Glossary of terms

The following glossary of terms and definitions is to help you understand the terminology associated with the production of plastic cards, some of which is unique to this industry and with which you may not be familiar. We hope you find it a useful adjunct to this web site. You can use the 'quick links' below to help navigate the glossary.

4-Colour Process

- is a printing term for full colour printing. It is the process of combining four primary printing colours to create a printed colour picture or colours composed from the basic four colours. See CMYK.

ABS

- an abbreviation for Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene is a common plastic material used for the manufacture of moulded card bodies. The plastic used to make moulded (or injected) card bodies for certain cards (See PVC). Plastic material used to manufacture cards that are resistant to heat distortion.

ANSI

- is the abbreviation for American National Standards Institute. This is the US national member body of the International Organisation for Standardisation.

ASCII

- is an abbreviation for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This is a standard way of assigning numerical codes to characters and control codes. There are 128 alpha / control characters.

ATB

- is the abbreviation for an automated ticket and boarding pass machine at an airport, which accepts a financial transaction card to pay for an airline ticket, and issues a ticket and boarding pass.

ATM

- is an abbreviation for Automated Teller Machine (cash machine) is a device usually sited in a public place allowing cardholders to conduct basic banking operations including cash withdrawal.

Access card

- a machine-readable card used to achieve computer access, physical entry or passage.

Access Control Card

- is a plastic card used to gain/control access to premises or enter restricted areas. Usually associated with magnetic or chip cards and proximity cards with or without photo e.g. ID badges.

Acrobat PDF

– is a popular electronic document format. It embeds all typefaces, graphics and age layout information into the one compact file. Its appearance won’t change regardless of computer platform or printer. This makes it ideal for proofing work electronically.

Algorithm

- is a set of computational rules specifying the procedures to perform a specific computation. It is a mathematical routine used to perform computations (often used for cryptography).

Alpha test

- is the initial trial run of a new program, system or hardware within the organisation that developed it. See beta test.

Alphanumeric

– is a term to describe a mixture of letters and numbers – often used in passwords.

Angewandte Digital Elektronik

- is the European contactless card association (ADE).

Applet

– is a small program by which new features and services can be downloaded to a smart card even after the card has been issued, e.g. EMV, PKI or electronic purse applications.

Applications Programme

– is a programme that carries out a particular task e.g. word processing packages, databases and spreadsheets.

Area 1

- is the part of the embossing area reserved for identification of the card issuer and cardholder card issuer (defined in ISO 7811).

Area 2

- is the part of the embossing area provided for cardholder identification data such as name and address (defined in ISO 7811).

Artwork

– includes images, text or original illustrative copy or layout ready for print reproduction at pre-press stage.

Authentication

– is the process of determining the precise identity of someone who conducts an online transaction or who sends an online communication. Often used in conjunction wit Credit or Debit card transactions. This is a technique to confirm the identity of a card or a computer system.

Bps

- is an abbreviation for Bits-Per-Second which is the measure of Data transmission speed, the number of pieces of information transmitted per second. See Baud.

Barcodes

– are printed codes made from vertical lines of different thickness used for fast error free data entry. An array of machine-readable rectangular bars and spaces arranged in a specific way defined in international standards to represent letters, numbers, and other human-readable symbols.

Baud

– is a unit of transmission or signalling speed. The speed in baud is the number of discrete conditions or signal elements per second. It is now largely obsolete, often confused and now largely replaced by "bits per second" (Bps).

Beta test

- is the first public test of a new programme, system or hardware, under controlled conditions with selected users. See alpha test.

BIN

- is the card issuer identification number.

Biometrics

– is a term given to the group of technologies or authentication techniques that that rely on biological phenomena to enable people to be recognised and identified by their individual characteristics. The main types of biometric systems currently available include signature, fingerprint, hand geometry, retinal eye pattern, voice pattern and keyboard rhythm. Signature and fingerprint seem to have the best commercial advantages and are being considered for the UK retail banking system in the longer term. It is the technique of studying physical characteristics of a person.

Biometric Identifier

– is a certain physical (fingerprint) or biological (voice) characteristic of an individual that serves as a unique identifier. The identifier can be electronically stored and compared for positive identification purposes. The identifier can be recorded digitally and by comparing it with stored records the individual can be identified using some physical (fingerprint) or biological (voice) characteristic that acts as a personal identifier.

Binary

– is a numbering system in which the numbers are expressed as various combinations of 1 and 0. In computing terms, these can be represented electrically as on or off.

Bit

– is short for binary digit – the smallest unit of computer storage. Binary digits can be either 1 or 0.

Bitmap

– this is an image stored as a series of bits, in a grid type format when enlarged.

Blank Cards

– are cards with no printing usually used in imaging machines.

Bleed

– is the term for the part of an image or printing that extends beyond the Trim Marks on a page or beyond the actual size of the card - it is said to ‘bleed off the sheet’. Usually, in a printing project, a bleed will cost more to produce than one that does not bleed. A bleed requires sheet larger than the finished size of the piece to print on.

Bromide

– is a black and white proof on photographic paper.

Buffered data

- decoded data from a magnetic stripe read - held in temporary memory until needed.

Bureau service

- is a contract service card issuers, whereby printed blank cards can be embossed, thermally printed or laser engraved and encoded with cardholder and other data and, in some cases despatched to cardholders.

Byte

- is a sequence of eight bits usually operated on as a unit.

CMYK

– is an abbreviation for the colours cyan, magenta, yellow and black around which printing is based. This term is also applied to plastic card printer ribbons together with further abbreviations e.g. OKTH where O = Clear Overlay, K = Black, T = Top Coat Panel Ribbon and H = Heat Seal Panels.

CAD

- is the abbreviation for computer-aided design.

CAM

– is an abbreviation for Card Authentication Method: the method (usually Static or Dynamic Data Authentication) used to verify that a card has come from a valid issuer and has not been tampered with.

CAT

– is an abbreviation for Cardholder Activated Terminal. Card schemes further subdivide CATs into groups, for example, low-value vending machines, limited-value (e.g. petrol pumps) and unlimited value on-line terminals (e.g. kiosks and ticket booking systems).

CB

– is an abbreviation for the French “GIE Cartes Bancaires” which is an umbrella body controlling the card operations of the French banks. It sets standards as well as running the data network. The current CB standard card does not conform to ISO 7816 (its contacts are closer to the top of the card), but a migration is planned.

COS

– is an abbreviation for Card (Chip) Operating System

CPU

– is an abbreviation for Central Processing Unit that is the chip that is the brains of a computer. It is also known as the processor. Explanation: The CPU processes data and instructions. It does calculations and does what the software programs tell it to do. The CPU is the most important part of a computer.

CR80 Card

– is the description for a standard credit card size (3 3/8" x 2 1/8" x .030). Dimensions are 3.375" x 2.125" (85.6 mm x 54mm).

CVM

– is an abbreviation for Cardholder Verification Method: the signature, password, PIN or biometric used to check the identity of the cardholder, particularly for bankcards.

Card Accepting Device

– is a device used to communicate with smart card during a transaction.

Card Five

– is an ID card software used in design and printing of plastic cards. Powerful, yet easy to set-up and use, it has all the features needed to produce ID cards.

Cardholder

– is the person to whom a personal card was issued (not necessarily the person holding the card).

Card inserting and mailing

- is the process of inserting and sealing the card into an envelope along with any attachments, letter (or carrier) and / or promotional material. See also match mailing.

Card issuer

- is an individual or organisation that issues cards to individual or corporate cardholders.

Card jitter

- is poorly aligned recording on the magnetic tracks of the identification card.

Card scheme

- is an organisation or payment system which manages and controls the operation and clearing of transactions through their rules. Banks and building societies must be members of the appropriate schemes to issue cards and acquire card transactions. Examples of schemes are MasterCard, Europay, Visa, American Express, Diners Club and Switch.

Cash dispenser

- is the simplest form of ATM. Which permits only cash withdrawal.

CEN

- is the abbreviation for Comite Européen Normalisation – the European Standards Association.

Centronics

– is a standard interface for connecting printers and other parallel devices. Parallel ports on PC’s almost all conform to the Centronics standard. Two new parallel port standards (backwards compatible) with Centronics, offer faster transmission rates, are ECP (Extended Capabilities Port) and EPP (Enhances Parallel Port).

Character height

- is the maximum permitted height of embossed characters on an identification card. For ISO standard card this is 4.32mm (defined in ISO 7811.

Character spacing

- is the nominal spacing of embossed characters on an identification card. For 150 standard cards this is 3.63mm with a minimum spacing between two consecutive characters of 3.48mm (defined in ISO 7811).

Charge Card

– is a payment card that provides automatic credit within a given invoice date (usually monthly).

Cheque guarantee card

- is a card issued by a bank or building society for the purpose of guaranteeing settlement of cheques to third parties or supporting the encashment of cheques at financial institutions up to a specified value. Most debit and some credit cards may also function as cheque guarantee cards (multifunction cards).

Chip

– is an integrated circuit that carries card intelligence. Embedded in the plastic surface of a card and hidden by the communication contacts. It is a piece of silicon etched with an electronic circuit.

Chip Card

– is another name for a smart card; refers to a plastic card with an embedded integrated circuit, which offers memory and micro processing capabilities.

Chromalin Proofs

– are the most common way of exchanging final artwork for printing. Cromalin is registered name for a printer’s proof manufactured by Dupont. See also Digital Cromalin.

Citycard

- is a multi-application prepayment card for use within a specific urban area - also known as town card.

CKS

- is the abbreviation for Checksum – a control procedure used by applications in verifying the integrity of a card.

Closed pre-paid system

- is a system where the issuer and acquirer of the card are the same party - i.e. the card issuing party also provides those services that can be accessed by the card e.g. a university card.

Co-branding

- is a card issuing agreement between a bank and a commercial organisation, e. g. such as between MBNA and Watford Football Club.

Coercivity

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

Cold Glue Adhesion

– Cold Glue or polyvinyl acetate (PVA) is the premium multi-purpose wood and paper adhesive which dries by evaporation of water and without heat to form a tough, sturdy, non-visible strong bond. It has excellent adhesion to paper and cardboard.

Colour Separation

– is the division of colour into basic elements e.g. CMYK or flat pantone by a process of scanning or page make-up from a computer. Separate printing plates are needed for each colour.

Combi Card

– is a smart card with both “contact” and “contactless” technology on one card.

Company Card

– is a card issued to or by a company for use by an employee for business-related transactions (e.g., purchases, logical access, physical access).

Contact

– is a point of electrical connection between a smart card and its external interface device.

Contactless Smart Card

– is a smart card that transmits and receives data using radio frequencies (RF) technology to communicate with compatible terminal. Eliminates physical contact or insertion into reader terminal while retaining intelligence. Often used in walk-by or gate access applications for mass transit.

Contact Smart Card

– is a smart card that requires physical contact with a card reading device to exchange data. Any card where information is transferred to a reader via a series of contact points located on the card.

Credit Card

– is a term used for a card allowing its owner to spend money with no immediate reimbursement.

Cryptography

– is one of the sciences of keeping information secure using mechanisms and practices to encode data for security purposes.

CVC and CVV

- is the abbreviation for the verification code from MasterCard and card verification code from Visa. Encrypted numeric value contained in the data on the magnetic stripe, which can be checked to ensure that the information has not been altered in any way.

Cyan

– is a shade of blue used in four-colour printing.

DDA

– is an abbreviation for Dynamic Data Authentication: authentication of a card using a challenge and response mechanism.

DES

– is an abbreviation for Data Encryption Standard: the name of the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), which describes the data encryption algorithm (DEA) or standard. When used for communication, both sender and receiver must know the same secret key, which can be used in encrypt or decrypt the message, or to generate and verify a message authentication code.

DKV

- is the abbreviation for Deutscher Kraftverker – the German service company that issues the most widely accepted and used pan-European fuel card.

Data capture terminal

- is an electronic payment terminal that captures transactions for later offline processing.

Data integrity

- is data with integrity has not been altered or destroyed in an unauthorised manner.

Debit Card

– is a card similar to a credit card, but differs by immediately withdrawing money from an account and transferring it to another account. It replaces cheques (with no delay to give the issuer time to cover it) and does not have a credit line associated.

Degaussing

– is a term for magnetic stripe data erasure.

Digital Cromalin

– is a system that makes it possible to produce digital colour proofs that reproduce the quality of the final result with very high reliability. Chromalin is a registered trademark of Agfa and is an accurate colour proof that is made from imaged film using a powder instead of ink.

Digital Imaging

- is the scanning or otherwise capturing of images that may be subsequently edited, filed or displayed on a plastic card.

Digital Optical Laser Card

– is a portable card that passively stores information in the form of high-density marks or bars.

Direct-to-Card (DTC) Printing

- is the process of printing digital images directly onto any plastic card with a smooth, clean, glossy PVC surface.

Domi.net Series

– are a range of modular products from Logika Technology Srl which can be pre-specified to include personalisation units such as the MCPU unit (see below), magnetic stripe encoding, embossing wheels, thermal printing, colour printing and tipping units. These systems can also be retro fitted.

Duplex

– refers to the transmission of data in two directions simultaneously. In card printing terms it means printing simultaneously to the front and reverse of the card.

DPI Resolution

– dots per inch usually equate to pixels e.g. a 35mm slide (1.25" x 1") scanned at 2700dpi this will approximately equate to a 3400 x 2700-pixel image. When printed with a 300dpi printer its final size would approximate 11" x 9".

Dye Sublimation

– is an imaging method for transferring controlled quantities of printer ribbon dye onto a plastic card. Inside a dye-sublimation printer is a long roll of transparent film that resembles sheets of red, blue, yellow, and grey coloured cellophane stuck together end to end. Embedded in this film are solid dyes corresponding to the four basic colours used in printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. As the print head heats up and passes over the film, this causes the dyes to vaporise and permeate the glossy surface of the card before they return to solid form. The solidity of the colours give dye-sublimation images a more realistic feel, unlike the images printed by inkjet printers that utilise individual dots.

Edge to edge

- refers to the maximum printable area on a card. Printer/encoders with edge-to-edge printing capability can print just to the edge of a card resulting in printed cards with virtually no border.

EEPROM

– means Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. This is a memory technology that can be electronically erased and rewritten.

EFT-POS

– is an abbreviation for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale: electronic payment.

Electronic Purse (e-purse)

– is a smart card that contains electronic money. It is sometimes called the electronic wallet or the stored value card (SVC).

Embossing area

- is the area on an identification card within which embossing is located (defined in ISO 7811).

e-wallet

– is a small portable device that contains electronic money. E-wallets are generally used for low-cost transactions.

EMV

– is an abbreviation for the collaboration of the Europay-Mastercard-Visa specifications for chip-based payment cards.

EPOS

– is an abbreviation for Electronic Point of Sale (terminal): a networked programmable electronic till.

EPROM

– is an abbreviation for Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory. This is a memory technology that can be written only once before being erased using ultraviolet light, after which it may be written again.

EPS File

– is an abbreviation for Encapsulated PostScript file: a form of postscript used by a graphic designer to produce a company logo for a card. EPS files are generated from vector graphics originated in applications such as Illustrator, Freehand or Corel Draw.

Embedding

– is an operation to place a microchip module in the cavity of the card body. An electrical test is carried out and the embedded module is then encoded.

Embossing

– is the action whereby metal dies are used to raise / stamp characters in relief on the front surface of a plastic card. The raised letters or numbers are usually tipped with a contrasting coloured foil.

Encoding

– is the process of electronically “writing” or recording information on magnetic stripes or smart card chips. Encoded information or machine-readable codes placed on the cards for use with automatic reading devices e.g. automatic tellers, cash dispensers, and point-of-sale terminals.

Encryption

– is the scrambling of data for confidentiality purposes: a practice that allows only intended recipients to decode information and unintelligible to unauthorised parties.

Envelope Sizes

– ISO standard metric envelope sizes:

Euro

- is a European Union currency.

Europay

- is an international payment association controlled by its members and is MasterCard's strategic partner in Europe.

Expiry Date

– is the date after which a card, account, or application ceases to be valid for transaction use, unless an exception process is used to gain permission.

Farrington 7B

- is a type font comprising letters and digits only and used for embossing text on identification cards (defined in ISO 7811).

Ferrous oxide

- are the metal 'rust' particles that are used to make magnetic stripes. The controlled rusting (oxidation) determines the recording characteristics of the magnetic material.

Financial Hologram Card

– is a card using a hologram, 30 mil thickness, ISO cards, e.g. MasterCard / Visa and others.

Financial Cards (Other)

– are typically Debit, Cheque, Charge or ATM cards not using a hologram.

Firewall

– is an application or a dedicated computer that protects the resources of one network from users on other networks.

Foil Stamping

– is hot stamp printing achieved by using pressure and heat to affix coloured foil in to tile plastic surface.

Four Colour Process

– is the method of printing in full colour by colour separation producing lour colour plates for printing cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

Fuel card

- is a special purpose charge card used most by transport drivers to pay for fuel on the road

Fulfilment

– is the process by which the card is matched to a letter, inserted into an envelope, metered and delivered to the Post Office. Personalisation is available using several different methods along with continuous form equipment or individual hand fulfilled piecework.

GSM

– is an abbreviation for Global System for Mobile Communication: a communications standard for mobile phones.

Generic Card

– is a card that utilises a base card stock of a pre-designed, centralised image and is not individualised to a specific issuer (or department) within its basic design. It may have an IIN (Issuer Identification Number) that groups the issuer with other organisations (for benefits of scales of volumes) but the users’ card can be subsequently individualised by personalisation techniques.

Gift Card

– is a standard or custom size CR80 card with a stored or prepaid value placed on the card through magnetic striping or bar coding. Usually a retail card initiated at cash desks or checkouts.

Graduation

– is the smooth transition from one tone or colour to another, or the range of values between black and white. Graduation can be used to achieve advanced designs in cards of one or two colours.

Http

– is an abbreviation for Hypertext transfer protocol: a client/server protocol used for connections to servers on the World Wide Web. Addresses of Websites begin with an http:// prefix.

Halftone

– is the name printers’ use for a photograph that has to be turned to a fine dot pattern before being printed. This process is called screening and is the process by which continuous tone is simulated by a pattern of dots of varying size.

Health Card

– is a card used to store information about medical history or insurance coverage. Commonly used in the USA these cards can be of any technology.

High Coercivity Magnetic Stripe

– is magnetic tape that requires more than 2,750 Oersted to encode, change, or erase.

Hologram

– is a unique form of photographic printing that is a flat optical image that to the naked eye looks and provides a three-dimensional effect on a flat surface. Holograms cannot be easily copied and are used for security and aesthetic purposes on cards.

Hologram card

- is an identification card bearing a hologram as a security measure against counterfeiting.

Holographic Foil

– is the foil used to carry embossed holographic images.

Holographic Technology

- adjective of or relating to holography or holograms.

Hybrid Cards

– are cards that support more than one technology, such as an IC (integrated circuit) card with a magnetic stripe.

IC

- is an abbreviation for Integrated Circuit.

IC Card

– is an abbreviation for Integrated Circuit or “chip card”. The banking industry prefers the term “IC card” or “ICC”.

ID-1

- is the most popular of identification card formats in which the length and width are in the ratio 3:2 (hence the term 60:40 format). ISO 78/0 prescribes the actual dimensions as 85.60mm by 53.98mm.

ID Card

– is an abbreviation for identity card: a card that identifies both the bearer and the issuer. All financial transaction cards are I.D. cards.

IFD

– is an abbreviation for Interface Device: same as a Card Accepting Device or Read-Write Unit, the equivalent of a card reader.

IIN

– is an abbreviation for Issuer Identification Number: the purpose of the numbering system is to uniquely identify a card issuing institution in an international interchange environment. All IINs assigned are six digit numbers and each card issuer is entitled to one IIN (outside of its membership of any card schemes, for example an IIN assigned from Visa). Therefore only one IIN will be assigned to each card issuer. This IIN must be used only to identify the card issuer. Additional IINs will not be issued to identify products, services or geographical location.

ISDN

– is an abbreviation for Integrated Services Digital Network: an international communications standard for sending voice, video, and data over digital telephone lines or normal telephone wires. ISDN supports data transfer rates of 64 Kbps (64,000 bits per second).

ISO

– is an abbreviation for the International Standards Organisation, central body for formation and dissemination of industry standards for all national standards bodies.

ISO 1073

- is the ISO standard defining the OCR-A and OCR-B character sets for embossing on plastic cards. This details the Alphabetic character sets for optical character recognition. OCR-A is defined in Part 1 and OCR-B in Part 2 of the standard.

ISO 7810

– is the recognised standard for all credit cards and debit cards. Most ID cards are the same shape and size as specified by this standard.

ISO 7811

- is the ISO standard defining how information is recorded on ISO standard identification cards. It includes the following identification cards recording techniques:
Part 1: Embossing
Part 2: Magnetic stripe
Part 3: Location of embossed characters on ID-1 cards
Part 4: Location of read-only magnetic stripes – tracks 1 and 2
Part 5: Location of read – write magnetic track – track 3

ISO 7816

– is the base standard for Smart cards.

Imprinter

- is a device used to print embossed details from financial transaction cards on to sale vouchers.

Indent printing

- this is the technique where characters and numbers are 'stamped' into the plastic and 'infilled' with a tape, typically black. Used for the CVV verification numbers often placed on the signature panel on the reverse of credit cards. Indenting can be placed either to the face or reverse of a card.

Infill printing

- is the filling of otherwise blank areas of printed material with fine detail printing as a countermeasure against counterfeiting (see also fine line security pattern).

Integrated Circuit

– is an electronic component designed to perform processing and/or memory functions.

Integrity (of data or a message)

– means it has not been altered since it was originated.

Issuer

– means the institution identified on the card issued to the user.

Initialisation

– is the first stage of the card issuing process. The purpose of this process is to load all the data common to one application into the smart card’s EEPROM.

Insert

– is the term for a loose advert / papers that are sometimes included, but usually not secured, within a mailing, brochure, magazine, book or pack.

JCB

- is the abbreviation for Japan Credit Bureau (Japan's domestic credit card company established in 1961 by Sanwa Bank).

Java

– is an object oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Java is a machine independent language and offers considerable protection between applications.

Java Card

– is a smart card that supports applications written in JAVA.

Key

– is a device used in conjunction with a cryptographic algorithm to determine: (i) The transformation of plaintext (unencrypted text) data into cipher (encrypted text) data. (ii) The transformation of cipher text data into plain text data. (iii) A digital signature. (iv) A message authentication code. A key can come in many different forms and be regarded as a string of meaningless bits until it is used to encode or decode a message. The algorithm is generally (assumed to be) known, and what is kept secret is the key.

Key Card

– is a plastic card used to gain access to premises, usually associated with magnetic stripe and proximity cards.

Laser Engraved Cards

– see Polycarbonate cards.

Laser Engraving

– is a personalisation technique whereby personal data and a facial image can be burned into a plastic ID card or passport data page using a laser beam. This can be a three dimensional image. Printing inks and consumables are not used in this technology. The finished document is virtually tamper and forgery proof. Best results are produced using polycarbonate cards.

Laminate

– is a transparent plastic coating applied through heat or pressure to protect paper or card and give it a matt or gloss surface. Its purpose is to protect the printing on the card from being scratched off.

Lamination

– is the process of combining lamination material and core material using time, heat and pressure. Using plates on a press to fuse the various layers of a plastic card together. A clear plastic (usually about .0015” thick) is placed on the front and/or back of a card and fused to the printed core with heat and pressure over a period of time (15-25 minutes). Lamination finishes are available in “polish” (P) or “matte” (M). The polish or matte finish can be applied to either or both sides of the card.

Landscape

– is term used to describe the orientation of the page so that the long edge is along the bottom.

Lithography or Offset Printing

– is a common process for printing plastic cards utilising the concept that oil and water are not compatible. The ink represents the oil and the alkaline fountain solution represents the water. During printing ink adheres to the image area of a printing plate while the fountain solution repels the ink from the non-image areas.

Lockable Hopper

- this is a card hopper provided with a lockable door. This lock is intended to help prevent theft of blank card stock. This feature is especially helpful if using valuable card stock such as pre-printed cards, smart cards or cards with built-in security features such as holograms.

Low Coercivity Magnetic Stripe

– is magnetic tape that requires more than 300 Oersted to encode, change, or erase. LoCo magnetic stripes made from gamma ferric oxide.

Loyalty Card

– is typically a standard CR80 size card that has off line accounting capabilities e.g. mileage recording or merchandise purchases and often used as a retail frequent user card offering promotional benefits.

MCPU

– is an abbreviation for Multi Chip Processing Unit that performs electronic personalisation of memory and smart cards. Logika have designed a unit to be integrated within their Dominet systems.

Machine-Readable

– code or characters that can be read by machines e.g. OCR or simplex characters.

Magenta

– is the name of the shade of red from the standard four colour printing inks.

Magnetic Stripe

– is magnetic material, applied as a strip in the surface of a card, used to encode cardholder information. It is the strip of magnetic recording material typically found on an ID card.

Magnetic Stripe Card

– is a card that has a strip of magnetic tape material attached to its surface. This is the standard technology used for bankcards (ATM, credit, and debit cards) and for other applications.

Magnetic stripe reader

- is a device that reads information recorded on the magnetic tracks of an identification card.

Magnetic stripe writer

- is a device that writes information recorded to magnetic tracks on an identification card. Note that track 1 and track 2 are read-only on ISO standard cards.

Magnetic track

- is I linear path on a magnetic stripe along with data recorded. Positions of magnetic tracks are defined in ISO 7811.

Mailer Plus II

– this is Logika’s match mailing system designed to work either in tandem with machines from the Domi.Net series or, as a stand alone machine the system reads the magnetic strips, chips or bar codes of the plastic cards that pass through it, prior to attaching a card folding and inserting into an envelope.

MasterCard

- is an international payment systems organisation controlled by its members.

Match mailing

- is the process of inserting and sealing the card into an envelope along with any attachments, letter (or carrier) and / or promotional material. See also card inserting and mailing.

Membership Card

– is usually a club member card for ID purpose.

Memory Card

– is a type of smart card. Also known as a synchronous card, it features 256 bits or 32-byte memory and is suitable for use as a token or identification card. It is controlled only by fixed logic rather than by a microprocessor.

Micromodule

– is the electronic unit on a smart card. The mircomodule is formed of a chip and a contact plate, connected by fine wires and encapsulated in a drop of epoxy resin. The mircomodule is inserted into a cavity in the card body to form a finished card.

Microprocessor

– is a semiconductor device that can execute a program. In a microprocessor-based smart card, the processor is combined with memory, power control and other functions on a single “chip” of silicon.

Microprocessor Card

– is a type of smart card, also known as an asynchronous card. Features 1 kilobyte to 64 Kbytes of memory and is suitable for portable or confidential files, identification, tokens, electronic purse or any combination of uses.

Mifare Card

– is a proprietary contactless smart card standard, equivalent to ISO 14443 Type A.

Mondex

– is the electronic purse system developed by National Westminster Bank in the UK; it is now 51% owned by MasterCard International and is licensed to banks in many countries. Mondex is unusual amongst bank-owned electronic purse schemes in that the individual transactions are not reported back to the scheme owner, and transactions between purses are allowed. This makes it closer to a true cash substitute than other schemes.

Monochrome

– is a term to describe an item being reproduced in one colour. The one colour could be black or any Pantone ink colour.

Monochrome Thermal Printer

– is a transfer printer for paper and plastic card printing or badge personalisation for ID, security, membership, time attendance etc.

Multi-application Smart Card

– is a microprocessor smart card that can handle a variety of applications - typically with lots of memory and computing power – whilst maintaining separate security conditions.

Multos

– is an abbreviation for Multi-Application Operating Systems: a programming language developed by Mondex for systems using MAOS for smart cards.

NBS

- is the abbreviation for the US National Bureau of Standards – the predecessor body to the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. This body is the US government body concerned with the development of standards for use by the US federal government.

Non-magnetic Card

– is a card without a magnetic stripe e.g. ID cards.

OCR

– is an abbreviation for Optical Character Recognition: the technology that allows transforming paper documents into editable computer files. This technology is often used with OCR, ICR, OMR, and barcode recognition technologies for automated data capture, document recognition.

OCR-A

- is a character set for optical character recognition defined in ISO 1073 Part I.

OCR-B

- is a character set for optical character recognition defined in ISO 1073 Part 2.

Oersted

– The unit of magnetic coercive force used to define the difficulty of erasure of magnetic material.

Operating System

– is the programme that controls the flow of data in a computer and its peripherals.

Optical Card

– is a card with information recorded on an optical memory stripe, similar to compact disks.

Originals

– the basic elements of the artwork. These include photographs on print or transparencies, illustrations, line artwork etc.

Other Secure Card

– are usually retail, oil/gas, telecom, transport, and pay TV cards.

Overlay Varnish

– is a thin transparent layer applied to cards to resist scratching and fading from exposure to UV radiation.

Overs

– is a quantity of printed material in excess of the amount ordered.

Output Stacker

- is a stacking container used to store printed cards in a first-in/first-out order. This feature makes it easy to keep printed cards in a specific order for faster issuance or to print serialised cards.

Overlaminate

- is a protective clear or holographic material designed to offer advanced card security and durability.

Overlay Panel

- is the clear overlay panel CO) is provided on dye sublimation print ribbons. This panel is automatically applied to printed cards and helps prevent images from premature wear or UV fading. All dye sublimation printed images must have either this overlay panel or an overlaminate applied to protect them.

PAN

– is an abbreviation for Primary Account Number: the assigned number that identifies the card issuer and cardholder. This number is composed of an issuer identification number, individual account identification, and an accompanying check digit, as defined in ISO 7812.

PCMCIA Card

– is an abbreviation for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association: it is not considered to be a smart card, as, whilst this card type contains semiconductor chips, it is (a) physically thicker than a smart card, and (b) the connection means is through an edge connector, not via the standard surface-contact method.

PETG

– is an abbreviation for polyethylene terephthalate-glycol-modified: PETG is extremely clear and does not contain a UV inhibitor. (Polycarbonate)

PIN

– is an abbreviation for Personal Identification Number: it is the number or code that a cardholder possesses for verification of identity and must use to confirm authenticity of ownership. The code is usually 4 to 6 digits long.

POS

– is an abbreviation for Point Of Sale: these are the locations at which a transaction is contracted.

PVC

– is an abbreviation for Polyvinyl Chloride. This is the primary and most widely used material for plastic cards. A type of plastic used in production of laminated card bodies for certain types of cards, notably those that require embossing, signature panel or overlays.

Pay TV Card

– is usually a chip card subscribing to a television service e.g. satellite TV.

Pantone Matching System (PMS)

– is an international system and brand name of a colour matching system produced by Pantone, Inc of the USA used for colour standardisation. This is method of making sure that all specified colours used and specified in printing produce standard results across the industry. Colours are specified as numbers, i.e. PMS 032, PMS 300 etc., sometimes with a U (uncoated) or C (coated) suffix. This is used, as the colours often look totally different on each. Pantone inks provide a much greater range of colours than can be achieved by CMYK.

Paper Sizes

– ISO standard Metric Paper Sizes:

Payment Card

– is a card that is used as an identifier when used to transact full or part payment a bill. It enables the payees’ details to be swiftly recorded automatically and credit lodged against the account.

Personalisation

– is the printing encoding and programming of a card with data specific to an individual cardholder. It is the process by which specific information - such as applications and personal information – are loaded onto a smart card or magnetic stripe on an individual card after manufacture, including the cardholder data on the magnetic stripe or in the chip’s memory. Typically, the cardholder’s name and an expiry date is printed or embossed on the front. It may include other forms of personalisation such as a photograph.

Phone Card

– is a stored value card that allows the user to access telephone networks via a PIN number which is usually covered by a scratch-off panel for security.

Photo ID card

- is an identification card bearing a photographic image of the cardholder. The image can be an actual photograph or one captured wholly electronically.

Plastic card

- is a generic description of all payment cards including credit, debit and cheque guarantee.

Plastic key card

- is a token in the form of an identification card, e.g. hotel key cards.

Polycarbonate Cards

– are cards produced from a particular group of thermoplastics. These have the properties of high-durability, light weight and flexibility because they are polymers linked together by carbonate groups. Polycarbonate cards are stronger than Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) cards and thus more expensive. However, for applications where longevity and higher security is pre- requisite e.g. National ID, Passport and Driver’s Licence cards, Polycarbonate cards are ideal. These cards are utilised where the virtually tamper-proof personalisation technique of laser engraving is required.

Polyvinyl chloride

- is one of two plastics (the other is polyvinyl chloride acetate) specified by ISO 7810 as a suitable material for identification cards.

Portrait

– is the orientation of the page so that the short edge is along the bottom.

Prepaid Card

– is a card paid for at Point of Sale and permits the holder to buy goods or services up to the prepaid value. Not all such cards show the identity of the bearer (e.g. phone cards).

Proof

– is a sample or prototype of the art instructions that the customer has supplied the card manufacturer.

Promotional Card

– is typically a card offering special benefits to users e.g. discounts or rewards.

Protected Memory Card

– is a smart card that requires a secret code or PIN number to be entered before the data can be sent/received from the chip.

Proximity Card

– is typically a contact less card whose presence and data can be sensed by an interface device not in physical contact with the card and used for access control applications. Embedded in the card is a metallic antenna coil, which allows it to communicate with an RF external antenna.

RF/DC

– This is a method of communication without physical contact. Accomplished through the use of radio waves.

RFID

– is the abbreviation for Radio Frequency Identification: a technology which allows an object or person to be identified at a distance, without physical contact, using radio waves to energise and communicate with some form of tag or card.

Radio Frequency Card

– is a proximity card in which the coupling between the card and the interface device is by radio. These are generally credit card size plastic cards that communicate with a transceiver (transmitter and receiver), ranging in distance up to twenty feet.

Rainbow printing

- is infill printing using graded areas of colour that merge into one another.

Reader-writer

- is a device that can both read from and write to a recording medium.

Read-write track

- is track 3 on an ISO standard identification card.

Reflex hologram

- is a hologram produced in film form similar to a photonegative that gives full 3-D imagery.

Resolution

– is the dimension of the smallest element of an image that can be printed. Usually stated as dots-per-inch (dpi).

Retailer (Store) Card

– is a proprietary card used and issued by a retailer or retailing group.

Reversed Out

– is a printing technique producing white lettering on a solid background. Offset Litho Ink is transparent so offset printing cannot use white ink so any white type has to be made from the paper/plastic colour showing through a solid.

Run-on

– Often when a printing price is quoted it is given as a figure for the basic job plus a figure for additional copies, e.g. the price may be 2000 copies at £300 with £25 for a 500 run-on. This enables you to calculate a range of prices for different quantities. It is very important to note that the run-on price is for copies printed at the same time as the main run. For instance, in the example given, you could not have 2000 copies today and then expect to have another 500 at some future date for just £25. In many cases the set-up and make ready charges represent a large proportion of the print cost.

Scan

– is the reading of a bar code with a device known as a scanner, which converts optical information into electrical signals, or the search for a symbol that is to be optically recognised. Scanning utilises the movement of a light source over a bar code and recognition of the reflective qualities of the returned signal.

Scratch Card

– is a card that is produced with special ink that can be scratched away to reveal a number or message.

Screen Printing

– is a method in which ink is forced through a design-bearing screen made of silk or other material onto the substrate being printed.

Screen Tints

– are determined by percentage of colours.

Secure Card

– are cards with an intrinsic value e.g. financial, other secure cards etc.

Security printing

- is printing which incorporates anti-counterfeiting measures such as fine-line security patterns, infill printing, lenticular patterns, rainbow printing and serial numbering, etc. and that is carried out under tightly controlled conditions to prevent fraud.

Signature pad

- is an electronic device that captures a digitised image of a person's signature to facilitate signature verification electronically.

Signature Panel

– is the area, usually a panel silk-screened or hot-stamped onto a laminated ID card, designated for the cardholder to enter a signature. A non-Iaminated card may not require a special signature panel application, since the raw plastic card will absorb the ink from a ballpoint pen.

SIM card

– is an abbreviation for Subscriber Identification Module: a smart card that connects to a GSM phone and establishes the users identity.

Single-application Smart Card

– is a smart card issued to a single organisation for a singular purpose.

Skimming

– is the fraudulent copying or alteration of the magnetic stripe stored information (e.g. credit limit) encoding from one (financial) card to another.

Smart Card/Contact Smart Card

- also called a "chip" card or IC card. A smart card is a plastic card with an embedded microchip that may be used to store information about the cardholder or record card transactions as they occur. Plastic credit sized card that contains one or more semiconductor chips. This is a credit card or SIM card sized plastic card with an embedded microcircuit that contains either a: Memory Card, Protected Memory Card or Microprocessor Card.

Spot Colour

– is a colour that is printed self-coloured inks such as Pantone rather than using four colour printing.

Smart Card Operating System

– is the software on a smart card that controls the operation of a card: manages the applications and provides services, such as secure segregation, memory management, input/output and access to cryptographic primitives.

Store card

- is a financial transaction card associated with a retailer or group of retail stores that can be used only for purchases from the retailers concerned.

Stored Value Card

– is a financial card e.g. cash card, electronic purse, prepaid card that is loaded with a certain amount of money/value e.g. loyalty points or credit for canteen meals with each 'purchase' amount deducted from the card.

Substrate

– is the material upon which a plastic card is printed.

Swatch

– is a colour specimen.

Swipe reader

- is a magnetic stripe reader in which the magnetic stripe is read by passing the card manually right through the reader past the magnetic heads.

Telephone Card

– is a. card that can be utilised for the payment of telephone calls. This type of card maybe a prepaid card, a credit card, or one that adds the cost of the call to a standard bill.

Terminal

– is any device that can communicate with a smart card e.g. a reader or a coupler. Certain terminals can operate in stand-alone mode, while others must be connected to a central information system to access an application.

Thermal Printing

- is the process of creating an image from a foil on a plastic card using a heated print head.

Thermal transfer overlaminate

- is a card overlaminate available in a .25 thickness that increases card security and durability; often used for moderate durability applications or when additional security (such as holographic images) are needed.

Tint

– is any area of colour on a print job that is made up of a halftone screen of one or more of the solid colours used on the job. Tints are expressed in percentages i.e. 10%, 20% etc. They are made up of a percentage of tiny dots of one of the ink colours. Laying tints is an extra cost on any job. Great care should be taken when selecting tints, as they can often look totally different on the finished job than they did on the designer s screen. Dark tints of 50% and more tend to look much darker on the printed job than on the screen, due to dot gain on the press.

Tipping/Topping

– is the personalisation technique of laying down a contrasting colour, by means of heated foil, onto the embossed OCR and simplex characters should they be applied to a card. This is done to make the characters easier to read and for cosmetic purposes.

Town card

- See City card.

Transaction

– is a business or payment event for the exchange of value for goods and services.

Transit Card

– is a magnetic or chip card used for transportation services e.g. bus, Underground, Metro cards.

Travel and Entertainment Card (T&E Card)

– is a card issued primarily for travel and entertainment expense activity by organisations and their employees.

USB

– is an abbreviation for Universal Serial Bus: comprising a serial 4 wire bus architecture for peripheral I/O ports.

UV Printing

- is printing with ink visible only under ultraviolet light. 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 it is absorbed into

Vector Graphic

– is the generic name given to any graphic created in applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Freehand or Corel Draw. These packages allow correct construction of a logo and access to electronic Pantone guides for assigning colours to cards so not to lose image size or quality. When it is saved in an EPS format it is perfectly suitable to use directly for any application that we support.

Visa

- is an international payment system or organisation controlled by its members.

Weigand wire

- is magnetic media embedded in cards used for access control applications.