Card Personalisation Testing

Overview

Independent testing of personalised information ensures that terminals and POS (Point Of Sale) equipment will be able to successfully read the personalised data, first time, every time. Information which is placed on demand during the personalisation process includes Magnetic Stripe data, Embossing, Indent Printing, Surface Printing, Drop on Demand Printing, Thermal Transfer Printing, Tactile Identifier Marks, Patch Laminates and many more. However, as with all mass production equipment, frequent checks are best industry practice. Any non-compliant issues can then be addressed and corrected to meet VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover or other requirements from official body’s. More importantly, issues can be fixed at the source before degrading to the point of affecting the end user experience.

For personalisation testing, cards are tested in their finished state, often with additional commercial material included. This also allows the visual checking for paper printing errors that can occur at the personalisation site and contamination or damage that occurs from other logistical factors. A visual examination ensures the final product arrives in a condition that is up to the standard expected in the world market

CTI can perform the testing on a schedule to suit your issuing volumes or importance, be it weekly, every two weeks, etc. Cards are tested the same day received, and the reporting issued to the interested stakeholders and staff within 24 hours so that timely adjustments can be made. Should the report raise areas of non-compliance, functionality, or appearance, our test analysts will consult directly with the card manufacturer technicians on an expert to expert basis to correct the problem.

Testing

a.	Magnetic Encoding Quality - ISO/IEC 7811-6:2014
b.	Magnetic Window Saturation - ISO/IEC 7811-6:2014
c.	Magnetic Track Location and Angle Check - ISO/IEC 7811-6:2014
d.	Measured Track Location and Angle - ISO/IEC 7811-6:2014
e.	Embossing Location Check – ISO/IEC 7811-1:2014
f.	Measured Embossing Location – ISO/IEC 7811-1:2014
g.	Visual Appearance – Four criteria are assessed for imperfections and deviations that could occur during the Personalisation, Plastic Card Stock, Supporting Documents, Package/Envelope and Delivery processes. Inclusive of supporting image(s).