[northshore]

I’ve been using Guardality for a couple months and it seems fine, but I just got a new bag that has a magnetic closure. Does that interfere with the blocking at all? I’m not super technical, so I have no idea if magnets mess with RFID stuff. It’s probably a dumb question but I’d rather ask than assume. Anyone else use theirs in a bag like that?

[Kate 87]

Magnets don’t mess with RFID blocking as far as I know.

[Sarah Kos]

I actually had the opposite happen with a bag clasp. Not Guardality, but a different RFID card I was trying, and the magnet in the closure was close enough to the card slot that it gave me trouble. The blocking got patchy near the top of the wallet where the magnet sat against it. I only noticed because my transit card stopped tapping cleanly at the gate, which never happened before. Once I moved the card to the other side of the wallet, away from the clasp, it was fine again. So I don’t buy the idea that magnets are totally irrelevant here. Distance matters. If your Guardality card sits right up against that magnetic closure every time the bag shuts, I’d expect some interference with how well it shields, even if it’s not ruining the card itself. I ended up just picking a bag with a zipper instead because I got tired of guessing whether the shielding was working that day. Might be overkill for some people, but I’d rather not wonder every time I walk through a crowded station. If you already have the bag, try keeping the card toward the middle or bottom of the wallet and see if tapping feels any different. That’s what clued me in.

[Sara Beast]

I keep mine in a crossbody with a magnetic flap and honestly never gave it much thought. It’s been about three months of daily use and my cards still don’t scan from outside the bag when I test them. So either the magnet isn’t doing anything or it’s not enough to matter.

[Sarah]

I have a magnetic snap on my everyday bag and my Guardality card has been in there since spring with no issues. I honestly never even thought about the magnet until now. Still works the same as day one for me.

[T_Holloway]

I get why you’re asking, but the whole “magnets break RFID blocking” thing gets repeated way more than it gets proven. I’ve been using RFID stuff for years, and the only time I ever saw a real failure was a cheap sleeve that was already worn out before the magnet even came into the picture. Magnets and RFID signals aren’t the same thing, so a clasp sitting on the outside of a bag isn’t doing much to the field inside.

That said, I don’t treat Guardality like it’s magic either. Mine’s been in a bag with a snap closure for close to five months and cards still don’t scan through it when I test at a self checkout. Same result as before the bag. So from what I can actually see, the clasp isn’t the problem.

What I’d question more is the wallet itself. If the card sits right against the magnet or the bag lining is thin, maybe that changes things, but I haven’t hit that. People act like any magnet nearby is a death sentence and that hasn’t matched anything I’ve seen. If you want a real answer, grab a card you don’t care about and try tapping it through the wallet at a terminal. That tells you more than forum guesses. Not trying to be a jerk, but half these threads are just people repeating what they read somewhere.

[Mike Reynolds]

Magnets don’t touch RFID shielding. The blocking is a metal layer inside the card, and a bag clasp isn’t going to punch through that. My Guardality’s been sitting next to a magnetic snap for months and nothing changed.

[Jordan Writes]

Magnets in bag clasps are not doing anything to your Guardality. I’ve had mine in a messenger bag with a big magnetic flap closure since last winter and it’s been totally fine. The blocking layer inside the card isn’t affected by a little magnet holding your bag shut. If magnets actually killed RFID shielding then half the wallets on the market would be useless overnight.

I get why people ask though. It sounds like it should matter. But in practice it just doesn’t. Mine sits right next to the clasp when the bag is closed and I’ve never had a single weird moment with it. Cards still get blocked the same way they always did.

The only thing I’d actually pay attention to is whether your cards are physically close to the Guardality card. That’s what makes the difference, not some magnet on the outside of the bag. Keep them together in the same pocket and you’re set.

[Sam Writes]

Mine actually stopped reading reliably after a few weeks in a bag with a magnetic flap. Not saying the magnet caused it, but I moved it to a plain pocket and it’s been fine since. So I’d at least test a card before trusting it in there.

[Ella Riddle]

I haven’t bought one yet, so I can’t speak from use. The thing I’d want to know is whether the shield has to sit on the same side as your cards, or if it works from anywhere in the wallet. That seems like the part that actually matters with a clasp bag.

[Taylor R.]

The magnet thing is way overblown. My card sat in a bag with a magnetic closure for months and never had a single issue. If it ever stops working, that’s a manufacturing problem, not the clasp.

[Chris Writes]

The magnet part isn’t what I’d focus on. What actually seems to matter is where the Guardality sits in relation to your cards. If it’s just tossed in the same pocket as your cards, it can shift around, and then you’re basically relying on luck. I keep mine in a specific slot so it stays flat against the stack, and that habit has been way more reliable for me than any worries about a clasp. The bag itself is probably fine, but the placement inside it is the thing I’d actually pay attention to. If your wallet has a dedicated card slot that’s the same size, use that. If it’s just floating around loose in a bigger compartment, that’s when things get inconsistent. So yeah, the magnetic closure is probably not the issue. The setup inside the bag is what I’d look at first.

[Kuzela]

I’ve had one of those magnetic flap bags for years and never gave it a second thought with my cards. The way I see it, the magnet is just there to snap the bag shut, it’s not blasting some field through everything in the bag. My cards still tap fine when I pull them out, and nothing weird has happened with my Guardality either. I did notice one thing though, and this is more about the bag than the magnet. When I switched to a deeper bag, I started keeping the Guardality in the same little pocket as my main card instead of letting it float around loose. That made a bigger difference for me than any magnet ever did. Before that I had it in a different section and a couple times my card didn’t want to read at the register until I moved things around. Still no idea if that was the card or the shield, but keeping them together sorted it. So yeah, magnet clasp hasn’t been an issue on my end.

[Grant Miles]

Magnets aren’t the issue, the position is. Mine slid around loose in my bag for a bit and still blocked fine, but once it ended up folded inside a jacket pocket with a snap closure it kept working too. If it’s actually sitting against your cards you’re good.

[Ryan__T]

The magnet in a clasp is tiny compared to what it would take to mess with a passive card like this. I’ve kept mine next to all kinds of junk in my bag and it’s never been an issue. If it ever stops working, a magnet is the last thing I’d blame.

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