| Term |
Definition |
| ABA |
American Bankers Association. Organization that manages standards for financial transactions and data transmissions in the US. |
| ABA Track |
Sometimes used to refer to the ANSI/ISO Track #2. Typically includes primary account number, expiration date and other account information. |
| Active Label® |
A patented, removable/reusable plastic label is pre-applied to a plastic card and then personalized (imaged). At issuance, the label is removed and applied to an application or security document to maintain efficient and accurate controls of all issued cards. |
| Algorithm |
The formula used to calculate the check digit. |
| ATM |
Automatic Teller Machine. |
| Bar Code |
A combination of bars and spaces of varying widths that represent numbers and letters. Bar codes are a fast, accurate way of entering data without typing the information. |
| Bar Code Reader or Scanner |
The device used to read the barcode. |
| Bar Code Size |
In order to assure readability bar codes must be a certain length and bars a certain height. |
| Blacklight Printing |
Printing with ink visible only under ultraviolet light. |
| Cash Replacement (Prepaid Card) |
These cards can be loaded with value and used for a variety of transactions. Their benefits include quicker transaction time, budgetary control, customer loyalty and overall ease of use. |
| Check Digit |
A number at the end of the barcode that is the sum of a formula (algorithm) applied to the other numbers in the bar code. The check digit is used to validate the compatibility of the number with the system it is scanned on. |
| Check Digit (encoding) |
Using an algorithm with one or more data sets to compute a digit, which is used to verify validity of the data set. Under ANSI/ISO specs, the final digit of the individual account number. |
| Chip |
A piece of silicon etched with an electronic circuit. Used for Smart Cards. |
| Coda-bar |
Used by libraries. Includes numbers and letters. |
| Code 128 |
Variable number of characters. Includes numbers, letters, and symbols. Inventory control code. |
| Code 39 |
Used for parts identification and job tracking. Includes numbers and letters. |
| Coercivity |
A measure of the strength of a magnetic field. Fields are expressed as low or high by the terms LoCo and HiCo. |
| Collectible Cards |
Cards that are geared for the collectible market and although they have value loaded, are not usually redeemed. |
| Combo Card® |
A card and key-tag set that includes a standard card, one or two key-tags, and promotional tab suitable for coupon or marketing programs. The card, magnetic stripe, key-tag(s), and an optional Active Label® can all be personalized with a matching bar code and/or number. |
| Contactless Card |
Radio Frequency ID (RFID) date can be sensed by an interface device not in physical contact with the card |
| Contrasting Colored Core |
A colored core material is laminated between white top and bottom layers (similar to an Oreo cookie). When looking at the edge of the card, the contrasting colored core visually dominates. Solid white counterfeit cards would easily stand out. |
| Credit Card (ID Card/Plastic Card) |
A card used for identification, membership, payment or loyalty transactions usually 2 1/8" x 3 3/8" x .030" typically with an encoded magnetic stripe and some form of personalization. |
| Data |
Personalization Department converts customer data or creates consecutive data. Our programmers format the data based on the PD Spec Sheet. Formatted Data files are sent to the imaging system. Operators use the Spec Sheet to set-up the layout and make proofs. |
| Decoder |
The device that converts the scanned information to computer data. |
| Degaussing |
Magnetic stripe data erasure. |
| Digitizing |
Conversion of non-textual data to digital form. |
| Dura Finish™ |
Proprietary process of applying a wear resistant, protective capping over barcodes and/or account numbers on key tags, loyalty, gift or membership cards. |
| EFT |
Electronic Funds Transfer. |
| Electronic Couponing |
Cards can be mass distributed as coupons, driving consumers to a retail location where the card is passed through a POS device to verify eligibility for some prize or award, or to receive a benefit, such as a special price or discount. |
| Electronic Incentives or Promotions |
Cards with cash value can be provided to consumers or employees as a reward or value-added benefit. In addition, cards are effective cross-promotional tools between interrelated businesses. |
| Electronic Purse |
Smart card stored value program. |
| Embossing |
Characters in relief on the front surface of a card. |
| Encode Head |
A device used to encode data (write) onto the magnetic stripe. |
| Encoding |
Recording electronic information onto a magnetic stripe. |
| Encryption |
Transferring information based on a code to make it unintelligible to unauthorized parties. |
| End Sentinel |
A designated character in an encoding character set which is used to identify the end of a data field, and cannot be used for data. |
| Field Separator |
A designated character in an encoding character set which is used to separate data fields, and cannot be used for data. |
| Flat Card Printing |
Imaging of a card by printing of characters on a substrate surface without disturbing or displacing substrate material, usually using thermal or ink jet printing techniques. |
| Ghost image |
Printing a duplicate photographic image onto a card in a diffused manner making replication of the image very difficult (similar to a drivers license). |
| Gift Card |
This product replaces a paper-based gift certificate program. Gift cards are attractive, easy to use, and avoid the refunding of cash on the unused gift certificate balance. |
| Hidden Print |
Graphics are buried inside the lamination layers, unseen by the naked eye...can only be seen when held to a special, high intensity light source. |
| High Coercivity |
Usually refers to 2750 or 4000 oersted magnetic stripe. 2750 is the recognized ISO standard for transaction cards. 4000 is used primarily in custom narrow stripe read write applications. |
| Hologram |
A flat optical image which looks three-dimensional to the naked eye. |
| Holographic foil |
The foil used to carry embossed holographic images. |
| Human Readable |
Numbers and or letters imaged below or above the barcode that represent the data encoded in the bar code. |
| I 2 of 5 |
Numeric Bar code. Used for warehousing and shipping. |
| IATA |
International Air Transport Association, manages standards for travel transactions and data transmission usually associated with frequent flyer programs. |
| IATA Track |
Used to refer to the ANSI/ISO Track #1. |
| ICMA |
International Card Manufacturers Association. |
| ID Card |
Card which identifies both the bearer and the issuer. All financial transaction cards are ID cards. |
| ISO |
International Standards Organization, central body for formation and dissemination of industry standards for all national standards bodies. |
| ISO 7810 |
Identification Cards — Physical Characteristics. |
| ISO 7811-1 |
Identification Cards — Recording Technique Part 1 Embossing. |
| ISO 7811-2 |
Identification Cards — Recording Technique Part 2 Magnetic Stripe. |
| ISO 7811-3 |
Identification Cards — Recording Technique Part 3 Location of Embossed Characters on ID-1 Cards. |
| ISO 7811-4 |
Identification Cards — Recording Technique Part 4 Location of Read Only Magnetic Tracks — Tracks 1 and 2. |
| ISO 7812 |
Identification Cards — Numbering System and Registration Procedure for Issuer Identifiers. |
| ISO 7813 |
Identification Cards — Financial Transaction Cards. |
| ISO/IEC 10373 |
Identification Cards — Test Methods. |
| Issuer |
An individual or organization that issues identification cards to individual or corporate cardholders. |
| Lamination |
Using heat and pressure to fuse the various layers of a plastic card together. |
| Laser engraving |
Burning tamper proof, unique variable data onto one side of a standard credit card. |
| Lithography or Offset Printing |
Most common process for plastic card printing based on the concept that oil and water are not compatible. The ink represents the oil and the alkaline fountain solution represents the water. These are the two main components which must interact during the printing process, allowing the ink to adhere to the image area of a printing plate while the fountain solution repels the ink from the non-image area. |
| Long Life cards |
A more durable plastic card, designed for 5-10 years of life, makes card tougher to break or crack. |
| Low Coercivity |
Usually refers to 300 oersted magnetic stripe. |
| Loyalty and Membership Programs |
Cards that track customer transaction activity, hold point balances, or verify identification for some form of benefits or rewards. |
| Magnetic Stripe |
The strip of magnetic recording material on a card. |
| Magnetic Stripe Reader |
The electromechanical device used to extract data from a previously encoded magnetic stripe. |
| Medium Coercivity |
Usually refers to 650 oersted magnetic stripe. |
| Memory Card |
Smart card that stores and retrieves serial "streams" of data that are sent to or received from the semiconductor chip. |
| Merchandise Credits |
A replacement for clumsy paper credits or cash refunds. The cards can be loaded with the exact value of the product return or exchange. |
| Microprint |
Very fine printing that is unreadable to the human eye or a copy machine. Can be easily embedded into the normal graphics design or text, and a deliberate typo can be placed in a text string to identify a counterfeit attempt. |
| Microprocessor Card |
Contains a microprocessor chip with a microcode that defines a command structure, a data file structure and a security structure in the card. It's a mini-computer that carries all of clients information on Smart card, rather than in the server. |
| Mil |
One thousandth of an inch (.001 inch). |
| Multi-application Card |
Card that can handle a variety of applications. |
| Oersted (OE) |
The unit of measure for coercivity. The values 300OE, 2750OE, etc. refer to the magnetic energy to erase the stripe. |
| Off-line |
A transaction via paper or reader not connected to a central system. |
| On-line |
A transaction on a terminal permanently connected to a network that is on-line to the card account. |
| Overlay |
A thin transparent layer laminated or coated on a plastic credit card to protect the printing ink from wear. |
| PAN |
Primary Account Number. |
| Pantograph signature panel |
A destructible multicolor pattern applied over a signature panel that shows any tampering, erasing or attempts to change a signature. |
| PD Spec Sheet |
The PD Spec Sheet is used to layout the copy and variable data, determine the formatting and data conversion, and define the machine set-up and production parameters. |
| Personalization |
Printing, encoding and programming a card with data specific to an individual cardholder. |
| Phone Card Functionality |
A phone card feature can be added to any stored value product. |
| PIN # |
Personal Identification Number. |
| POS |
Point of Sale. The term also refers to two types of terminals used in retail stores (a) A terminal with magnetic stripe reader, keyboard, display and autodialer modem, connected to the telephone network and used for on-line credit/debit authorization (b) A more complex terminal including the above features less modem, connected to a host computer, which handles all transaction processing including item price look-up, data collection, and credit/debit authorization. |
| Prepaid Card |
A card paid for at point of sale permitting the holder to buy goods and services up to the prepaid value. Card can be re-loaded with more value at point-of-sale. |
| Printing a Bar Code |
Arthur Blank and Co., Inc. imaging systems store standard symbology as fonts. The system converts the data file to machine language and prints the code based on the set-up. |
| Protected Memory Card |
Smart card that requires a secret code or PIN number to be entered before the data can be sent to or received from the semiconductor chip. |
| Proximity Card |
A contactless Smart card whose presence and data can be sensed by an interface device not in physical contact with the card. |
| PVC |
Polyvinyl chloride, the most widely used plastic material for cards. |
| Quiet Zone |
The white space (usually 1/8") around the bar code that must remain clear to insure the bar code can be scanned and read properly. |
| RAC® Card |
Retail Activation Card. A patented product that is a versatile marketing product ideally suited for a wide range of prepaid phone and gift card programs. A one piece product, it contains a standard plastic credit card, scored to snap cleanly off of the upper panel, which can be printed with promotional material, coupons or instructions. |
| Radio Frequency Card (RFID) |
A proximity card in which the coupling between the card and the interface device is by radio. |
| Read Head |
A device used to read data encoded on the magnetic stripe. |
| Readability |
The quality of the imaged bar code; graded A-F, Arthur Blank & Co., Inc. strives for B grade or better. |
| Reading a Bar Code |
The scanner emits a light (usually laser) beam across the bars and spaces, the reflection is "read" by a sensor which converts the image to electrical impulses. The decoder converts these to computer data (bytes). |
| ScanGuard™ |
Proprietary process which verifies that every card number in every batch is perfectly sequenced, with no missing numbers and no . |
| Scratch off panels and labels |
Applying a destructible top coating covering printed data to conceal from public viewing (similar to a lottery ticket). |
| Screen Printing |
Method in which ink is forced through a design-bearing screen made of silk or other material onto the substrate being printed. |
| Signature Panel |
The area of an ID card where the cardholder enters a signature. |
| Skimming |
Copying the magnetic stripe encoding from one card to another. |
| Smart Card |
(aka Chip Card, IC Card) — A plastic credit card sized card that contains one or more semiconductor chips. |
| Start Sentinel |
A designated character in an encoding character set which is used to identify the start of a data field, and cannot be used for data. |
| Stored Value Card |
(aka cash card, electronic purse, prepaid card, gift card) A financial card that is loaded with a certain amount of money with each purchase amount deducted from the card. |
| Substrate |
Material upon which a plastic card is printed. |
| Swipe Reader |
A manually operated reader with a long narrow channel (slot) through which the magnetic stripe edge of the card is pushed. |
| Symbology |
The type (or language) of a barcode. Although there are over 200 symbologies, less than 10 are in widespread use worldwide. |
| Track |
A strip of specified width and location running the length of the magnetic stripe on which data is encoded. ANSI/ISO standards define three track locations for the magnetic stripe on credit/financial cards, called Track 1, 2 and 3; the tracks are 0.110" wide, with Track 1 closest to the card edge. |
| UPCA(EAN) |
Universal Product Code, 12 digit numeric code. Identifies retail items and groceries. |
| Weigand Wire |
Magnetic media embedded in cards for access control applications. |
