An article on Conversations inspired this post. If you have been using a regular size SIM card but now have a smartphone that uses the smaller microSIM or nanoSIM slots, chances are that you are considering cutting your SIM instead of swapping it for a proper microSIM or nanoSIM. Do consider the following info before you do:
Traditional Mini-SIM cards are slightly thicker than modern Micro- and Nano-SIMs, and so there is sometimes the risk that the cut SIM could damage the contacts on the phone’s SIM card reader. Many network operators today supply SIM cards with two pop-out sections so that the user can choose when they receive their new SIM whether to have Mini- or Micro-SIM; in these cases the whole card will be the same thickness as a Micro-SIM, so you do not have any risk, but you should NOT cut a standard Mini-SIM for phone designed to take a Micro-SIM. There is a secondary risk with cut SIMs, and this is that the cutting process can in some cases damage the metal chip and so render the SIM card useless.
Because here at MOBILITY, we swap phones a lot for review and test purposes, we have first-hand experience of this. Yes; regular SIM cards are slightly thicker than microSIMs and nanoSIMs, and in some cases we have seen cut SIMs destroy microSIM slots of phones. This also happens with cut MicroSIMs and NanoSIMS used with an adapter.
If you can avoid cutting and instead insisting that your network provider swaps your SIM for a smaller version, do so. It reduces the risks of anything getting damaged.