Card Testing International - Testing Standards

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 161 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

Card Testing International is an active member of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 17/WG 1, the Working Group focusing on physical characteristics, embossing, magnetic stripe, and test methods for conformance and card durability of cards.

Testing Standards

ISO/IEC 7810	Identification cards – Physical characteristics
ISO/IEC 7810 Amd 1	Identification cards – Physical characteristics amd 1: Criteria for cards containing integrated circuits
ISO/IEC 7811-2	Identification cards – Recording technique – Magnetic Stripe – Low coercivity
ISO/IEC 7811-6	Identification cards – Recording technique – Magnetic Stripe – High coercivity
ISO/IEC 7811-9	Identification cards – Recording technique – Tactile identifier mark
ISO/IEC 7816-1	Identification cards – Integrated circuit cards – Cards with contacts – Physical characteristics
ISO/IEC 7816-2	Identification cards – Integrated circuit cards – Cards with contacts – Dimensions and location of the contacts
ISO/IEC 7816-3	Identification cards – Integrated circuit cards – Cards with contacts – Electrical interface and transmission protocols
ISO/IEC 7816-4	Identification cards – Integrated circuit cards – Organization, security and commands for interchange
ISO/IEC 14443-1	Cards and security devices for personal identification – Contactless proximity objects – Physical characteristics
ISO/IEC 14443-1 Amd 1	Identification cards – Contactless integrated circuit cards – Proximity cards – Physical characteristics amd 1: Additional PICC classes
ISO/IEC 14443-2	Identification cards – Contactless integrated circuit cards – Proximity cards – Radio frequency power and signal interface
ISO/IEC 14443-3	Cards and security devices for personal identification – Contactless proximity objects – Initialization and anticollision
ISO/IEC 15457-1	Identification cards – Thin flexible cards – Physical characteristics
ISO/IEC 24789-1	Identification cards – Card service life – Application profiles and requirements

Testing Methods

ISO/IEC 10373-1	Identification cards – Test methods – General characteristics
ISO/IEC 10373-1 Amd 1	Identification cards – Test methods – General characteristics amd 1
ISO/IEC 10373-2	Identification cards – Test methods – Cards with magnetic stripes
ISO/IEC 10373-3	Identification cards – Test methods – Integrated circuit cards with contacts and related interface devices
ISO/IEC 10373-6	Identification cards – Test methods – Proximity cards
ISO/IEC 24789-2	Identification cards – Card service life – Methods of evaluation
ANSI 322	Card Durability Test Methods

Both Testing Standards & Methods

ISO/IEC 7811-1	Identification cards – Recording technique - Embossing
ISO/IEC 2493-1	Paper and board – Determination of bending resistance – Constant rate of deflection
ISO/IEC 8295	Plastics – Film and sheeting – Determination of the coefficients of friction
ISO/IEC 9227	Corrosion tests in artificial atmospheres – salt spray tests
ISO/IEC 18745-1	Information technology – Test methods for machine readable travel documents (MRTD) and associated devices – Physical test methods for passport books (durability)
CQM Requirements 2.17	MasterCard’s full testing requirements and methods

Visa Inc. operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network and is one of the most recognized global financial services brands. Visa facilitates global commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses and government entities.

Visa oversees testing of chip cards, contactless chip cards, acceptance devices and mobile products that support Visa contactless payments, which allows Visa to ensure that products are developed to Visa specifications and support Visa applications. CTI actively works with manufacturers and Visa vendors to ensure their cards are compliant with VISA’s specifications.

As consumers and businesses continue to seek ever faster, more secure and smarter methods of payment for an increasing array of transactions, MasterCard Worldwide is at the centre, providing a sophisticated set of transaction processing and consulting services that enable economic connections, fuel commercial development on a global and local scale and drive business growth.

The Mastercard CQM (Card Quality Management) Requirements provides the quality management system requirements and the product requirements relevant for Vendors, Vendor’s manufacturing Subcontractors and personalization bureaus intending to pass through CQM Validation.

All MasterCard cards must comply with requirements set out in the CQM. CTI is able to perform nearly all Test Methods that are part of the CQM, and is an ideal partner for time-critical auditing test obligations or at the initial production phase.

Testing Standard & Testing Methodology

• MC CQM 2.17

As the voice of the U.S. Standards and conformity assessment system, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) empowers its members and constituents to strengthen the U.S. marketplace position in the global economy while helping to assure the safety and health of and the protection of the environment.

ANSI 322 describes test methods for the evaluation of Identification card durability, and are aimed at card manufacturers, card issuers and card component suppliers. This standard covers a range of tests, all of which CTI are proficient in.

Testing Standard & Testing Methodology

• ANSI 322

UnionPay is a major Chinese-based card scheme, providing bank card services for mainland China and is widely accepted internationally. UnionPay has the world's largest cardholder base - ahead of VISA and MasterCard.

To establish itself as a global scheme, UnionPay has partnered with other payment networks including Discover, RuPay (India), JCB (Japan) and BC Card (South Korea). Currently UnionPay cards can be used in 162 countries/regions around the world, making it the third largest payment network by value of transactions processed, behind VISA and MasterCard.

American Express was founded in 1850 and accounts for nearly a quarter of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the USA, and is also accepted at a growing number of merchants globally.

Currently, there are over 100 million American Express credit cards in circulation globally. As well as its credit card services, AMEX offer travel program privileges to its members.

Discover Card is a smaller, but growing, credit card scheme behind the big players VISA, MasterCard and American Express. Initially Discover attracted customers by offering a high credit limit and no annual fees.

Discover has partnered with UnionPay and other regional payment networks globally to increase acceptance around the world.

Diners Club was founded in 1950 and is currently a charge card company. They have partnered with MasterCard and then Discover in the USA, and globally with regional franchises to introduce the Diners Club card into local markets.