 2 megabits per sq. in. to about 10 gigabits per sq. in. and having a storage capability of more than 500 megabytes; and a hard, abradeable protective coating formed on said magnetic material layer, wherein the protective coating has at least one layer which includes a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable material, and wherein the protective housing has at least one housing section that is movable relative to the data storage device such that said data storage device is shielded by said at least one housing section when said at least one housing section is in a first position, and said data storage device is operably exposed for interaction with the data processing station when said at least one housing section is in a second position.