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May 11
0

Everything You Need to Print Your Own Plastic Cards

By | ID Cards | No Comments

Are you planning to print your own plastic cards or ID cards? There are many different scenarios in which you may need to print your own cards. Maybe you need the cards for school or for a small business you own. Have you been paying another company to print your ID cards for you? If so, then you probably already know how expensive this process can be. It’s also challenging to get the cards printed exactly how you want them.  It can be a frustrating process if the cards turn out to be wrong or with even a small mistake. Even if you get the mistakes corrected free of cost, you will have to wait all over again to have them reprinted and mailed out.

If you learn to print your own plastic cards, you can take a great deal of this stress and pressure out of the process.  When you print them yourself, you can have direct control over your cards, what they look like, their size and more. If you print one and it doesn’t come out right, you can go immediately back to your machine and just try again.

Card Printer Hardware

Printing ID cards with your own card printer doesn’t have to be difficult. It connects to your computer just like your paper printer and will print out the same way except instead of printing on paper, it prints your image on plastic cards.

If you’re going to print your own plastic cards, there are certain pieces of hardware you’re going to need to do the job correctly. Here is an overview:

Ribbons

Just like your paper printer needs ink ribbons or ink cartridges, so will your card printer. Card printer ribbons are made specifically for printing on cards and will get the job done right so that you can have professional quality cards, printed right in your own home or office.

Laminates

Laminating is very important to protect the card, especially with ID cards or badges that get used on a daily basis. There are different ways of achieving lamination but one of the easiest is purchasing laminates which fit over the cards like sleeves and will protect them and make them last longer.

Cleaning Kits

Proper maintenance is very important to keep your card printer working properly and for a long time. To get the most from your machine, you will want to purchase cleaning kits to keep it operating at top performance.

PVC Cards

You can purchase PVC cards for printing on. There are many different styles, colors and qualities to choose from, but you have freedom in finding the perfect ones for your needs.

These are just a few of the main pieces of card printer hardware you will need for printing your own perfect cards. However, this is not an exhaustive list and there are many other products that can make your job even easier or help you add other touches and details to your printed cards.  This includes things such as holograms and more.

Benefits to Printing Your Own Plastic Cards

If you aren’t already convinced that printing your own cards is the way to go, it’s time to consider the cost benefits. Who doesn’t like to save money? So why spend more money that you have to? It just doesn’t make sense. Common sense tells you that if there is a cheaper, better way, you should act on it.

If you’re printing membership cards, ID cards or other plastic cards, printing them yourself can be faster, less expensive and easier once you learn how. Here are some of the benefits to doing it yourself:

-The cost per card is less expensive
-No penalties if you only need a small number of cards at a time
-You can change designs any time you want to
-You don’t have to wait 2-6 weeks for your printed cards to arrive
-You have quality control and can quickly fix any mistakes to your cards
-You have complete control over the printing process and are not limited by a company’s policies

As you can see, the benefits clearly outweigh the cons in a case like this.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Full color printing through a company can cost you $0.75 – $2.00
per card and single color printing through a card printing company can cost the same. However, if you print yourself, you’re looking at $0.35 – $0.38 per card for full color printing and $0.07 – $0.08 per card for single color printing. That’s a whopping cost difference!  Anyway, for large factory like www.plasticcardonline.com, they provide a much lower price, but most company is still too expensive.

This is just the per-card cost savings. We haven’t even mentioned what you will save on shipping as well as the fact that you can print as much or as little as you want without any penalties. With many commercial card printing companies, you must have a minimum order (often in the thousands) or you will be charged an additional service fee. What about the person who doesn’t need thousands of cards printed at once?

But as we mentioned, it’s not all about the money. You have the benefit of complete control over your card quality, printing time and any necessary changes.

For the Small Scale Printer

If you tend to need only a small number of cards printed at once then it’s simply not cost effective for you to outsource your printing needs. If you are a small business who needs to print plastic cards for your employees, you won’t benefit from outsourcing your card printing needs either.

When you print the cards yourself with your own plastic card printer, it may take past the first couple of prints to really start to see a good return on investment, but once you do, it will be well worth it. In the long run, you can benefit financially from your own card printer and you can feel satisfied with the professional quality of each card printed.

May 11
0

PVC ID Card FAQ

By | ID Cards | No Comments

What is there to know about PVC ID Cards

Quite a bit. PVC ID Cards are the top end of the ID Card Industry, and there are many different things to consider when choosing your PVC ID Cards or Printer.

PVC ID Cards for Photo ID’s should be “Video Grade Cards”. Video Grade refers to very stringent processes & controls during production & packaging. Many inexpensive PVC ID cards may not be Video Grade.

Why should I care about Video Grade ID Cards

Video Grade ID cards have good quality surfaces, with excess material removed after the cutting process. Excess material & imperfections on the card surface will cause print defects and may damage the expensive Print Head of your ID Card Printer.

What thickness of PVC ID Card do I need?

PVC ID Cards are available in 10mil, 14mil, 20 mil, 24mil, 30mil & 40 mil. Select the thickness to suit your needs. The standard thickness of ID Cards is 30mil, about the same as a standard Credit Card. Thinner cards are often used with an adhesive back which is then applied to another card (Proximity Card) which enables the re-use of the more expensive chip card.

Our organization hase very high ID Card breakages, what options do we have?

Your ID Card options include Composite & Polycarbonate ID Cards.

Composite ID cards are high durability cards made with a 40% Polyester core & glossy PVC top & bottom. These cards are suitable for any application where a high breakage rate occurs.

May 10
0

China: Car racing incident

By | News | No Comments

On 7 of May, around 20:05, a 25 year-old young man Tan Zhuo (譚卓 see thumb nail photo) was hit and killed by a racing car when he was walking in a zebra crossing at Wen E Si road in Han Zhou. According to witnesses, the car was racing with another two cars in extremely high speed and Tan was thrown 5 meters upward before hitting the ground. The driver was an undergraduate student of a local university, Hu Bin, with rich family background. There were no tire-mark in the scene, and Tan’s body was landed 20 meters away from the spot he was hit. Below is a T.V report on the incident:

70 km car speed only

Police report on the next day quoted from the driver and his friends’ side of the story and stated that the car speed was only 70 km when Tan was hit. And the police said that they were yet to confirm whether Tan was in the zebra crossing. Even the reporters were outraged by the one side story presented by the police and challenged the police during the press conference:

No more reports!

However, local propaganda department has issued notice to all media organization in Han Zhou demanding that there should be no more follow up report on the car racing incident. Meanwhile netizen were outraged by the attitude of Hu and his racing gang. A photo showed that they didn’t show any remorse after the accident.

racing-gang

Uptill now there are more than 1.3 million visits to a single Tianya’s post with more than 15,000 comments, below is just a selection of some:

Outraged netizens

清风匝地123　2009-05-08　09:07:53

支持人肉,简直无法无天

Support human flesh search engine, there is no law and no justice.

伤心的马甲12　2009-05-08　09:15:04

这个帖子点击快四百了，却没人回复。
我觉得这种帖子就应该顶起来，制造社会舆论压力。最好能上门户网站，各大报纸，因为不是这件事就算了，杭州这边不管是城西还是滨江，这种人很多。我身边朋友很多都碰到过，不严打，难保又要出人命。

There are about 400 hit for this post, how come not so many comments.
I think this kind of post should be lifted to the top to create social pressure. I wish major portal and newspapers would report on this. We have so many such kind of scums in Han Zhou, many of my friends have witnessed similar incidents. If the government does not strike hard on this, more people lives will be at stake.

稻草玩偶　2009-05-08　09:18:53

只要不是无照驾驶，交通事故中就不会有太大的问题，撞死人比撞伤人省下很多麻烦，甚至赔的钱更少。这帮子富家公子是败类，那些撞来撞去的司机是畜生。他们这种情况只要不是无照驾驶连刑事责任都不用承担，所以才能笑得出来，不当回事

If the driver has a license, car accident is not a big issue and the compensation for killing someone is less than injuring someone. This gang of rich are human scum, these drivers are beasts.Driving with a license do not need to take up criminal responsibility, that’s why they can laugh like this as if nothing serious has happened.

走过路过人生　2009-05-08　09:21:04

申明我不仇富，但我仇视，毁掉别人生命还如此猖狂的人。说句不好听的，这般小孩就是欠教育，对生命都如此冷漠，以后还能指望他做出什么有意义的事来？他们这行为跟故意杀人罪的社会危害性没区别了。。。

I don’t hate the rich, but I hate such kind of attitude after taking away other’s life. They lack basic education for being so cold to life. What else can they do in this future? Such kind of behavior is no different with murder…

东元的KK　2009-05-08　09:22:09

还有，去年杭州滨江还发生过更惨烈的悲剧，一对小夫妻，孩子才几个月，吃过晚饭，在江边散步，一个开快车的马六把夫妻俩撞飞，肚肠都出来了，直接死亡。

Last year, a worse tragedy happened. A couple who just had their new born baby was taking a walk near the river, a over speed car killed them both on spot.

wlvlb　2009-05-08　09:27:32

这就是中国了，习惯就好

This is China, get used to it and everything is fine.

空水氤氲　2009-05-08　09:46:01

这种无良祸害
强烈要求修改中国这方面的法律
这不就是 杀人吗 他们明明知道市区道路人多
还开这么快 撞死人是必然的
虽然撞死谁是偶然的

We should demand the government to change the law. This is murder, they know that there are so many people in the street. With such high speed, it is inevitable that someone would be killed, although who would be the victim is random.

Human flesh search engine

Human flesh search engine decided to do the justice themselves and dig up all the information concerning Hu Bin, including his parent’ identity, his I.D card number, photo, mobile phone number, QQ number and even password (which is his car license number). Moreover, human flesh search engine also found out that the same car had two records in exceeding speed limit and the car’s engine has been modified.

As online discussion about the incident has been harmonized (critical and emotional comments were deleted), two websites have been set up to collect information and update about this car racing incident: http://70km.org and http://70yard.com.

Candle night vigil and open letter

Tan’s family, friends, fiancee, alumni, teachers and colleagues organized a candle night vigil on the next day and jointly signed an open letter to the city mayor asking for a thorough investigation on the case. Today (May 10), there will be another commemoration gathering at the city mortuary. For those who cannot attend the vigil can sign up here.

Below are photos about the candle night vigil in May 8 (via and 70yard):

qx7

qx6

qx5

May 08
0

Mother’s Day Gifts Mom Will Keep Forever

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Gifts from the Heart that Reflect the Special Love Between a Mother and Child

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and many Dads and kids will be struggling with what to get for Mom this year. Millions of flowers will be delivered, cards will be bought and restaurants will be full on Mother’s Day.

I suggest to you that for this Mother’s Day you think about giving her gifts that will last forever. A type of gift that will remind her for the rest of her life just how special she is to you, and how special

I have two beautiful cement bunnies, a frog and an owl. They are precious gifts that I have carefully wrapped and carried with me as we moved throughout the years. Every time I look at these garden statues I smile and remember just how special my son is to me.

Try giving your Mom a garden statue for Mother’s Day this year. It doesn’t have to be large, it just has to come from your heart.

Mother’s Day Gifts Mom Will Keep Forever #2

One year a red box with a white ribbon was presented to me for Mother’s Day. I opened the lovely box to discover a wonderful solid silver necklace from Red Envelope. As the site says about this Loving Arms Necklace, “This necklace represents the bond between mother and child with “arms” wrapped around one, two, three or four freshwater pearls, one for each child.”

I treasure this necklace with its very special single pearl, every time I pick it up to put on my neck I think of my son. This is a great forever gift for Mother’s Day.

May 08
0

Mother’s Day Gifts

By | News | No Comments

Mothers are pretty special people; toiling away for our benefit for many, many years; well past our childhood and teenage trials. Mother Nature has been personified as a female for thousands of years, representing the giving of life, sustenance and nurturing – and it’s quite fitting.

If you observe Mothers Day, honor your mom and Mother Nature by giving her a green gift this year!

The race is on to grab your Mothers Day gift card dollar – some retailers say she needs diamonds, others peddle expensive perfume; but stop and think about it a little. If your Mom is someone who cares about you and the natural world as so many mothers do, why buy her something that may contribute to poisoning her and the planet?

Local flowers

While I have not observed Mothers day for many years – in part due to my mother passing away a while back; I do remember how my mom appreciated nature and increasingly so as her time of passing drew near.

If she received flowers from someone, she wouldn’t just look at them and give them a perfunctory sniff; she would marvel at length at their beauty – gently touching the leaves and petals, viewing them from all angles and admiring their shape and texture. Flowers were a feast for her senses.

Cut flowers are usually a winner with moms; but so many flowers are imported from other states and sometimes internationally. This requires extra resources in terms of fuel for transportation, refrigeration and at times other treatments to keep them looking fresh. If you decide on flowers as a Mothers Day gift; try to buy ones that are grown locally.

Better still, perhaps potted flowers, herbs or decorative plants that can be planted in the garden – that way she’ll have a gift that won’t wither and die within a short time.

Jewelry

Gifts that sparkle are definitely popular with moms; but the jewelry industry has wreaked havoc on the environment. For example, it takes up to 5 tons of water and 20 tons of mine waste to create a simple gold ring! Consider buying something pre-loved, from a socially responsible jeweler or items made from glass, shells or recycled materials. It may sound a little tacky, but there’s some truly beautiful pieces available!

Organic Perfume

Many perfumes are made up of toxic chemical cocktails, components of which are not only hazardous to the environment, but to human health. Some of the common chemicals used are carcinogenic! I wasn’t able to locate a lot of information on earth-friendly perfumes, but it appears you should look for perfumes labeled as being organic and carrying the appropriate certification.

Organic Cosmetics

It’s the same situation with cosmetic items – chemical cocktails that wind up in the human body or flushed down the drain to pollute the environment. Again look for organic products such as olive oil based skin products.

Candles

Another Mother’s Day favorite – but did you know that many candles are made from crude oil byproducts? Burning candles releases all sorts of nasty stuff; including benzene, styrene, acetone and particulate matter. The wicks on some candles may even contain lead! Additionally, scented candles may contain more synthetic chemicals. As a more earth friendly and healthy choice, soy candles or candles made of beeswax are the way to go and for scented candles, look for soy or beeswax ones that incorporate essential oils – and have a non-lead wick of course.

Sponsorships and memberships

Mothers being the caring folk they are generally derive great pleasure from helping others. Perhaps a donation in her name for a tree planting or a conservation project might bring her joy? Maybe a membership to an online organic cooking club? A trip to a health spa? The possibilities are endless.

Fair trade clothes and accessories

Look for items made from organic cotton and produced in fair trade conditions. For example, if you wanted to buy your Mom a handbag as a gift, run a search on your favorite search engine for :

fair trade handbags

Or “fair trade” preceding any product you’re thinking of buying

Kitchenware and appliances

If you’re game enough to buy your Mother a gift that has anything remotely to do with domestic chores, good luck to you and tread carefully :). When purchasing electrical equipment, try to find items that consume as little power as possible and have recyclable components.

May 08
0

Plastic Business Card and Pvc Card Printing, a Rapidly Growing Industry That Needs Attention

By | Business Cards | No Comments

Business cards are your business identity, and choosing the right card can not only leave a long lasting impression on your existing and potential clients, but it also can product job opportunities for thousands of people worldwide.

In the past years, PVC Card printing and Plastic business cards industry have growth more than ordinary paper card printing businesses. Plastic Business Cards create a high value image and expensive appearance at a very affordable cost. Your custom, full color, plastic business card is more likely to be retained by a client or customer because people say it is difficult to dispose away something so impressive.

The plastic business cards are the same size as a standard credit card and feature a durable, brilliant finish with die-cut rounded corners for a polished appearance and durability. Because of several newly developed manufacturing methods, beautiful cards with stunning graphics can be produced in quantities as low as 250 for as little as hundred dollars with overnight deliveries.

You can easily order your custom plastic business cards with our most popular printers now by visiting a local directory.

PVC cards are an attractive choice for printing ID cards quickly and economically. Print captured images directly onto the plastic cards with superb color reproduction. Magnetic encoding or two-dimensional bar codes printed onto the PVC cards provide data entry and tracking. This provides for a secure way for information exchange, while keeping it as handy as possible, which means less hassle, more productivity and more dependability for the work you do.

Most PVC Cards use thin film protection, which means your card will last longer, and will be safe from water, dust, or any other problems.

May 08
0

Card Printing Solutions to Consider for Your Organization

By | ID Cards | No Comments

Technology now offers you many printing ID systems and just as many card printing solutions. Whether you need to print photo ID or some other form of identification, there are many card printing solutions to consider.

There are several different types of printable plastic cards. Companies like Fargo, Datacard, Zebra, and Magicard all have a reputation for quality plastic cards. With more than 3 million identification cards printed every day, you can quickly see that this is really a new way of doing business.

Bank Cards

You can print on-demand bank cards right at your branch providing improved customer service. You can improve it even more by producing debit cards, credit cards, and ATM cards, then making them available for immediate use.

Driver’s Licenses

Government agencies around the world must print driver’s licenses, as they want a top notch product. This is why there are printers designed specifically for driver’s license printing.

Employee ID

Organizations require employee ID to help identify people, monitor production, and control access to areas. You want your employees as secure as your intellectual property. You can create personalized ID cards for your employees, the professional teams in your organization, for access control, and a host of other reasons.

Loyalty Cards

Loyalty cards have become very popular with businesses that want to reward their regular customers for their continued business. It’s a great way to set you apart from the competition. There are many different types of loyalty cards and you can decide what type you’d like to offer.

Membership Cards

Your members are your best asset and just as you want to set your business apart from the rest you should make sure your membership cards set you apart from the rest too. In-house card printing makes it easy for you to do just that. You can add security and value to your membership by printing cards that are personalized have the member’s name, and even a photo of your members. By printing barcodes you can keep the members personal information confidential. And if you want you can have expiration dates and balances in the printed barcode.

Government ID

There are all kinds of Government divisions with some that require some type of photo ID for most employees and others which require security identification cards for their security systems. Governments also provide all kinds of identification to citizens such as with healthcare cards or social security cards.

High Level Security ID

All high level security printed photo IDs are protected from counterfeiting, duplication, forgery, and alteration. And you can add the type of security that’s required from microchips for identification to systems that will open secure doors. There are many corporations that require high level security such as Homeland Security, research facilities, and hospitals.

Student Identification

The campus of today is far more secure than the past. Today’s student ID card can do a whole lot more than just identify a student. It can be encoded with all kinds of student information including medical conditions, library cards, and even class registrations.

Smart Cards

This type of card can be used by many different companies and organizations and it offers a great deal of functionality and security. Smart cards provide security, convenience, and portability. For example, ATM cards are an excellent example of a smart card.

With so many different card printing solutions there’s something to meet the needs of all companies and organizations. While deciding on the right solution for your organization you should consider the following.

Security – What type of security do you need? Different types of organizations and events require different security levels. Each business has their own unique needs so you will need to determine what it is you require in this area.

Integration – You will need to determine how you will need to integrate your new card printing system into other areas of your company or organization. You can always get the experts in the field of integration to give your organization a hand in providing a seamless system.

Functionality – There are several different card printers on the market and you will need to evaluate for the functionality you require. The professionals that offer these products to the market are experts in their product line so be sure to utilize this expertise.

Card Issuance – Issuing cards in-house is great but the security of these cards is only as good as the card printing system you implement which is why it’s important for you to know and understand the various levels of security associated with the equipment.

There are many different card printing solutions available. That means your organization should consider what it is they want to do, and how they would like to do it. Only then they can make the right choice.

May 08
0

6 Questions to Ask When Purchasing an Id Card Printer

By | ID Cards | No Comments

Everyday business owners decide that the time is right to implement their own internal ID card printing system; and each time the same question arises – what is the right ID card printer? Here are 6 Questions you should have the answers to before purchasing an ID card printer.

1. Do you need to print on both sides of your photo ID card?

If you answered yes, you will need to purchase a dual-sided printer. This will allow you to add information on both the front and the back of the card. There are all kinds of excellent dual ID card printers on the market. The disadvantage to this type of printer is it costs more and this type of printing takes more time.

2. Do you need to print monochrome or color cards?

Monochrome printing uses only black ink, so it is much cheaper. It’s also a lot faster, taking only around 5 seconds per card. Color printing lets you create eye catching color cards, and it also allows for very realistic photos on you photo ID cards. The disadvantage is that color printing costs more.

3. Do you need your cards to be smart?

Today’s market provides you with all kinds of different photo ID cards to choose from, including smart ones. The smart card is able to store all kinds of information on the magnetic strip or bar code. The information is encoded on smart chips, making them popular in situations where security is an issue. For example, smart cards are a good choice if you need your employees to sign in or sign out of secure facilities.

4. Do your cards need to be secure?

There is a great deal of effort that goes into making a card as secure as possible. A members card for a local retail store might not have to be very secure, but a restricted area in a laboratory will likely require a great deal of security. You’ll need to take inventory of what it is you need your cards to do, and then you’ll know what features to look for in a printer. All the top manufacturers offer mag stripe encoders, and smart card encoders. If you need to laminate your card you need a photo ID printer with a special station.  So consider this when you are looking

5. How many cards do you need to print every year?

The average printer can print around 30,000 cards per year, which is adequate for most. If you need to print more cards you will need to choose a printer that is designed for higher volume.

6. What is the life expectancy you want from your photo ID cards?

Abrasive activities from swiping the card in high usage situations, can wear them out quickly. Average usage will see a PVC card last 1 to 2 years, while high use could easily cut the life expectancy of these cards in half.

You can extend the life of your cards using overlays or lamination. An overlay is an additional panel on the printer ribbon, which gets laid down on the top of the card. This extends card life by a year. Lamination applies a vinyl coating on both sides of the card. It is applied using heat and pressure. There are different thicknesses of lamination to choose from. In general, laminating adds 4 to 5 years to the life of your card. These options might increase your initial costs, but overall are more likely to reduce your costs in situations of high use.

Once you know the answer to these 6 questions, you will have a much better understanding of the type of ID card printer you need. There are many excellent printers on the market, making choosing right printer that much easier. Successful businesses recognize opportunities that will reduce costs and increase profits. Printing your own photo ID cards will do just that.

May 06
0

Features of Plastic Card Printers

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Plastic card printers have the capacity to create personalized cards based on your requirements. Using a computer and an image capture system, like a digital camera, plastic card printers give a well integrated system. At just a few seconds per card, the printing method is fast, so that cards are created and custom-made instantly. Digitally printed plastic cards begin with a clear and plain card that can be printed with any mixture of design, text, graphics, digital photograph, logos, bar codes and others. These designs and features are limited only by the issuers’ creativeness. Other machine-legible information, such as smart card chips and magnetic stripes can also be programmed.

Magnetic stripes can complement your plastic card order where the upper 1/3 of one part of the card is clear to contain the stripe. Magnetic Stripes have beneficial qualities that you can consider to be included on your card order. These help the new card works with previous card readers and software programs. Magnetic stripes save a small amount of information such as customer information, report numbers, user id, member numbers or also access codes for locks and other operational systems. They are compatible with other complicated software programs such as those used in Gift Card programs or Loyalty Card programs as well. The magnetic striped card is also suited with the promoter’s software so that it can provide the holder with special offers, credit towards marketing incentives and purchases, and is also used in building database that assist you in buying habits of customers. This information is useful since retailers can better serve their customers depending on stocks products that pull the interest of their customers. Also, it has many more advantages that offer a wealth of valuable marketing applications.

Another feature of plastic card that you can utilize is the signature panel on the digitally scanned signature on the face of the card or reverse of the card. Most cards are too glossy to draw on a ball point pen for signing. A signature panel provides a perfect surface to tolerate a handwritten signature. Also, a scanned signature can be added and can be personalized, however there are many card options available that can be printed on your card using digital signature.

It is simple and easy to add to your order, just ask your plastic card printing service provider about adding the Signature Panel feature. They will handle the rest. Just call them anytime if you have any queries and they can begin the process producing your high quality plastic cards. Bar-coding is a trendy choice at many plastic cards printing service provider. Most of the new retail cash register systems translate barcodes at the checkout stand, creating a perfect and fast way to collect data about customers and the products they are buying. It is also a great way to handle memberships in services and procedures that have many cards to surge in and out. Each card has the ability to carry a unique barcode on either front or reverse side. The advantages are almost endless: the card can then be linked to a database of select information customized toward your individual requirements. Indeed, digital plastic card printing symbolizes the next generation of card production. With the use of the stated digital printing technology, it adds the card delivery process into the electronic environment that helps you manage your business or agency.

May 04
0

What is a smart card?

By | Smart Cards | No Comments

A smart card resembles a credit card in size and shape, but inside it is completely different. First of all, it has an inside — a normal credit card is a simple piece of plastic. The inside of a smart card usually contains an embedded microprocessor. The microprocessor is under a gold contact pad on one side of the card. Think of the microprocessor as replacing the usual magnetic stripe on a credit card or debit card.

Smart cards are much more popular in Europe than in the United States. In Europe, the health insurance and banking industries use smart cards extensively. Every German citizen has a smart card for health insurance. Even though smart cards have been around in their modern form for at least a decade, they are just starting to take off in the United States.

Magnetic stripe technology remains in wide use in the United States. However, the data on the stripe can easily be read, written, deleted or changed with off-the-shelf equipment. Therefore, the stripe is really not the best place to store sensitive information. To protect the consumer, businesses in the U.S. have invested in extensive online mainframe-based computer networks for verification and processing. In Europe, such an infrastructure did not develop — instead, the card carries the intelligence.

The microprocessor on the smart card is there for security. The host computer and card reader actually “talk” to the microprocessor. The microprocessor enforces access to the data on the card. If the host computer read and wrote the smart card’s random access memory (RAM), it would be no different than a diskette.

Smarts cards may have up to 8 kilobytes of RAM, 346 kilobytes of ROM, 256 kilobytes of programmable ROM, and a 16-bit microprocessor. The smart card uses a serial interface and receives its power from external sources like a card reader. The processor uses a limited instruction set for applications such as cryptography.

The most common smart card applications are:

* Credit cards

* Electronic cash

* Computer security systems

* Wireless communication

* Loyalty systems (like frequent flyer points)

* Banking

* Satellite TV

* Government identification

Smart cards can be used with a smart-card reader attachment to a personal computer to authenticate a user. Web browsers also can use smart card technology to supplement Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for improved security of Internet transactions.