Paneleven is able to handle even the most demanding of card personalisation, printing and fulfilment requirements. Our full in-house service bureau and fulfilment centre is equipped with the most advanced card manufacturing and personalisation technologies available today, and we continually invest in the latest equipment and technologies.
Advancements in security, combined with higher coercivity (the resistance to damage from magnetic fields), have resulted in an increase in the use of magnetic stripes over the years. We now see the use of magnetic stripes broadening, no longer seeing them only on credit and debit cards and here is why:
EMV encompasses a whole new world of payment procedures, transaction standards and smart chip technology. Whether personalising EMV debit/credit cards or contactless transit cards, you can rely on Paneleven to help you every step of the way for your long-term smart card personalisation solution.
Today, grayscale laser engraving personalization is considered to be the most secure personalization technology for (high security) documents. With laser engraving the inner transparent layers of the polycarbonate card are marked by selective blackening of the polycarbonate material.
The personalized data is 'burned' into the card body and therefore protected against fading in sunlight, mechanical and chemical abrasion or attempts of fraud. Any attempt to manipulate or remove the personalized holder data will inevitably leave visible marks on the card surface.
When cards are embossed they receive a three-dimensional effect to the embossed letters and numbers. The raised letters and numbers can then be coated with a variety of different colours such as gold, silver, black and white.
All debit and credit cards have characters embossed into them, as do some loyalty cards, membership cards and photo ID cards. Card embossing enhances the overall impression of the card, creating a sense of quality and value.
Although it is possible to emboss characters anywhere on the card, it is usual for cards to be embossed in the bottom half of the card, and in accordance with ISO specifications. This helps to ensure the embossing will not compromise any signature panel and / or magnetic stripe on the reverse of the card. Cards can only be embossed on one side.
Thermal printing is used for the vast majority of on-demand card production facilities. With high-quality print resolution of 300 x 1200 dpi, thermal printing is used from fine text, complex two-byte characters all the way to 2D bar codes, where the print is as sharp and legible as the artwork that appear on-screen. Thermal printing is mostly based a dye sublimation thermal transfer technology where the printers can either transfer the ink pigments onto the card surface (thermal transfer) or diffuse the color pigments into the card material (dye-sublimation). The personalization can either be a four color print (CMYK) or monochrome (black, white, gold, silver, green, blue red…). Both printing processes promise a very good and inexpensive print result and are mainly used for PVC cards.