Mifare Cards

Smart Card

Our state of the art Smartcard plant has been vetted and accredited by Philps and Arsenal Research for certification of Mifare products according to ISO/IEC 14443. The Smartcard production plant is ISO 9001 accredited and has a track record of producing work for Ministry of Defence, Transport and National Security departments for governments around the world.

Our Smartcard plant has over 140 highly skilled and trained workers operating a two shift system. This set up enables our manufactuing to accomodate up to 6 million Contact and 3 million Mifare cards each month. With our capacity reducing every month we have major plans to increase the capacity to over 12 million cards per month by the end of 2007.

Contactless Card

Philips MF1 IC S50 - Mifare 1K Card

The ever-popular MiFare 1K card from Philips, also known as Mifare Classic. Operates at 13.56 MHz wireless frequency, according to the ISO 14443A standard, and contains 1Kbytes of read/write memory that can be used for multiple applications. Mifare cards typically operate at a distance of up to 10cm depending on the power provided by the reader. Supplied as blank white PVC cards to ISO standard.

Philips MF1 IC S70 - Mifare 4K Card

The expanded memory Mifare 4K card from Philips, belonging to the Mifare Classic family of products. Operates at 13.56 MHz wireless frequency, according to the ISO 14443A standard, and contains 4Kbytes of read/write memory that can be used for multiple applications. Mifare cards typically operate at a distance of up to 10cm depending on the power provided by the reader. Supplied as blank white PVC cards to ISO standard.

Philips Mifare Ultralight

Mifare Ultralight has a 512-bit EEPROM read/write memory and is compatible with existing Mifare infrastructures. Operating in accordance with ISO 14443A, Mifare Ultralight functions at a distance of up to 10 cm with true anti-collision properties and without the need for a battery.

Mifare Desfire

Mifare Desfire is ideal for service providers wanting to use multi-application smart cards in transport schemes, e-government or identity applications. Based on open global standards for both air interface and cryptographic methods, Mifare Desfire is compliant to all 4 levels of ISO / IEC 14443A and uses optional ISO / IEC 7816-4 commands.

Featuring an on-chip backup management system and the mutual three pass authentication, a Mifare Desfire card can hold up to 28 different applications and 16 files per application.

Please call us to discuss the options.

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Pre-Printing of Cards an Introduction

At Cards Plus, we believe there are two key ingredients to a successful Pre-Printed card project:

• Project Management
• Card Printing Technology

Project Management
Cards Plus has many years of experience project managing large and small projects. We treat every Pre-Printed card job as a project. We assign a project manager that will be involved in every step of the process with you. We will work diligently from the art preparation to making sure all your specifications are correctly met. We will make sure that you get you proof quickly (in digital format) to ensure that the project does not sit unnoticed. We will work diligently to service you and our goal will be to exceed your expectations in every step of the project.

Card Printing Technology

We offer a couple of ways to produce pre-printed cards. For the lower volume of cards, we suggest dye-sublimation. This type of technology is suitable for ID Cards and card orders of 500 cards or less. We can print full colour on the front and full colour on the back. We also offer a cheaper option that allows for monochrome print (black, blue, green, red, white, gold and silver) on a standard white credit card size card.

Our standard lead-time for these types of cards are 3-4 days.

We also offer an option for larger volume of cards which also offers better print quality. This option offers a lower cost. We can print full colour on the front and back, we also offer guilloche printing, foil stamping, UV Ink printing just to name a few. Our standard lead-time for these types of cards are 3-4 weeks.

There are many advantages of a Cards Plus Pre-Printed card, including:

• Durability
  1.0 mil overlay to provide an extremely durable card
• Resolution
  This high printing resolution will make your images dramatically sharper and if you require security printing i.e guilloche or micro printing we can accommodate those needs
• Speed
  A Pre-Printed card allows you to just print the data that is varying on the card, since the background image is already printed. This can sharply increase your productivity of your card printing process.

Card Plus’ technology for producing your card will be state of the art including the following:

• The process includes a fully digital pre-press, which allows for the litho plates to be 100% digitally created (many plants still use film). The digital litho plates will ensure highest quality images. What that means at the end of the day, there are NO SETUP COSTS.
• The Litho offset printing equipment is also fully digital and uses the most advanced technology available for plastic card printing. The colour, density and litho plates are computer controlled, which will ensure an exact reproduction of your cards.
• The cards are cut using an optical registration system that checks for accuracy on three axes to guarantee accurate cuts.
• The cards are inspected using a fully computer controlled optical inspection system that accurately assures the highest card quality.
• The plant has achieved the highest quality designation - ISO 9001.
• The plant produces cards for American Express, Visa and MasterCard with a huge capacity of cards per year.

We can accomodate almost any size and type of pre-printed card. We work with worldwide industry leaders from financial institutions, casinos, loyalty card managers, retailers, restaurants, hotels, airlines, schools, governments, libraries, and more.

It doesn’t matter if you currently have a paper based, laminated plastic or even no membership cards at all, we are sure that Cards Plus can assist you in shaping your card requirements.

You demand the quality, innovation and creativity to make your card stand out above the rest. It is a relationship, touch point, or communication piece to your customer.

Cards Plus is the company to meet your needs. Our streamlined process gives customers competitively priced products without sacrificing the quality and technology needed to succeed in business today.

Click here for a QuickQuote for Pre-Printed Cards

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Choosing the Right Card Printer

The major components in any ID Card System, ID Card Printers are many and varied. An ID card printer can perform many functions while printing an ID Card, and this is what makes them so useful. For example, while printing an image, an ID Card Printer could encode a magnetic stripe, a proximity card, or a smart card.

The printer comes with software that manages the data that is printed or encoded on each card. The software handles all the functions and provides the printer with the necessary tools to perform all its functions at once.

Before deciding which printer is right for your needs, consider what capabilities you want the printer to perform. You have to think about both the physical and technological properties of the printer and decide accordingly. As a rule, heavier ID card printers with a larger footprint have more abilities and are more durable. Lighter printers are usually better for less-intensive uses, and may have fewer capabilities, though this isnt always the case.


More properties you should take into consideration when choosing a printer are the following:

Do you want a single or double-sided card?

A single sided ID card is excellent for simpler uses, like a student or school employee ID card. A double-sided ID card can add more security to your company and can be better for a larger company or corporation that wants enhanced security.

Do you require colour images or monochromatic images?

You should decide if you want a multi-colored image on your card or a simple monochromatic (one colour) image.

Is encoding like magnetic stripes, proximity cards, or smart cards required?

Institutions like Government buildings, schools, banks, and hospitals all benefit from the quickness and hassle-free efficiency of proximity cards, contactless smart cards, and magnetic stripes. Contactless smart cards and proximity cards use Radio Frequency technology that allows for higher security, greater efficiency, and easier use (no swiping involved).

Do you want other security features, like holograms?

Besides basic encoding, there are also more complex forms of security for ID cards like holographic cards. A holographic card is created by transferring holographic over-laminates onto cards. This minimizes the risk of the printed image being altered and forged. Make sure you request a custom holograph if you go this route, as the ones you buy online can be bought by many others, including counterfeiters.

These are some of the most basic questions you should answer before purchasing an ID card printer. Call us if you have any card printing questions if you have other questions and make sure you ask any questions you have. You are investing in the security and organization of your company or facility, and having the right components can make all the difference in the type of Photo ID card you end up with.


Take a little closer look http://www.cardsplus.co.za/

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PVC Card Printing 101

Plastic cards have become part of everyone's life, from credit cards to driver's licenses, membership cards to employee identification badges. Their standard size, portability and durability have made them the vehicle of choice for many applications.

Digital plastic card printers offer the ability to create custom cards ideally tailored to the application or to customize and personalize cards on demand, right at the point of issuance.

Closely integrated with image capture systems (digital cameras, etc.) and computer database systems, the printer provides the delivery point of a highly integrated system. The printing process is fast (just a few seconds per card) so that cards are generated and personalized while the customer cardholder waits, quickly connecting the customer or cardholder to the issuing organization or program.

Digitally printed plastic cards provide numerous technological features, but start with a blank plastic card that can be printed with any combination of artwork, graphics, text, digital photograph, bar codes, logos, etc., limited only by the issuer’s imagination. Additional machine readable information can also be encoded such as magnetic stripes and smart card chips.

Digital plastic card printing has replaced previous card generation methods and has integrated the card delivery process into the electronic environment that runs and tracks the rest of your business or agency.

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