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Is your wallet bulging with credit cards, debit cards, gym cards, loyalty cards and door passes? Most of a card’s bulk is the plastic, while all the data is on the thin magnetic strip on the back of the card. So why not save space by putting two strips onto one card? The US Patent Office is now considering just such an idea from 11-year-old schoolboy Scott Barnhill (US 2002/113130). Barnhill suggests that businesses that issue cards should use a machine like a tape dispenser to put a strip of magnetic tape onto the front of an existing card. The card is then run through a recorder that records data onto the strip.