Plastic and paper cards come in a number of shapes and sizes, with various technologies used to hold information. We supply plastic and paper cards that can have a magnetic stripe on the reverse with the card number encoded in the stripe. When the card is either inserted or swiped through a magnetic card reader, these details and the location of the reader are saved into our membership or loyalty applications. We can also produce bar code cards, combination magnetic stripe and bar code, proximity, smart cards and systems based around biometrics such as finger prints.

A popular choice is a credit card sized plastic card with the magnetic stripe in the same position.

Smart cards are becoming more widely used as they offer the ability to store more information on the card itself.

We also supply cards showing bar codes and proximity cards where the card isn't physically passed through a reader, but is held in close proximity to the reader. The advantage of proximity cards over magnetic swipe or bar codes is that the card doesn't have to be removed from the wallet or purse in order to record the “swipe”.

An important part of a card based system is the software that “glues” all the facets together – recognising the swipe, possibly recording spend information and the ability to interrogate the database to see visit/spend frequency.

“Peel-off” thick paper cards can make an exciting and inexpensive alternative to plastic cards and when printed with a bar-code can be used by our software se well.

• Plastic or paper
• Magnetic stripe
• Bar code
• Proximity
• Smart card
• Photo cards
• Photograph printed on the card
• Printed on A4 sheets by Ink Jet printers