Category

Profile

Plastic Cards market research

By | Profile | No Comments

Plastic cards have been a staple in direct marketing and retail for over two decades. Though marketing has changed considerably with the advent of the Internet, plastic cards remain an integral part of marketing and retail.

Plastic cards are used for a variety of purposes because they are cost-effective, eye catching and durable. When researching plastic cards, businesses are looking for reliable, affordable, high quality plastic cards and plastic card printing services .

Plasticcardonline.com, is considered an industry innovator that consistently improves the process and quality of plastic cards to producer better plastic cards faster. Whether the plastic cards needed are to be printed in one color, or brilliant full color, using 4-color process, Plasticcardonline.com, offers the highest quality service, reliability and pricing.

Plasticcardonline.com, is proud to offer the same high quality service whether a client is ordering 250 business cards, of 1,000,000 plastic gift cards. Providing this level of service, quality and reliability is what has set Plasticcardonline.com, apart from the competition.

Offering services ranging from card design and fulfillment from conception to completion, many businesses rely on the expertise of Plasticcardonline.com, to assist in their direct marketing needs using plastic cards.

The talented staff at Plasticcardonline.com. creates custom solutions for every client in order to maximize your return on investment. By investing in research and development, Plasticcardonline.com. is able to continuously innovate in order to decrease production costs while increasing quality resulting better quality plastic cards at better pricing than ever before.

Though competition in the plastic cards industry comes and goes, the reliability and reputation of Plasticcardonline.com. makes us the first choice of many businesses looking to use plastic cards for their marketing needs.

We offers a complete line of products including plastic cards. Whether you know exactly what you need and are ready to place an order, or whether you need assistance in conceptualizing the plastic cards, Plasticcardonline.com is the premier source for plastic cards.

Marketing has changed dramatically in recent years, but some things remain constant – the value of direct marketing through the use of high quality plastic cards is a cost-effective marketing strategy that many businesses rely on.

Where other marketing strategies have a low return on investment, plastic cards are considered by many industries to offer a high return on investment. Couple that fact with the quality and pricing of Plasticcardonline.com and you will see why many leading businesses turn to us for their plastic cards needs.

Magnetic Stripe Cards

By | Profile | No Comments

Magnetic stripe cards are used everywhere in modern society. They can be found on items as diverse as Credit cards, debit cards, employee badges, government identification cards, public transport passes, train tickets, customer loyalty cards, gift cards and express payment cards.

Given the importance magnetic stripe cards can play in a business’ internal security, marketing campaign, or payment system, it is obvious that businesses need to use a card provider that understands their needs and is ready to meet them in a professional, cost-effective and timely manner. Since it is so important to find a good provider, businesses often turn to Plasticcardonline.com as their first choice.

Plasticcardonline.com leads the industry in the development of high-quality magnetic stripe cards. Businesses trust their most highly sensitive security cards to Plasticcardonline.com, confident that Plasticcardonline.com’s established standards of quality will ensure a secure workplace. Similarly, businesses that rely on magnetic stripe cards to support valuable customer loyalty programs know that Plasticcardonline.com will only produce cards that can be counted on to work every time.

Plasticcardonline.com’s commitment to quality sets it apart from its competition. Businesses can rest easy knowing that Tele-Pak, Inc is assisting them in their security plan or marketing campaign.

The magnetic stripe cards produced by Plasticcardonline.com are valuable to modern businesses primarily because they have the potential to hold so much more information than would be possible on a normal plastic card without a magnetic stripe.

As opposed to a normal plastic card, where all the information has to be printed on the face of the card, magnetic stripe cards have a magnetic stripe on them made of iron-based magnetic particles that can hold large amounts of information. When the card is swiped through a reader, the information encoded in the stripe can be transferred to an attached computer.

This also means that the information encoded on the card’s magnetic stripe can be read automatically and quickly. Unlike a normal plastic card, the information found on magnetic stripe cards does not need to be recorded manually. This can result in huge costs savings for businesses that switch over to magnetic stripe cards.

Another important reason for using magnetic stripe cards from Plasticcardonline.com is that, depending on the software used to encode the card, the information stored on the card can be protected by security measures.

With a normal plastic card, as long as an unauthorized party has possession of the card, he or she can read whatever information is present on the card. Access to the information on the card, however, can be limited. One common method of limiting access to sensitive information, for instance, it to require the use of a password or other encrypted interface that is only available on authorized card readers before displaying the protected information. The enhanced security function of magnetic stripe cards is essential if the cards are used to contain personal information.

No matter what industry you are in, you will likely rely on magnetic stripe cards for some part of your business. The technology is pervasive in modern society, and for good reason: it is cheap and effective. Your reliance on this simple technology can be your downfall, however, if you do not pick a dependable provider. Avoid the cost consequences of going with an inexperienced printer, and talk to Plasticcardonline.com about how it can improve your business.

Whatever your reason for using magnetic stripe cards, Plasticcardonline.com’s experienced staff can walk you through the design and printing process. The employees at Plasticcardonline.com are ready to help you sort through its complete line of design options and security features to pick the best card for your needs and budget.

USA plastic card

By | Profile | No Comments

Introduction
USA Plastic Cards 2008 provides an overview of the key trends and issues facing the USA card market. Intense competition, regulatory compliance and rising interest rates and a deteriorating economic situation have all challenged issuers in 2007-08. This report provides in depth coverage of these and other issues, along with full data for the credit, charge, debit, and private label card markets.
Scope of this report
This report provides full market data for the USA credit, charge, debit, and private label card markets for the period 1998-2007.
Competitor market share data for the credit card market is provided, by cards in issue and balances outstanding, for the period 2003-2007.
Includes an extensive analysis of the impact of the economic downturn on the USA payment cards market.
Forecasts for the credit, debit, charge, and private label markets are provided for the period 2008-2012
Research and analysis highlights
The total value of transactions made on charge, credit, debit and private label cards once again grew from the previous year, reaching  540 billion, an increase of 8.3% or £42.3 billion from 2006. The main driver of this growth was increased activity in the debit card sector.
After declining in 2005 and 2006, the number of cards in issue grew once again in 2007. The decline in cards has been due to a falling number of both private label and credit cards, but this has been offset by a growing number of debit cards in issue.
Datamonitor forecasts that growth in the USA payment card market will slow considerably on past performance to 2012. Under Datamonitor’s neutral forecasting scenarioits view of the future outlook for the marketannual growth in the value of transactions made on USA-issued payment cards will average 5.9% over 200812.
Key reasons to read this report
Learn about all the latest developments in the USA payment card market from this comprehensive and concise report
Understand how the market is being affected by the economic downturn, and discover Datamonitor’s view on this subject
Get ahead of the competition by using Datamonitor’s market forecasts, including credit ard market forecasts, for different economic scenarios.

Printing on plastic

By | Profile | No Comments

Plastics are, however, an entirely different animal from paper-based substrates. “Paper is forgiving – plastic is not,” notes Ray Prince, senior technical consultant at GATF (Sewickley, PA). “Your latitude is quite small. It does not allow for mistakes. And, it’s much more expensive.” Printing on plastic thus requires careful planning, communication with your suppliers and the patience to learn optimal print conditions through some trial and error.

PROOF IS IN THE PLASTIC

Plastics open up a new realm of products that are either unsuitable for or inferior in paper form. Back-lit displays, outdoor signage and banners, tags, plastic business cards, membership cards, id cards, menus, plastic phone cards, point-of-purchase (POP) displays, labels, window displays and maps are a few of the more popular applications, although many specialty printers venture into lenticular printing and packaging.

“We are seeing growing interest from commercial printers,” notes Tom Leiding, national sales manager at Transilwrap Co. Inc. (Strongsville, OH), a manufacturer of artificial substrates. “It continues to be a niche for them, and it’s becoming more popular because it brings printers a value-added to their arsenal of products.”

Many printers, however, approach printing on plastic as if it’s a matter of switching from uncoated to glossy, when in fact each application demands a customized approach from prepress to the bindery.

Proofing plastic jobs is often a matter of eliminating processes, advises GATF art director David Watterson. “First, you want to proof on the actual substrate. That eliminates a lot of proofing options right off the bat,” he explains. Some of the most popular proofing products include DuPont Imaging Technologies’ (Wilmington, DE) WaterProof; Polaroid Graphics Imaging LLC’s (Bedford, MA) PolaProof; Kodak Polychrome Graphics’ (Norwalk, CT) Matchprint; Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc.’s (Hanover Park, IL) FinalProof; Agfa Corp.’s (Ridgefield Park, NJ) Grand Sherpa and Sherpa; and color keys.

“Even though you may be able to proof on the actual substrate, many proofers use a coating or lamination that can ruin the look of the shiny, reflective or unique substrate,” he continues. “Proofing for these purposes has to be on a per-case and per-process basis.” Watterson suggests looking at your needs, workflow and level of contract-proof requirements. If you’ve never proofed on plastic before, consult with a service provider who has. He also suggests discussing the challenging aspect of proofing on plastic with customers to prepare them for what might be an arduous experience.

DETERMINING THE DYNE

One of the first steps in printing on plastic is to determine the dyne level—or surface energy—of the substrate on which you’ll be printing. “In conventional printing, inks bond to the substrate by surface-tension potential,” notes Richard Moehring, vice president of sales at Carton Sales Co. Inc. (CSC) (Sugar Land, TX), a 90-employee printer specializing in high-end retail packaging. “That surface-tension potential is more consistent with paper.” With plastic, the exec explains, the dyne level tends to vary greatly.

There are different methods to test the dyne level, from dyne pens and markers to cotton swabs dipped in dyne-test solutions. “The felt-marker method is one of the worst,” notes Prince at GATF. “Some markers become contaminated quickly. You can use them about three times and that’s it – they start giving false readings.” Prince recommends using the latter approach, which involves dipping a cotton swab in a dyne solution, and then marking the substrate.

It is crucial that the dyne level measure between 38 and 50, with 40 being the ideal. “If it’s below 38, the ink won’t dry and will peel off,” notes Dennis Jaynes, director of quality control, safety, security and training at Jet Lithocolor Inc. (Downers Grove, IL), a $40 million high-end printer that specializes in artificial-substrate work. “If it’s above 50, you’ll have static problems and won’t be able to get the job through the press.” Substrates with dyne levels lower than 38 are still printable, but will need to be corona-treated to ensure ink adhesion.

Prince recommends that, for each job, you acquire a pre-shipment sample of 50 8 x 10-inch sheets of the exact lot number of the substrate being printed on, test the dyne level and then give a sample to your ink manufacturer so that it may formulate a suitable ink.

“This last item is what most people fail to do, and where they can get into the biggest problems,” notes Prince. “All of a sudden, you can have 90,000 sheets sitting out there, at $2 a sheet, and they won’t dry.”

CUSTOMIZE YOUR INKS, CHEMISTRY

Printers with UV capability have greater latitude when printing on plastic (see “The UV approach to plastics,” p. 44), and avoid the drying problems that frequently plague plastic printing. For conventional printers, customization is key.

To ensure proper adhesion, inks need to be formulated specifically for printing on plastic. “Typically they need to be free of nonreactive components – anything that isn’t going to become part of the final ink film needs to be left out, or it will keep the ink film soft,” explains Byron Hahn, technical director at Braden Sutphin Ink Co. (Cleveland), and speaker at last year’s GATF Printing on Plastic, Film and Foil Conference. The exec notes that in plastic inks, the dryer-catalyst package needs to be formulated for adverse conditions of high moisture content and low oxygen level.

The amount of chemistry used also directly impacts drying. “What probably gets most printers in trouble is trying to use the same amount of fountain solution on plastics as they do on paper,” notes Transilwrap technical service engineer Jerry Krupa. “Cellulose-type paper is very absorbent. Plastics won’t absorb any water.” Hahn recommends an ink that will perform with minimal water in the feed and in the press, because the fountain chemistry interferes with the oxidation process.

Krupa also recommends performing the makeready on the substrate, rather than on paper. “If you do it on paper stock, your ink and water balance will be incorrect,” he explains. “As soon as you introduce plastic, the setting will be all out of whack because it was balanced for paper.”

FASTER DRYING WITHOUT CHEMISTRY

A new ink technology introduced at Print 01, Just Water Technology from Kustom Group (Florence, KY), holds promise for printing on nonabsorbent substrates. The ink is said to operate with no fountain solution, utilizing only plain tap water (in some applications, a small amount of etch is desirable). Kustom Group licenses its technology to several ink companies. According to vice president of sales and marketing Jim Volz, six have developed products. Midwest Ink Co. (Broadview, IL) has been the most vocal of the group, with several printers currently using its H2O product (see “Sheetfed-ink update,” July 2002, p. 32, for more details).

Midwest Ink vice president Joseph Hannon explains that its H2O product cures faster on stock because the lack of chemistry in the ink speeds up drying. He notes that a press’ dampening system and the press operator’s skill level will impact this; however, GATF’s Prince reports that jobs printed on plastic with H2O ink are experiencing drying times of around four hours, compared to 24 to 48 hours with other inks.

For printers running chemistry, recommendations to optimize drying include running shorter lifts of two inches to three inches to minimize compression and prevent offsetting, and using approximately 50-micron-particle spray powder to allow more air in between sheets. To avoid register problems, it’s crucial to acclimate stock to pressroom conditions for at least 24 hours; in the winter, at least 48 hours is recommended, as pallets of stock tend to warm very slowly from the outside in.

STATIC CONTROL

Plastics can accumulate an alarming amount of static charge—the fact that, by rubbing a balloon on your head, you can get it to stick on a wall testifies to this. And, some plastics in particular—thin vinyls, for instance—are especially prone. “You get into some thin vinyls, and I don’t care how many static guards you have, you are going to electrocute your press operator at the delivery,” quips Moehring.

Prince offers three guidelines for static control: First, the press should be heavily grounded. Second, temperature and humidity control in the pressroom are mandatory – Jet Lithocolor, for instance, keeps its air-conditioned facility between 70aF and 76aF, and relative humidity between 30 percent and 50 percent. Third, utilize anti-static devices on the press itself for static removal.

According to Transilwrap’s Krupa, there are two different approaches to static control – passive and active. Passive methods incorporate such devices as tinsel, static string and static bars, which are put in contact with a substrate while it’s running through the press to neutralize the charge. Active devices, such as ionized air blowers or ionized air curtains, literally force ionized particles into the sheet or into the stack.

“You can pinpoint the ionization and actually get it into the top few sheets of the stack, whereas the press-supplied air typically is not ionized and when you have static, doesn’t do a good job of helping sheets separate,” Krupa explains. “An ionized air curtain will, and it can be strong enough to force air between the sheets as they’re being picked up.”

Krupa notes that active devices typically cost less than $1,000; it’s important, however, to have an air compressor that is powerful enough to supply the device adequately. Manufacturers of active static-control equipment include SIMCO Industrial Static Control (Hatfield, PA); Meech Static Eliminators U.S.A. (Richfield, OH); Tantec Inc. (Schaumburg, IL); and Exair (Cincinnati).

FINISHING THE JOB

When finishing, plastic is surprisingly versatile. “Depending on the material, you can almost do as much – if not more – finishing, including diecutting, folding, taping, riveting, embossing and foil stamping,” notes Moehring at CSC. “But each one brings a really particular, unique challenge to the converter.”

For instance, the exec notes that something as simple as running a printed plastic sheet through a power knife to size it could break the surface tension at the edge of the sheet, causing the ink to chip and fall off. This can be prevented earlier in the production process by ensuring that your inks are adequately bonded to the substrate; a simple cross-hatch, nickel-rub or tape test can determine the level of adhesion.

Jaynes at Jet Lithocolor advises determining how much resin is in plastic before punching it. Some plastics punch cleanly, while others leave a residue. In addition, certain substrates require different levels of heat to fuse them together. Jaynes suggests checking the plastic’s receptivity to adhesives, heat and pressure before processing it.

When cutting plastic stock, the knife angle and clamp pressure may need to be adjusted. Krupa says that, when diecutting, it’s important to keep the die sharp – if not, angel-hairing can result. Some material, like polystyrene, doesn’t score well. Others, like vinyl and polypropylenes, do. Ultimately, each application and plastic is unique, so consult with the media vendor for specific finishing guidelines.

FROM GRAPHIC ARTS TO SCIENCE

The old mantra of “do your homework” applies doubly when printing on plastics. Those interviewed for this article note that most printers get into trouble by neither researching nor consulting with those who know how to optimize printing on plastic – from ink and fountain-solution suppliers to stock vendors.

“Printing on artificial substrates is not like printing on anything else,” observes Jaynes at Jet Lithocolor. “It moves from graphic arts to graphic science, because you have to know the physical properties and characteristics of all of the ingredients.” The quality-assurance manager says those new to printing on plastic should anticipate a long and potentially expensive learning curve.

“[Printing] is kind of like flying an airplane,” Jaynes observes. “When you’re landing a plane, it’s like controlled chaos, because you’re falling out of the sky but it’s in a set pattern. When you print, you’re squeezing, pulling, printing, and throwing ink and water on a sheet, and that’s chaos too, but it’s controlled. If it’s controlled chaos and it comes out right, you have a good product. If it doesn’t, then you have to call the fire truck.”

The UV approach to plastics

Printers that dedicate a sizeable portion of their jobs to plastic should consider getting into UV. “It’s not inexpensive, but for people looking for that impact, UV allows different print techniques, substrates, and combinations of technique and substrate,” notes Dan Frederickson, president of UV Color, Inc. (Roseville, MN), a 220-employee, high-end printer specializing in phone and gift cards, point of purchase (POP), and specialty packaging on foils and plastics.

“UV definitely brings more volume to the equation,” notes Tom Leiding, national sales manager at Transilwrap Co. Inc. (Strongsville, OH), a manufacturer and distributor of plastics for offset. Leiding notes that UV printers can produce runs upwards of hundreds of thousands of impressions, whereas conventional printers are typically limited to runs below 100,000 impressions.

Curing issues

UV Color runs plastic jobs on any one of its commercial sheetfed presses, which include a Komori (Rolling Meadows, IL) halfsize six-color unit; six- and seven-color MAN Roland (Westmont, IL) 700 fullsize presses; and a KBA (Williston, VT) Rapida 105 eight-color, fullsize press with an anilox coater and extended delivery, which make it ideal for applying very smooth coatings. Frederickson’s previous company, Color Sells, was reportedly one of the first printers in the country to pioneer UV printing on plastics.

“Getting the right amount of curing is very important – you don’t want to undercure or overcure,” Frederickson notes. “Any time you hit the stock with too much UV energy, it can become brittle, and you can lose the functionality.” In addition, the exec explains that, when run through a UV dryer, clear polypropylene turns a bright yellow. Fortunately, the effect completely dissipates after a period of time.

Carton Sales Co. Inc. (CSC) (Sugar Land, TX) entered the plastic-printing market as an aftermath of implementing UV printing. “The decision wasn’t ‘Do we want to print on plastic,’ but rather, ‘Do we want to have a superior printing system that will allow us to put a high-gloss finish in line,'” explains Richard Moehring, vice president of sales. The 43-year-old company began as a printer and converter of paperboard packaging for folding-carton and POP displays, and today offers products from binders to high-end retail packaging.

“Just because you have UV-printing capability doesn’t make work any easier,” Moehring cautions. “When you print on plastic, especially when using UV lamps, the heat will modify or shrink the plastic somewhat, regardless of thickness. So, if you’re putting down one color at a time, you’re going to have big trouble,” he says. The exec suggests printing on a press capable of putting all colors down at once to avoid registration problems and distortion. CSC has a six-color, seven-station Heidelberg (Kennesaw, GA) CD 102; an eight-color, nine-station fullsize press; and a 10-color, fullsize Speedmaster 102 perfector.

‘Cold’ technology

Ray Prince, senior technical consultant at GATF (Sewickley, PA), recommends using the lowest-temperature UV system possible when printing on plastic. One “cold” technology currently being offered is inert UV, from Eltosch North America (Brookfield, WI). Here, oxygen – which inhibits UV ink from drying – is replaced with nitrogen, which enables curing at a much lower temperature. Prince notes, however, that inert UV is currently relegated to specialty printers who print exclusively on plastic.

Ink manufacturers are also tailoring their UV products to plastic printing. At Graph Expo, Flint Ink (Ann Arbor, MI) introduced its Matrixcure-NP UV ink for nonporous substrates.

Plastics 101: plastics terminology

Never mind that the actual process of printing on plastic is often fraught with complexities – the substrates themselves can be a major area of confusion for printers.

“People will call and ask for ‘acetate,’ which is a generic plastic name that hasn’t been used since the 1960s and 1970s, when acetate was the most popular product,” says Tom Leiding, national sales manager for Transilwrap Co. Inc. (Strongsville, OH), a manufacturer of artificial substrates for the graphic-arts industry. “They even refer to plastic sometimes as ‘paper,’ i.e., ‘I need that paper stuff that doesn’t break.’ New printers coming into the arena are more familiar with the paper industry, and that’s not the jargon we use in plastics.”

The major plastics currently used in litho printing include:

Polystyrene

This medium is used for such applications as point-of-purchase (POP) displays or signage, shelf wobblers and danglers, as well as gas-station pump toppers. Transilwrap product manager Brad Braunreuther explains that styrene is an affordable choice for applications requiring a substrate a step more resilient than paper.

Polyvinylchloride (PVC)

PVC, also generally referred to as vinyl, is offered in flexible and rigid forms. Flexible PVC is used for such jobs as static-cling decals, whereas rigid is incorporated as signage. For applications requiring outdoor durability or high tear resistance, PVC is considered to be a step up from styrene.

Polyethylene

This medium, also available in low-density, flexible and high-density, rigid forms, is often used for banner films.

Polypropylene

A durable, UV-resistant substrate used for outdoor applications and POP signage.

Polycarbonate

According to Braunreuther, this medium is often used for automotive decoration – for instance, in a car’s speedometer cluster – and used for applications requiring a high chemical resistance, such as on gas pumps.

Polyester

This substrate is frequently used for transparencies, in such products as biology schoolbooks.

Synthetic papers

Usually composed of polypropylene extruded with fillers through a die, stretched thin and then surface-treated to enhance printability, synthetic papers are ideal for applications such as menus and brochures.

Plastic Card Technic

By | Profile | No Comments

QUANTITY:

Select a Quantity. Price breaks are available at 50, 100, 150, 250, 500, 1000, 2500, 5000, 7500, 10k, 25k, 50k,
75k, 1mil. For quantities over 1million please call for
special pricing.

CARD THICKNESS:

Our Plastic Card Stock is available in several thicknesses to better suit your plastic card needs. The thicknesses available are:

30mil (Credit Card Thickness)

PRINT COLORS:

We Print CMYK Full Color images along with PMS Spot Colors. PMS Standard Colors availabe at no extra charge.

LUGGAGE SLOTS:

Punched either on the short side or long side… Our Luggage Tags are ready for use. Holes are also available.

EMBOSSING:

Raised Numbers and Letters, similar to a credit card. Available in Silver, Gold, Black, and White Tipping.
(Tipping Included at no charge)

COMMON USES:

Credit Cards, Business Cards, Membership Cards, VIP Cards, and Phone Cards.

UV COATING:

A clear coating that adds an extra glossy finish to your cards.
It also adds durability to your card.

COMMON USES:

Commonly used to protect high use cards, business
cards, black and clear cardstock (to resist scratching),
and it is commonly used to enhance four color images.

VARIABLE DATA:

Prints information that is unique to each card. This
includes variable data, such as Barcodes, Numbering,
Names, and Pin Numbers.

LOW CORSIVITY MAG STRIPE:

Encoded stripe with standard magnetic coating. Capable
of holding three tracks of information.

COMMON USES:

Mainly used for gift, loyalty, and discount cards.

MAG STRIPE NO ENCODE:

Mag Stripe with no encoding. For clients who have their own encoding equipment or a printer encoder from Plasticprinters.com

SIGNATURE PANEL:

Provides a writeable strip for signatures.

SCRATCH OFF PANEL:

Coated area hides pin numbers, contest entry numbers, and other private information.

FOIL:

Add a touch of elegance and added security with the addition of custom foil stamping.

COMMON USES:

Accenting Business Cards, Gift Cards, Membership
Cards, and VIP Cards.

Plastic Card Printing Terminology

By | Profile | No Comments

Plastic Access Card
Magnetic or chip cards with or without photo used to enter restricted areas eg. ID badges.

Blank Plastic Cards
Cards with no printing usually used in imagining machines

Coercivity
A measure of the strength of a magnetic field. Fields are expressed as low or high by the terms LoCo and HiCo.

Contact
A point of electrical connection between a smart card and its external interface device.

Contact Card
Any card where information is transferred to a reader via a series of contact points located on the card.

Degaussing
Magnetic stripe data erasure.

Digitizing
Conversion of non-textual data to digital form.

Embossing
Characters in relief on the front surface of a card.

Encoding
Recording electronic information on to a magnetic stripe.

Encryption
Transferring information based on a key to make it un-intelligible to unauthorized parties.

Electronic Gift Card
A retail prepaid card usually initiated at cash or checkout.

Initialization
Programming a smart card chip with data that is the same for a batch of cards.

ID Card
Card which identifies both the bearer and the issuer. All financial transaction cards are ID cards.

ISO
International Standards Organization, central body for formation and dissemination of industry standards for all national standards bodies.

Issuer
An individual or organization that issues identification cards to individual or corporate cardholders.

Lithography or Offset Printing
Most common process for plastic card printing based on the concept that oil and water are not compatible. The ink represents the oil and the alkaline fountain solution represents the water. These are the two main components which must interact during the printing process, allowing the ink to adhere to the image area of a printing plate while the fountain solution repels the ink from the non-image area.

Lamination
Using plates on a press to fuse the various layers of a plastic card together.

Loyalty Card
Usually a retail frequent user card offering promotional benefits.

Magnetic Stripe
The strip of magnetic recording material on an ID card.

Plastic Membership Card
Usually a club member card for ID purpose.

Non-magnetic Card
Cards without a magnetic stripe eg. ID cards.

Off-line
A transaction via paper or reader not connected to a central system.

On-line
A transaction on a terminal permanently connected to a network that is on-line to the card account.

Personalization
Printing, encoding and programming a card with data specific to an individual cardholder.

Prepaid Card
A card paid for at point of sale permitting the holder to buy goods and services up to the prepaid value.

Promotional Card
A card offering special benefits to users eg, discount card.

PVC
Polyvinyl chloride, the most widely used plastic material for ID cards.

Radio Frequency Card (RFID)
A proximity card in which the coupling between the card and the interface device is by radio.

Signature Panel
The area of an ID card where the cardholder enters a signature.

Skimming
Copying the magnetic stripe encoding from one card to another.

Stored Value Card (aka cash card, electronic purse, prepaid card)
A financial card that is loaded with a certain amount of money with each purchase amount deducted from the card.

Substrate
Material upon which a plastic card is printed.

Transit Card
Magnetic or chip card used for transportation services eg. subway card.

Telecom Card
Magnetic or chip card used for telephone services eg. GSM card, prepaid card.

Traditional Card
A magnetic or non magnetic card not using chip card technology.

Plastic Card Printing Options

By | Profile | No Comments

What sets your plastic card printing program apart are the options available from Plasticcardonline.com. We offer a full range of personalization options that will allow you to take your plastic card program to the next level. Plasticcardonline.com offers embossing, bar coding, magnetic stripe encoding, thermal printing and foil stamping.

Plastic Card Embossing

One of the most popular options we have available to our customers is Plastic Card Embossing. This feature is the same that you will find on your credit card. It is a very popular feature with VIP and Membership cards. It has also become a new trend with Plastic Business Card Printing and Gift Cards. We can emboss type in several sizes as well as embossing unique information on each cards. Coupled with our fulfillment programs our customers can save money by ordering a large quantity of cards and having us emboss individual member information on each cards as their club or organizations numbers rise.

Plastic Card Foil Stamping

Another popular plastic card option is Foil Stamping. This process uses a die and heat to inset the foil material. Foil is reflective and adds a great accent to a plastic card.
While foil stamping is a great accent for your cards there are some limitations that must be worked around. Please contact our sales staff to get in touch with a designer who will make sure that your artwork is correctly set up, or have our team of award winning designers create a custom plastic card to your exact specifications.

Colored & Clear Stock

If you are looking to make a definate impression give our clear or frosted line a try. The translucent quality of these cards makes them unforgettable. We also offer Silver and Gold Cardstocks that have a metallic quality (Like metallic paint on a car) In addition to these specialty cardstocks we have a full line of colored stock that can help keep costs down by reducing the colors of ink required to create a design.

Thermal Customization

Need different information on every one of your Plastic Cards?? No problem! In the printing industry this is known as as Thermal Printing. Common uses are ID Badges, Member Information, Bardcode Printing, and Thermal Numbering.

FOB Plastic Breakaway Key Tag

A popular new solution in the VIP and Membership Card industry is to have a card attached to a keytag that can be fastened to a members keychain. FOB Keytags can be thermal printed to have matching information. Keytags are also available in a three up version. A great way to save money on a budget. A 500 card order yields 1500 Keytags this way.

Plastic Card Signature Panel

Signature Panels allow you to write with a normal pen on a Printed Plastic Card. A standard option for many of our clients. Plastic Card Signature Panels work great to activate a plastic gift, membership, vip, or discount card and add a nice touch to your card.
UV Printing
UV printing is used to print on plastic, foil, and specialty substrates. UV light is used to dry specially formulated inks that are printed on non-porous materials. In conventional printing, ink dries as it is absorbed into paper. Because plastic is not absorbent, the ink must be dried on the top surface using UV light.

About Plasticcardonline, INC

By | Profile | No Comments

Plasticcardonline, INC prints and designs all types of plastic cards and can fulfill all of your business needs. We offer cost effective plastic card design and plastic card production at very low prices.

Our plastic cards are four color litho printed with Heidelberg machines (same process as credit cards production, exactly like the credit cards, NOT digital printing or thermal printing), ISO standard 760 Micron solid PVC, professional looking, texture and feel. We are an online plastic/PVC card print shop. Accept paypal and credit card. World wide free delivery, free layout/design, quick turnaround.

Deal direct with the plastic card manufacturer and save money!
As we deal with you directly from our factory order to delivery, we will offer you the best value for your money without any waste. Prices available for both private and trade customers with a minimum order starting from only 100. Ordering from us directly over internet, we can give you the best price which you can not find elsewhere! For group orders, we can give up to 20% discount!

Why choose us for full colour plastic card printing?

As a leading company in the plastic card printing industry, our factory has passed ISO9001 Certificate & ISO14001 Environmental Certificate and produces over 200 Million cards per year. We prints and designs all types of plastic cards and can fulfill all of your business needs. We print full colour plastic cards, laminated cards, smart cards, photo ID cards, frosted cards, key cards and more.

Quality: We produces the highest quality cards, made from durable PVC plastic. We ensure all your plastic cards look spectacular through many months of hard usage.

Pricing: Check price list, you will see. Our price maybe not the lowest, but is the best for the quality cards. No setup fee, No other hidden cost.

Turnaround time: 8-12days, including shipping.

Service: All enquiry emails will be replied within 12hours. We work on holidays too, even Christmas. We will keep you posted by each stage of your order like: processing, ready to ship, shipping and package tracking service.

Artwork: We have experienced designers solve your artwork problem, no matter what kind of file you have, even a poor scanned picture, we can refine it and make it printable. We also provide free design service.

Payment & Shipping: We accept all types of payment. Make you online order easy and secured. We provide worldwide FREE SHIPPING and we only use the best couriers like FedEx, DHL, and UPS.

Refund: If you are not satisfied with card quality or we make any mistake, we will do free reprint or refund.