Graphic Personalization

A plastic card can be personalized or serialized under different methods, depending on the thickness, type and use that it under goes on.

Among the most common we have:

• EMBOSSING: Is mainly used in the anverse of credit cards, since it allows for it to be "ironed" on a voucher or receipt, in which the personalized numbers are required to be visible under going under a "carbon paper".
• INDENT PRINTING: Previously it was only used to print the number of cross-check on the reverse of the credit cards, which was requested on phone or Internet transsactions (CVV or CVC). At the present moment, it is a standard in debit cards, with which payments physically done with a card can alone be authorized by using a point of sale terminal (POS).
• DYE SUBLIMATION: This print method is carried out by a compress, commonly made of porcelain, which transfers the inks to the plastic card through heat. This print method can be monochrome (only one ink) or processed colors (four inks).
• LASER ENGRAVING: Commonly used in cards of proximity, and in some cases in cards of identification that need personalization of information that could not be erased, but at the same time does not damage the opposite face of the card.

Magnetic Personalization

From 1970, year in which ISO/IEC 7811 standards were defined practically all bank cards have a MAGNETIC STRIPE.

They are composed by ferromagnetic particles located inside a resin counterfoil, which stores information through a codification that polarizes the mentioned particles.

There are two different types of magnetic stripes: LOW COERCITIVITY (300 oersted) and HIGH COERCITIVITY (4000 oersted). A magnetic stripe of high coercitivity is more durable and more difficult to record to be recorden on top or erased that a low coersitivity one.

Mainly, there magstripes are provided with 3 codification tracks, although there are cards with only two tracks; which have certain restrictions in character length and quantity of bits per inch (bpp).The minimum technical specifications to personalize a MAGNETIC STRIPE are:

• TRACK 1 This was the first one standardized by the IATA (Internatonal Air Transportation Association). Its format is 210 bpp, with enough space for 79 alphanumeric characters. Commonly, it includes the Primary Account Number and the name of the cardholder.
• TRACK 2 Created by the ABA (American Bankers Association) to generate finantial online transsactions. Its format is 75 bpp, with enough space for 40 numeric characters. It is invariably used to codify the Primary Account Number (PAN).
• TRACK 3 Called THRIFT TRACK, since it was developed by the industry dedicated to savings (credit institutions, savings' banks, etc.) for the codification of additional information and that needs to be modified. Its format is 210 bpp, with enough space for 107 alphanumeric characters. It is here where another type of information is codified, like: the name of the institution, total amount of credit, number of social insurance, etc.