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 debit or credit 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, , i.e. those equipped with an electronic chip (memory chip, 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.
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.
Forecasts predicted market growth at a rate of 8.2% from 2021 to 2028, which was counteracted by losses through the
Covid pandemic.
Production
Plastic cards (standard size ID-1) come in various colors and finishing.
The
lamination mixture of various
,
paper and
plastics (so far mainly
PVC and
PVCA) and the integration with electronics makes them hard to
recycling.
Classification
Type
Range
-
Contact cards (must be inserted into a suitable card reader, e.g. magnetic stripe cards)
-
Contactless cards (using Near-field communication or RFID
Techno
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.
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Regular cards
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Chip-enabled cards
-
-
Digital card
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Magnetic stripe cards
Applications
-
-
-
Smart card
-
-
-
Transportation cards
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Government/Health, e.g.
-
(smaller size contact card only used within mobile phones)
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:
See also
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Electronic banking
-
Plastic recycling
-
Plastic compounding
