Plastic Cards. New Developments. New Technologies. International Plastic Cards.

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES	The plastic card industry is constantly changing, and new computer technology is at the heart of this change. Determined to ride the crest of this technology wave, IPC keeps its customers updated on innovations that will make for even better customer service. IPC has recently upgraded its computer system so orders can be processed faster allowing for swifter customer turnaround times. To be in compliance with network regulations, card encoding stripes must contain a great deal of technical information. IPC's new on-line data processing and embossing capabilities significantly simplify the process of assuring all card issues run as smoothly as possible. IPC has also implemented its new work order system. It provides on-line inventory control of all cards and forms. Current inventories are displayed on each invoice so customers have up to date information with each job that is processed.
Smart Cards	IPC is now working with Smart Cards. The Smart Card is a plastic card with an embedded microprocessor or computer chip integrated circuit. The Smart Card has the capability to store information on the chip which will also allow the card to be used for medical identification and other areas where stored information is necessary.
RFID	IPC also offers RFID card manufacturing and processing. Radio Frequency Identification is increasing in demand and allows for quicker transactions without the need to swipe a magnetic stripe.
Holograms	Holographic images can be integrated into IPC cards offering outstanding artwork and security against forgery.
Thermal Image Processing	Presently, lPC is offering the finest in thermal imaging processing. Using high speed imaging equipment, IPC offers 300 dpi resolution flat card printing with a wide variety of colors, point sizes, and font choices. To fully accommodate your thermal imaging needs, IPC produces cards with multiple bar code types, digitized photo images, corporate logo, crisply printed graphics, and three track encoding capabilities. IPC can also thermal image company logos and other custom artwork onto your cards. This is accomplished through our in-house PC scanning software. Such versatility enables IPC to instantly manufacture customer cards on-site from blank card stock. Cards can then immediately be made available for embossing, bar-coding, magnetic stripe encoding, or further imaging of data. In this manner cards can be produced very quickly for our clients, as opposed to more traditional time-consuming methods such a silk-screening or lithographing. IPC's thermal imaging services allow for imaging of artwork, alpha-numeric data and bar-code information. Simultaneously, the magnetic stripe is encoded, thus increasing the amount of data that can be placed on the card. This flat printing feature is for fixed and variable information- ideal for phone cards or health care cards where a multitude of information is required. Phone numbers, physician information, drug prescription information and additional lengthy data can be thermal imaged. IPC is excited about this innovative approach to card design and electronic access. The future is here and IPC plans to enrich and expand its thermal imaging capabilities for the continuing benefit of our clients. We'd enjoy talking to you about how our thermal imaging services can streamline and improve your plastic card program.
PHONEPIN	In a continuing effort to provide the finest services to financial institutions, IPC offers PhonePIN. The PhonePIN system allows institutions to provide customer selected PINs to their cardholders in a discreet and convenient manner. PhonePIN is a secure way for cardholders to select their own PINs by calling a toll-free number especially set up for your institution. The cardholder privately enters a PIN of their choice and an offset is created which is encoded on the magnetic stripe of their card during card production. The PIN is never maintained for security reasons. This not only saves the institution the cost of PIN generation, forms, mailing, and postage, but also allows your customer to select the PIN they want with complete security. Customers thousands of miles from your office can select their own PINs through a touch tone telephone, as it does not require them to come to your institution. In addition it is affordably priced and convenient. Contact IPC for more information.
Magnetic Resistance - HICO or LOCO	Coercivity is the energy retention value of the magnetic material. The low coercivity material is 300 oersted whereas, high coercivity is 2750 to 4000 oersted. The higher coercivity magnetic stripe cannot be erased with a common "refrigerator" or " purse clasp" magnet as the low coercivity can. IPC provides both low and high coercivity encoding. HICO encoding, as it is called, is used to help eliminate erasures of the low coercivity magnetic stripes. The new HICO standard became effective in 1998.

Return to Home Page