Why Your Business Should Offer a Plastic Card to Customers
By Charlie Bennot

Most consumers have a plastic cards or two in their wallets. Besides credit cards, there are plastic discount cards, plastic membership cards and other types of plastic cards that UK business owners offer to their customers. Here’s some basic information about implementing a plastic cards program in your business.

Why Have a Plastic Card Program?

The main reason to use a printed plastic cards is that it allows you to collect a whole array of information about your customers, so you can target your product or service to a specific customer segment. Although collecting personal data for these types of membership cards carries some risk, consumers have proven that they feel the benefits far outweigh the risks.

More Reasons to Use Plastic Cards in Your Business

Offering a membership card or discount card is a great way to build repeat business. In fact, such a card makes customers feel privileged because they receive a whole range of benefits (including discounts) that non-cardholders do not receive. Implementing a plastic loyalty card, rewards card or discount card in your business will also allow you reduce the amount you spend on marketing and advertising. Key tags are especially useful in this regard, since they’re so consistently visible to a customer.

Magnetic Strip or Not?

Although a membership card or reward card or discount card can use just a simple numbering system on the card, the most effective way to implement a plastic cards program use one with a magnetic strip or barcode. This allows you to change up your promotions or target a specific customer segment. You’ll need to use some type of scanner or swiper with this type of card.

Businesses all over the UK successfully use plastic card programs to build traffic and increase sales. Shouldn’t you be doing the same?

Charlie Bennot is premier card printing expert working with conceptcard.co.uk for the last 12 years. ConceptCard is one of the UK’s premier providers of cost effective plastic cards for membership, loyalty, hotel key access photo ID and business cards. Over 21 years experience enables ConceptCard to specialise in High Quality, Short Run Card Solutions where Cost, Quality and Speed are your primary requirements. ConceptCard is specialized in providing plastic card – custom plastic card – plastic business cards – plastic card printer – plastic card printing – plastic credit card – plastic discount cards – plastic id card – plastic loyalty card – plastic membership cards – plastic security card.

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Custom Plastic Card – Some Important Details For Business Owners
By Charlie Bennot

If you’re considering implementing a custom plastic card for your UK business’s customers, here’s some information about features that you might want to consider.

Hot Stamp Printing

The most common way to put information on a customized plastic card is via the hot stamp process. An engraved metal plate is heated and applied to the card, which is overlaid with dry ink. This process creates the familiar printing and logos seen on plastic discount cards or plastic membership cards. You even can order plastic business cards hot printed with an eye-catching metallic foil.

Numbering, Bar Coding, Magnetic Striping and OCR

Consecutive numbering is the most basic way to differentiate cards from each other. A variety of bar code formats also is available for custom plastic card printing. Magnetic striping is more expensive and comes in low or high density. 3 tracks are available for magnetically encoding information on custom plastic cards. OCR is a process where a special pre-printed image on a plastic card is scanned into a format that can be used by computer on computerized cash register.

Embossing

You’re probably familiar with the raised lettering that appears on a custom plastic ID card. This embossing is done by a mechanical process that combines heat and pressure to create the raised lettering or design on the card. For a finishing touch, embossed letters are often tipped with a contrasting ink or foil during the plastic card printing process.

Panels

Many cards carry the cardholder’s signature on a panel for comparison at the point of purchase or security checkpoint. The panel can be clear or white and may contain personalization that’s handwritten, typewritten or generated by a computer.

A custom plastic card is a distinctive and cost-effective way for UK business owners to recognize and reward customer loyalty.

Charlie Bennot is premier card printing expert working with
conceptcard.co.uk for the last 12 years. ConceptCard is one of the UK’s premier providers of cost effective plastic cards for membership, loyalty, hotel key access photo ID and business cards. Over 21 years experience enables ConceptCard to specialise in High Quality, Short Run Card Solutions where Cost, Quality and Speed are your primary requirements. ConceptCard is specialized in providing plastic card –
custom plastic card – plastic business cards – plastic card printer – plastic card printing – plastic credit card – plastic discount cards -plastic id card – plastic loyalty card – plastic membership cards – plastic security card.

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Features of Plastic Card Printers
By Jaymee Lacap

Plastic card printers have the capacity to create personalized cards based on your requirements. Using a computer and an image capture system, like a digital camera, plastic card printers give a well integrated system. At just a few seconds per card, the printing method is fast, so that cards are created and custom-made instantly. Digitally printed plastic cards begin with a clear and plain card that can be printed with any mixture of design, text, graphics, digital photograph, logos, bar codes and others. These designs and features are limited only by the issuers’ creativeness. Other machine-legible information, such as smart card chips and magnetic stripes can also be programmed.

Magnetic stripes can complement your plastic card order where the upper 1/3 of one part of the card is clear to contain the stripe. Magnetic Stripes have beneficial qualities that you can consider to be included on your card order. These help the new card works with previous card readers and software programs. Magnetic stripes save a small amount of information such as customer information, report numbers, user id, member numbers or also access codes for locks and other operational systems. They are compatible with other complicated software programs such as those used in Gift Card programs or Loyalty Card programs as well. The magnetic striped card is also suited with the promoter’s software so that it can provide the holder with special offers, credit towards marketing incentives and purchases, and is also used in building database that assist you in buying habits of customers. This information is useful since retailers can better serve their customers depending on stocks products that pull the interest of their customers. Also, it has many more advantages that offer a wealth of valuable marketing applications.

Another feature of plastic card that you can utilize is the signature panel on the digitally scanned signature on the face of the card or reverse of the card. Most cards are too glossy to draw on a ball point pen for signing. A signature panel provides a perfect surface to tolerate a handwritten signature. Also, a scanned signature can be added and can be personalized, however there are many card options available that can be printed on your card using digital signature.

It is simple and easy to add to your order, just ask your plastic card printing service provider about adding the Signature Panel feature. They will handle the rest. Just call them anytime if you have any queries and they can begin the process producing your high quality plastic cards. Bar-coding is a trendy choice at many plastic cards printing service provider. Most of the new retail cash register systems translate barcodes at the checkout stand, creating a perfect and fast way to collect data about customers and the products they are buying. It is also a great way to handle memberships in services and procedures that have many cards to surge in and out. Each card has the ability to carry a unique barcode on either front or reverse side. The advantages are almost endless: the card can then be linked to a database of select information customized toward your individual requirements. Indeed, digital plastic card printing symbolizes the next generation of card production. With the use of the stated digital printing technology, it adds the card delivery process into the electronic environment that helps you manage your business or agency.

Jaymee Lacap, Freelance Web Content Article Writer for four years.

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