System and techniques for detecting the orientation of a transaction card

A contactless card, comprising:

• a body of the contactless card, the body comprising a first location, wherein contacts or an antenna for communications with a card reader reside at the first location;
• a set of sensors located at different locations about the body, operable to generate signals while in close proximity to a source of an oscillating electromagnetic field of the card reader, each sensor of the set of sensors to detect a different magnitude of the oscillating electromagnetic field and generate a signal indicative of the magnitude of the oscillating electromagnetic field;
• a card orientation indicator circuitry operable to output an indication of an orientation of the contactless card;
• and
• a processor coupled to the set of sensors, wherein the processor is operable to:
• determine, based on the magnitudes of the generated signals and the different locations of the set of sensors, the orientation of the contacts or the antenna for communications with respect to the card reader,
• generate an orientation signal based on a determination of the orientation,
• output the orientation signal to the card orientation indicator circuitry,
• wherein the card orientation indicator circuitry is operable to;
• in response to the received orientation signal, generate an orientation indication signal to indicate a movement of the contactless card to adjust the orientation of the contacts or the antenna for communications with respect to the card reader.