Took me 6 weeks to find out why my MARTA card kept failing at the Five Points gate
My card would tap fine at every station except the northbound gate at Five Points, and it drove me nuts for 6 weeks. Turned out the card had a small crease right over the chip from sitting in my back pocket, and that one gate's reader was just picky about it. Bought a $2 plastic sleeve at the CVS on Peachtree and it has worked every single time since. Anyone else had a gate that just hates your card for no clear reason?
Bet the bend in your card changed the antenna position just enough that only the strongest reader could pick it up. Five Points northbound probably has the oldest hardware in the system.