Plastic card

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Plastic cards usually serve as identity documents, thus providing authentication. In combination with other assets that complement the data stored on the card, like PIN numbers, they also serve authorization purposes, most often as bank cards for allowing their holders to do financial transactions. Early and simpler cards feature only hard-to-imitate integrated photographs, security holograms, guillochés, or a magnetic strip on which few bytes of personal data could be stored. Today, smart cards, i.e. those equipped with an electronic chip (storage, or RFID), serve as high-security active electronic documents that allow their holder to qualify for driving cars (drivers license card), receive medical treatment (health insurance cards), do banking and more.

Contents

Industry

In their January 2020 report, the International Card Manufacturers Association's (ICMA) indicates a production increase to a record-high of 37.1 billion cards and $27 billion revenue in 2019. [1] Forecasts predicted market growth at a rate of 8.2% from 2021 to 2028, which was counteracted by losses through the Covid pandemic. [2] [3]

Production

Plastic cards (standard size ID-1) come in various colors and finishings. [4] The laminated mixture of various dyes, paper and plastics (so far mainly PVC and PVCA) and the integration with electronics makes them hard to recycle. [5] [6]

Classification

[2]

Type

Range

Technology

Apart from "regular", i.e. non-electronic cards, there is considerable overlap between "chip-enabled", "digital" and "smart" cards, mostly for historical reasons in the development of the current fully equipped smart cards. [8] [9]

Applications

Non-electronic security features

Plastic cards may be printed with the following security-relevant features, some of them also containing personal information, others only serving as anti-forgery devices: [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debit card</span> Card used for financial transactions, usually without a credit line

A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either the front or the back. Many of the new cards now have a chip on them, which allows people to use their card by touch (contactless), or by inserting the card and keying in a PIN as with swiping the magnetic stripe. These are similar to a credit card, but unlike a credit card, the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of the purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EFTPOS</span> Type of electronic payment system

Electronic funds transfer at point of sale is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit cards or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS technology was developed during the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smart card</span> Pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits for identification or payment functions

A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card, is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart cards include a pattern of metal contacts to electrically connect to the internal chip. Others are contactless, and some are both. Smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing. Applications include identification, financial, public transit, computer security, schools, and healthcare. Smart cards may provide strong security authentication for single sign-on (SSO) within organizations. Numerous nations have deployed smart cards throughout their populations.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When triggered by an electromagnetic interrogation pulse from a nearby RFID reader device, the tag transmits digital data, usually an identifying inventory number, back to the reader. This number can be used to track inventory goods.

Electronic cash was, until 2007, the debit card system of the German Banking Industry Committee, the association that represents the top German financial interest groups. Usually paired with a transaction account or current account, cards with an Electronic Cash logo were only handed out by proper credit institutions. An electronic card payment was generally made by the card owner entering their PIN at a so-called EFT-POS-terminal (Electronic-Funds-Transfer-Terminal). The name "EC" originally comes from the unified European checking system Eurocheque. Comparable debit card systems are Maestro and Visa Electron. Banks and credit institutions who issued these cards often paired EC debit cards with Maestro functionality. These combined cards, recognizable by an additional Maestro logo, were referred to as "EC/Maestro cards".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Near-field communication</span> Radio communication established between devices by bringing them into proximity

Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 centimetres (1.6 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used for the bootstrapping of capable wireless connections. Like other proximity card technologies, NFC is based on inductive coupling between two electromagnetic coils present on a NFC-enabled device such as a smartphone. NFC communicating in one or both directions uses a frequency of 13.56 MHz in the globally available unlicensed radio frequency ISM band, compliant with the ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface standard at data rates ranging from 106 to 848 kbit/s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMV</span> Smart payment card standard

EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV stands for "Europay, Mastercard, and Visa", the three companies that created the standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verifone</span> Multinational point-of-sale equipment manufacturer

Verifone, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida. Verifone provides technology for electronic payment transactions and value-added services at the point-of-sale. Verifone sells merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems to the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare industries. The company's products consist of POS electronic payment devices that run its own operating systems, security and encryption software, and certified payment software, and that are designed for both consumer-facing and unattended environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payment card</span> Card issued by a financial institution that can be used to make a payment

Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names, including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ATM card</span> Type of bank card providing access to Automatic Teller Machines

An ATM card is a dedicated payment card card issued by a financial institution which enables a customer to access their financial accounts via its and others' automated teller machines (ATMs) and, in some countries, to make approved point of purchase retail transactions. ATM cards are not credit cards or debit cards, however most credit and debit cards can also act as ATM cards and that is the most common way that banks issue cards since the 2010s.

A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit tickets, bank cards and passports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemalto</span> International digital security company

Gemalto was an international digital security company providing software applications, secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens, e-wallets and managed services. It was formed in June 2006 by the merger of two companies, Axalto and Gemplus International. Gemalto N.V.'s revenue in 2018 was €2.969 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NETS (company)</span> Singaporean electronic payment service provider

Network for Electronic Transfers, colloquially known as NETS, is a Singaporean electronic payment service provider. Founded in 1986 by a consortium of local banks, it aims to establish the debit network and drive the adoption of electronic payments in Singapore. It is owned by DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank (UOB).

A keycard lock is a lock operated by a keycard, a flat, rectangular plastic card. The card typically, but not always, has identical dimensions to that of a credit card, that is ID-1 format. The card stores a physical or digital pattern that the door mechanism accepts before disengaging the lock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contactless payment</span> Technology enabling payment without physical contact

Contactless payment systems are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC) for making secure payments. The embedded integrated circuit chip and antenna enable consumers to wave their card, fob, or handheld device over a reader at the Point-of-sale terminal. Contactless payments are made in close physical proximity, unlike other types of mobile payments which use broad-area cellular or Wi-Fi networks and do not involve close physical proximity.

The payment card industry (PCI) denotes the debit, credit, prepaid, e-purse, ATM, and POS cards and associated businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payment terminal</span> Device for electronic fund transfers

A payment terminal, also known as a point of sale (POS) terminal, credit card machine, card reader, PIN pad, EFTPOS terminal, is a device which interfaces with payment cards to make electronic funds transfers. The terminal typically consists of a secure keypad for entering PIN, a screen, a means of capturing information from payments cards and a network connection to access the payment network for authorization.

Wireless identity theft, also known as contactless identity theft or RFID identity theft, is a form of identity theft described as "the act of compromising an individual’s personal identifying information using wireless mechanics." Numerous articles have been written about wireless identity theft and broadcast television has produced several investigations of this phenomenon. According to Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, wireless identity theft is a serious issue as the contactless (wireless) card design is inherently flawed, increasing the vulnerability to attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German identity card</span> German identity document

The German Identity Card is issued to German citizens by local registration offices in Germany and diplomatic missions abroad, while it is produced at the Bundesdruckerei in Berlin.

The term digital card can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera, or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as a virtual card or cloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share a common purpose: Identity Management, Credit card, Debit card or driver license. A non-physical digital card, unlike a Magnetic stripe card can emulate (imitate) any kind of card.

References

  1. ↑ "Global Plastic Card Industry Grows to $27B". ICMA. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  2. 1 2 "Plastic Cards Market – Global Industry Trends and Forecast to 2028". Data Bridge Market Research. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  3. ↑ Rolfe, Alex (2021-02-02). "Global plastic cards market lose $3 billion amid COVID-19 disruption". Payments Cards & Mobile. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  4. ↑ "Finishings for Plastic Cards like Hotstamp". All About Cards. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  5. ↑ "Because You Asked: Are Gift Cards Recyclable?". Recyclebank. 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  6. ↑ "What to do with old credit cards? A quick review". Thales Group. 2017-02-27. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  7. ↑ Instruments, Ecom. "RFID vs. NFC - What is the difference?". ECOM Instruments GmbH - Intrinsically Safe Mobile Devices. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  8. ↑ "New Chip-Enabled Credit and Debit Cards: What do They Mean for You? | Privacy Rights Clearinghouse".
  9. ↑ "What You Need To Know About Chip-Enabled Cards". American Southwest Credit Union. 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  10. ↑ "Smart-card security—security features". ruhlamat. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  11. ↑ Anti-counterfeiting technology guide (PDF). Alicante: EUIPO. 2021. ISBN   978-92-9156-288-6. OCLC   1246506532.
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