Eli5: When your credit card doesn’t read at a credit card machine, why does covering it with a plastic bag suddenly make it work?

Question

Had this done multiple time at the register. Card not reading, so the cashier will cover the ribbon or the chip with a plastic bag and YATZEE, it goes through. Why?

In: 407

Answer 1

Probably blocks the chip contacts for chip and pin which is preferred. Falls back to magstripe. Might be depending on the reader config though as the strip contains information if the card supports chip and pin.