Plastic cards are worldwide standardized. ISO sizes are 85,72 x 53,94 mm. Cards of this sizes are indicated as mode A or CR80. The thickness of standard card is 0.76 mm. Smartcards are slightly thicker, about 0.80 mm. Other thickness sizes are 0.60 mm for health care cards and 0.30 mm for business cards.
Plastic cards in general are made of PVC. Other used materials are PET, ABS, Polycarbonate en Polystyrene. Cardline prints al these plastics without problems. It is possible to emboss, to laser engrave, to pre-print and to print PVC cards. Depending on the use, the life time of cards are 3 to 5 years.
PET and the composite version PET/PVC is normally used for the ID card applications with a life time of more then 4 years.
ABS is normally used for smartcards like phone cards. ABS cards can be printed with graphics and can be laser engraved. Life time is 1 to 3 year.
Polycarbonate cards are the most durable cards and can be laser engraved. These cards are most applicable in extreme high security ID cards. Life time 10 to 20 years.
Polystyrene cards normally used in health care to emboss and to heat print.
Life time is 1 to 4 year.
The major part of all cards will be laminated. Under pressure and heat more layers are melted. A protection layer can be laminated on the printed surface of a card. This can also be done on the back side of the card.
Besides ISO cards Cardline supplies also MSP cards which are made in different thicknesses. The MSP card is similar to the ISO card, but not laminated and has less appearance.

MAGNETSTRIP CARD
The magnetstrip card is widely accepted medium because the card is cheaper then the contact less Mifare or Proximity card. Two different magnetic strengths: LoCo and HiCo.
LoCo cards are cheaper, but more sensitive for external magnetic fields. De LoCo card can lose information in strong fields. You can recognize the LoCo card by its brown or blue color strip.

HiCo card is more common and not sensitive to external magnetic fields. You can recognize the LoCo card by its black color strip.The ISO magnet strip card (HiCo or LoCo) has normally 3 tracks, of which track 2 is reserved for access control functions. Track 1 and 3 can be used for other functions like catering, payment, etc. The magnet strip on the card can be combined with other technology on the card like Mifare, Proximity and contact chip.

Depending on the type magnet strip the magnetic field force can be adjusted to code the tracks. The magnetic force is called Oerstedt (OE). For example the HiCo magnet strip 4000 OE and the LoCo magnet strip 300 OE.

A HiCo magnet strip reader can read LoCo cards, but not the other way around.

CONTACT LESS CARD
Proximity
Proximity card is a collection name for all contact less cards which are not writable by definition. Smartcards have a contact less contact chip, which is writable.
With a proximitycard information is saved and chanched by an active system, which runs for example on a computer network. With smartcards information can be written and kept in the card. Therefore smartcards can be connected to stand-alone systems.
More often Proximity cards are combined with other technologies like Mifare, Wiegand, contact chip or magnet strip.

Mifare
The Mifare card is a card with very different applications. It is a contact less chip card with memory divided in 16 different sectors and ditto applications. And even more then 16 if you combine the card with a proximity part en / or magnet strip. An example of application is the easy-pay key for a petrol station. There are also key fobs or key tags with a Mifare chip.

Thick Proximity and Key
The thick Proximity cards have a larger read capacity then the standard ISO cards or keys, and are also mechanical stronger. As well as the thick proximity card as the key can be printed. The key can be attached to a bunch of keys with the help of a supplied metal ring.

• Mifare 13,56 mHz read and write
• Legic 13,56 mHz read and write
• Hitag I 125 kHz read only
• Hitag 2 125 kHz read and write
• EM Unique 125 kHz read only
• EM 4102 read only
• EM 4050 read only
• Wiegand
  

CONTACTCHIPCARD
The Chip card has a small golden square. Take for example your banc card. Lot of information can be read and write. If the chip card gets lost, then all the written information gets lost, if not simultaneously the information is written in an information system.The advantage is the information carrier capacity. The disadvantage is that the card should make contact with the reader and writer.
We supply the following chip cards.

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