The plastic card is part of our total solution. An identification system starts with a quality card. We provide high quality plastic card products at competitive prices … the right card for the right application.

PVC Cards PVC Cards are used when a degree of durability and use is required for the card. PVC cards come in a variety of thickness and colors. These cards are used universally in all markets.

Polyester Core
Polyester Core/PVC Coated cards are for applications that need highly durable cards. The cards are used with applications that require constant swiping or scanning such as school ID's and debit cards.

Graphics quality cards are individually inspected for surface defects. These are quality cards used for most photo ID applications.

Magnetic Stripe Cards
Magnetic Stripe Cards Magnetic stripes are commonly found on credit cards, bank debit cards, prepaid telephone and vending cards, mass transit cards, drivers' licenses, employee ID badges, membership cards, school lunch programs library cards, gift certificates, loyalty cards and access control cards. This well-established technology is used in industries with low to medium data storage needs. The magnetic stripe is a tape with metal filings that are arranged by magnetic energy that translates to readable characters. Options of magnetic stripes include:

2 tracks-2 lines of data, 1 st line alpha, second line numeric

3 tracks- 3 lines of data, 1 st line alpha, second & third line numeric

Levels of coercivity-3 levels of resistance to demagnetization (harder to encode and erase)

Barcode Cards
Bar codes are used in many applications to encode numeric or ASCII information to stripes that are easily readable by an electronic device called a bar code scanner. Bar code systems can use several symbologies. A symbology is equivalent to a language. Each symbology has strengths and weaknesses. Barcodes are used independently or in conjunction with other information coding technologies in all industries and markets. The selection of card materials, symbology and laminates need to be selected based on the scanning application and requirements.

Smart Cards
A smart card is a plastic card about the size of a credit card, with an embedded microchip that can be loaded with a large amount of stored data. Smart chips are available in many different memory and format configurations. We have a number of chip cards that have a multi-application capability:

Contact Smart cards have a visible chip on the card and require insertion (contact) into a card reader

Contactless Smart cards have an imbedded chip which cannot be seen and includes an aerial to transmit information

Proximity Cards
Proximity cards or simply "prox cards" communicate through an antenna similar to contactless smart cards except that they are read-only devices that generally have a greater range of operation .

Prox cards continue to grow in popularity because of the convenience they offer in security, identification, and access control applications, especially door access where fast, hands-free operation is preferred.

Preprinted Cards
Our customer list continues to grow for preprinted cards. Professional, high quality graphics can be produced for volume embossing or photo ID issuance. If you are looking for any type of preprinted plastic card, we can provide preprinted card stock. Financial banking cards, club and membership cards, or access control cards are just a few of the many types of cards that use preprinted cards.
Web site

Embossing cards
Embossing cards use stress plastics that produce a raised, white display of customer or patient information. In addition to embosser stress cards, we also provide hospitals with room jackets to eliminate the need for new embossed patient cards for multiple location changes.

For more information on these plastic cards and our full line of preprinted plastic card applications, call or contact Mid-America Business Systems at www.mabsinc.com .