ID Cards - A Multi Purpose Tool

When I was a kid, everyone wanted a Swiss Army Knife - this little pocket knife could whittle the finest point on a stick, open a can, trim your nails and cut the wrapper off your favorite candy bar. Leatherman has made a more manly version now - complete with screwdriver, pliers and beer bottle opener - no guy can be without one.

Multi purpose tools are convenient, lets face it. If one thing can accomplish more than one task, it becomes worth not only the investment, but also the effort to carry it.

With the advancing technology in digital card printing, it is now possible to make what used to be a very simple item, the basic ID Card into a multi purpose tool.

Deciding whether your company needs an Identification system is the first step - and answering a few questions will help make this initial decision.

1. Do you have a need to monitor access to your building for safety or security reasons?
2. Do you have certain rooms or equipment that you would like to restrict access to?
3. Would your company benefit from some of the technology available with features available on a plastic ID card - barcodes, magnetic stripes, smart chips - enabling things such as attendance management, canteen management, computer and copy machine management, parking lot management?

Once you have decided to upgrade or institute an Access Control/Credential Management system, we can assist you in getting the right card for the job - one that will provide all the features your company requires. With our advanced print technology, we at Cards Plus are able to print onto standard issue Proximity cards without damaging or shortening the life of the card. In addition we have a convenient Card Bureau service which will enable you to have cards printed in a very short turnaround time - 5 days or less - and to continue ordering on a batch order system as needed throughout the year.

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss your company's needs, please call us at Cards Plus - 011 894 3914 (South Africa) or visit us at our website - www.cardsplus.co.za

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Gift Cards - the Gift that Keeps on Giving

It's here - the Christmas buying season. Shoppers are making their lists and checking them twice - and looking for the perfect person-to-gift match. Uncle Joe loves tools, Aunty Pam dies for new shoes. Cousin Mark is into electronics and Granny is just happy to have anything from her dear sweet grandchild.

Around the world, Gift Cards are king of the Christmas season. One of America's top retailers, Best Buy, reports that they sell 70% of its gift cards in the Christmas season. No longer considered the "cop-out gift", a survey done by BIGresearch for the NRF,conducted in early October, found that nearly 55 percent of consumers would like to receive a gift card this holiday season. In the US last year, consumers spent $26.2 billion on gift cards during the holidays, with an average of $40 spent per card. South Africa is quickly following suit.

The benefits of gift cards are obvious. They offer immediate cash sale, with the likelihood of add on purchases; they broaden customer base, working as a classified endorsement from one customer to another; they reduce the amount of returned merchandise, especially around the holiday season, as the receiver is guaranteed to receive the items they want.

Adding a twist to the standard gift card can also increase sales. Multiple options, from custom design to personalization at point of purchase, even as far as the ability to print the card givers photo on the card - all of these options are possible through the products and services offered by Cards Plus. We can even help with quick turnaround on smaller volumes.

So, think out of the "gift box" this year - consider adding a special Christmas gift card to your holiday items - and watch your sales totals increase!

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FYI - A Great Book on Loyalty and CRM

Many of our customers of late have been retailers who, in today's market, are looking to retain their current clientele, and increase sales through the implementation of a rewards based loyalty programme.

We want to put the "smart" into cards, and believe that giving information to our clients which will help them to succeed is most important.

In light of this, we have come across a very interesting read by author Frederick Newell titled Why CRM Doesn't Work. It explores the idea of customer centric service to build long-term relationships, create customer loyalty, and bring in profits over time instead of speedy, high-pressure, one-time sales. In the chapters on loyalty, Newell goes into great detail on loyalty programmes, loyalty cards and the importance of using them as tools to drive repeat business.

Reading this book, or at least the Google preview, will give your company some insight and ideas into creative, customer based methods which will increase your sales and retain your client base.

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Powerful Plastic - from the Can Do Files

There was a day when a plastic card meant a credit card. In fact, many still refer to a typcial CR 80 sized card as a "bank card". But today, thanks to new technologies in both hardware and software, and some very creative thinking people, there are now limitless applications for this small, but powerful piece of plastic.

A loyalty card is a great customer reward tool, but how about using it to encourage education? Recently we began meetings with a forward thinking company who is wanting to encourage its employees to better themselves in their chosen field by rewarding them with redeemable points earned through reading.

Partnering with their own in house resources as well as some outside in the community, they are going to use a basic loyalty programme and loyalty cards to keep track of employees who take initiative to learn more about their line of work. These points will then be redeemable for a variety of benefits and employee rewards. (Imagine the possibilities!)

Why not consider taking your companies typical ID badge, and by adding a very inexpensive magnetic stripe and encoding - begin rewarding your employees for doing the things that would make them more valuble to you as their employer?

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Giving your Membership the Personal Touch

Business in today's economy demands creative thinking. When prices must be raised, how does a company maintain its customer base - adding value to its services-without it costing a fortune? Advertising has always been an option, but this can be a pricey venture.

One solution is to offer your clients a sense of belonging and additional value to continuing their relationship with your business. Membership cards and Loyalty cards are a simple, cost effective solution. The plastic card is a minature billboard and helps to build your brand - and shows your client that you value their business or membership.

The standard membership card or loyalty card can be amped up a notch (and be made more secure) by adding features such as signature panels, personalization and magnetic encoding.

At Cards Plus we offer a variety of solutions for our clients to add that personal touch to their plastic cards. Full service printing - printing each batch of cards, large or small quantities, complete with personalized details and encoding if needed; Pre-printed cards with batch printing personalization; or perhaps purchasing an affordable printer to print your own cards at the point of service - all of these options, and more are part of the portfolio we offer to our clients.

Making our clients look good is our goal. And we would love the opportunity to speak to you to see if one of our solutions might fit your needs.

You can contact us at Cards Plus by calling 086 16 CARDS (in South Africa) or +27 11 894 3914 and one of our friendly staff will be happy to assist you.

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Can Do - Samples to Cinch the deal

Everyone knows that ideas and suggestions are great, but when it comes to convincing a client of the value of your service, having something tangible definitely helps.

One of the perks of ordering through Cards Plus is our ability to provide printed plastic card samples to assist our clients in their presentations to their own clientele. Our state of the art Retransfer printers provide litho like quality plastic cards in a fraction of the time, giving the presentation an edge that perhaps the competition doesn't have.

Several of our current clients use this service - from equipment vendors who need samples to demonstrate equipment, to advertising agents, putting together the complete package, to loyalty providers who want to wow the client - we can do it, and are more than happy to make you look good!

Give us a call and speak to one of our helpful customer service representatives to discuss this service, as well as the many other services and products we provide.

Cards Plus
+27 11 894 3914
086 16 CARDS (South Africa)

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Can Do!

In the spirit of providing the "smart" to the plastic card industry, we at Cards Plus are starting a new blog feature the "Can Do Files". Solutions are our aim, and we would like to share some of the successes that we have assisted our clients in achieving.

One service that we provide at Cards Plus is the QuickCard Bureau Service. Clients who have an ongoing need for cards can simply email us through their ongoing batch orders. We print and personalize there cards and have them out for delivery 3-5 days from receiving the order.

An existing client of our QuickCard service who has regularly sent through monthly orders suddenly needed a new card to celebrate a championship ranking that their club had earned. In the midst of the clubs celebrations, Cards Plus was able to organize a new colourful card design and upgrade their old two colour cards to full colour, high gloss membership cards worthy of the pride they felt.

Contact us at +27 011 894 3914 or go to www.cardsplus.co.za to give us a chance to provide a creative solution to your Plastic Card Challenge.

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Keeping Up With Technology

Hot tickets today could very well be old news tomorrow, and keeping up with it all can be quite a task! Remember the days when having a mobile phone required carrying it by a strap across your shoulders? Look at how far we’ve come!

At Cards Plus, we do our best to live up to our by-line the “Smart” Card solution provider, by keeping ourselves up to date on the latest technologies available so we can offer our clients the best solution for their needs.

It was our honour to be included in Digital Identification Solution’s 5^th year anniversary in early October, 2008. Partners and VIPs from around the world joined to celebrate the great strides this company has made in a relatively short period of time. During this time, we were able to network with many in the ID industry and receive sneak previews of exciting upcoming products offered by DIS. (Stay tuned!!)

Digital Identification Solutions is the leading the pack with technological advances in Secure ID credential management. With products such as their XID retransfer printers, Encoders, Inline lamination modules, Overlaminate Modules and their range of holographic overlays, laminates and UV imaging ribbons, DIS sets the bar high in providing multiple options for secure ID solutions.

We are very proud to be Certified Partner for Digital Identification Solutions in sub Sahara Africa. Their advanced technology, combined with straight forward, user friendly systems make their card printers the best in the industry.

Give us a call if you would like more information!

+27 11 894 3914

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Loyalty Card and Gift Card Programs – What is all the buzz?

In today’s economy, retaining business, as well as bringing in new business is more challenging than ever. Simply offering a great product is no longer enough.

Retailers and Service Providers are now faced with the challenge of adding additional value to their product line – and they need to stand out from the crowd.

We have a solution to this dilemma and a new product that we are launching – one that is growing in popularity and gives a great return to the retailer and service provider –Rewards Plus Gift Card and Loyalty Card Programme.

Why does this work?

Loyalty Cards and Membership Cards are today’s ‘Hot Ticket’, and are currently one of the fastest growing segments in the plastic card industry.

· Loyalty cards cater to every customer’s desire to feel recognized and special

· Loyalty programmes offer the ability to reward your most loyal customers, giving them a little special treatment and encouraging them to return,

· Loyalty programmes increase your knowledge of your customers by helping to record spending patterns and trends.

Retailers reap great rewards from loyalty card programmes:

* Retain/increase business with your customer base
* Collect Data on customer buying habits and sales trends
* Advertise -Put a "Miniature Billboard" of your business in your clients wallet

Gift Cards provide their own list of great benefits:

* Gift Cards are an excellent promotional tool. Gift cards build brand awareness as they place your advertising and message space in the wallets of your customers.
* Gift Cards offer Increased Turnover and Profitability – Existing store customers transform others into same store customers without any extra cost or effort to the retailer. Gift Card displays at the point of sale have a dramatic impact on human tendency to impulse purchase, thus increasing profitability. Affixing Cards to creatively designed carriers adds to the perceived value. Additionally, customers tend to spend 40% to 140% more than the face value of their card.
* Gift Card assist with collection of data- Magnetic swipe Gift Cards give you the facility to examine purchasing activity and trends at all levels enabling the production of accurate reports.
* Gift Cards assist with effective target marketing - With the collated Data and accurate reports Gift Cards give you the opportunity to carry out more effective and successful marketing.
* Gift cards ensure less returned merchandise - Gift cards ensure that the customer or the end user receives the goods that they want which in turn reduces the quantity of returned or exchanged merchandise.


Cards Plus is pleased to announce the launch of it’s all new Gift Card and Loyalty Programme- Rewards Plus

Operated by magnetic stripe readers, this programme offers extreme flexibility and great benefit for retailer and customer alike. Call our customer service department at 08 616 CARDS (or 011 894 3914) to receive more information on this revolutionary way to begin your own Gift card and Loyalty Programme

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EdiSecure XID Retransfer Printers - outshining the competition

The convenience and control offered by printing your own plastic cards is now even more appealing with the Digital Identification Professional Line of XID Retransfer Printers.

What makes the XID Retransfer Printers unique?

These printers stand out from other printers on the market today due to

• Print Quality: True ‘over the edge’ printing in millions of colours and offset quality print make cards printed on the XID printers stand out from the traditional direct to card method
• Value for Money: XID Card Printers are all based on the same print engine and chassis enabling them to be easily upgraded with the features needed
• Versatility: Not only do XID Retransfer printers print on a variety of materials with outstanding results (PVC, PVH, ABS, Polycarbonate, PET), but also offer a variety of features to add security to the card, whether encoding, laminating or special UV print technology.
• Performance: Excellent print speed as well as a lifetime warranty on the printhead give XID printers long term value.
• Ease of Use: Smart LCD display providing printer status information via text messages and coloured backgrounds, easy to load coloured ribbon cartridges and removable and reuseable cleaning rollers make operating these printers very straight forward.

Check out these specific benefits:

XID 560ie- fastest full-color single-sided Retransfer Printer in its class due to portrait mode printing. Network ready and ideal for printing and encoding of smart cards (contact and contactless) as well as magnetic stripe cards.

XID 570ie- Dual sided printing for more secure and durable ID cards. Security Ribbon Erase of printed K panel data, optional single sided or dual sided lamination as well as built in Ethernet port and IPSEC for encrypted data transfer.

XID 580ie-Perfect for use in highly secure and high volume operations such as government agencies, R&D departments, laboratories and multinational corporations. Designed for heavy duty use with up to 120 cards per hour with extended print driver features. Also offers pre-selection of up to five different card type profiles.

XID 590ie-the ideal printer for secure and reliable mass production in multinational corporations, card service centers, and government agencies. With the Advanced Intelligent Printer Management (IPM), unrivalled levels of productivity can be achieved, allowing up to seven printers t0 be connected to one server for high capacity production of up to 840 cards per hour. Printer Password Protection to increase security in the production environment . Security features available, such as dye-sublimation UV ribbon for covert security printing, IPSEC for encrypted data transfer through network, and Security Ribbon Erase of K-panel black data on used supplies.

Also, XID offers these items to assist in configuring each card identity system:

ILU-Inline Lamination Unit-Extend card life and protect against physical damage by adding additional clear or secure laminate to the card. Custom or generic holographic foils also help to protect against tampering

OLM-Overlamination Unit- Designed to operate in conjunction with the XID Retransfer printers, but still allows for offline lamination using an optional automatic card feeder. Ideal for secure and durable cards such as national ID cards, military ID, drivers licenses, secure employee cards and more. Custom or generic holographic foils also help to protect agains tampering.

Image Capture Modules-Clear, sharp image capture for photo IDs and travel documents. Automatically takes care of focus, white balance, gain control and backlight compensation. It is more than a simple camera, as the software application independent direct camera interface incorporates several specific features such as high-res live video for preview and mouse controlled zooming, as well as pan and tilt, portrait and landscape mode. The software driver also allows the camera to be used with virtually any software supporting the common TWAIN image acquisition standard.

More information, as well as personalized service can be obtained by contacting Cards Plus at +27 11 894 3914 or through our webpage at http://www.cardsplus.co.za/

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Gift Cards - Marketing Tool Extraordinaire

At Cards Plus, we have always believed that something as seemingly simple as a small plastic card could carry benefits far and above its diminutive size.

Aside from the obvious durability over the old fashioned paper issued gift certificates of old and the advantage of full colour advertisment, custom printed gift cards carry benefits for both the retailer and the purchaser, offering the perfect "Win-Win" situation that every business desires.

In a recent article by Fastmoving, editor Karen Naude lists the reasons that gift cards have become an invaluable marketing tool,
"The benefits of what effectively boils down to a pre-selling of revenue lie in an exchange of small investment for good return. And that return is not purely monetary. Earning money in advance of the card being redeemed translates into a double whammy winning. Indeed, customers in Europe and the US spend between 40% and 140% more than the face value of the card. And, because they’re buying a gift for themselves, and because part of that cost is already covered, they also tend to select more expensive items.

But the gift card scheme also serves the retailer in less tangible, less measurable ways. It simultaneously procures for the retailer a peripheral marketing system whereby store customers transform others into same-store customers – at no extra cost to the retailer. Retailers also have the option of using the gift card as an employee incentive. And what’s in it for the bestower of the gift? Supreme convenience!

In South Africa, nearly every major retailer offers gift cards, and the offering is proving popular. Top end retailer Woolworths, for instance, launched its gift card last October, and celebrated the issue of its millionth card after just seven months. The Pick n Pay Gift Card was launched in December. With its focus on convenience and safety, this card is designed to be as much a gift to oneself as to another.

At Cards Plus, we are pleased to offer solutions to our clients, offering not only the pre-printed card itself, but a software for small to medium size retail establishments that enables them to institute their own gift card program.

Our helpful staff assist our clients in determining exactly which card features available would be best suited for their needs and budget. No minimum orders as well as our Quick Cards -less than 5 day turn around time makes launching such a program a less daunting task.

Contact us at 086 16 CARDS or +27 11 894 3915 for more information and a personalized quote on your preprinted card needs. You can also check out our company at www.cardsplus.co.za

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Cards Plus and Digital Identification Solutions at 2008 Securex South Africa

Cards Plus and Digital Identification Solutions are pleased to be a part of Securex 2008, being held at the Sandton Convention Center, 25-27 June 2008.

Securex has been South Africa's premier security tradeshow. Concentrating on security, protection and safety in the context of effective business management and attracting exhibitors and visitors from both local and international shores, it is the largest and most comprehensive show of its kind in South Africa.

At this years show, we will be exhibiting the latest technology in secure identity documentation. Digital Identification Solutions and Cards Plus are partnered in sub Sahara Africa to provide complete solutions for the needs in the African marketplace.

The Digital Identification Solutions Group is a global leader in providing ID card and high security identification solutions through the well-known brand name EDIsecure®. Together Digital Identification Solutions and Cards Plus are ideally positioned to serve the needs of companies, associations, government authorities, financial institutions, and other enterprises around the world by providing them with the perfect identification solution.

Come and see what there is on offer from this highly regarded company and see live demonstrations of the XID line of printers. We will be located at Hall 1, Booth C23 at the Sandton Convention Center.

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