Written by PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride, which has emerged as one of the most preferred materials for manufacturing ID cards, credit cards, loyalty cards, gift cards, and membership cards, and other forms of cards that are sturdy, secure, and durable. Here is a guide on how PVC is the best for different card applications PVC has the following qualities:
Durability
PVC cards are very much hard wearing and can withstand a lot of use and abuse. They can be used in structures where bending or twisting loads are expected, high temperatures, or where exposure to water or other liquids is possible, or where structures are exposed to direct sunlight for long periods without degrading or wearing out. PVC card stock has significantly higher capacity for resisting scratches and scuffs than it does for card stocks such as PET or composite card stock. Thus, in even the most severe circumstances, PVC neither becomes illegible nor succumbs to wear and tear for years. All this makes PVC ideal card material for high security such as IDs, which usually have to serve many years of constant use with assured read/write capability under stress.
Customization
PVC card stock provides the greatest freedom for changes in the card design. It can take all kinds of color printing with ease and does not restrict itself to only certain techniques such as embossing, engraving, laser etching, magnetic stripe, microchips, and even embedded holograms. This makes it possible to develop small and highly personalized cards like the ID cards, credit cards which can have textual messages, images, logos, barcode field, personalizing features, security images such as holograms and even machine readable fields on the same card.
Economical
PVC cards provide extra durability and flexibility to be customized and for this reason, they are relatively cheap when it comes to the card stock. In addition, PVC cards can be available in various special finishes, printing and even personalization and still offer quite reasonable prices, particularly where bulk orders are concerned. This places them in a favorable position in terms of cost when compared with other cards available on the market such as polycarbonate or composite materials – which are expensive and challenging to mold. The advantage is that they are fairly inexpensive so they can be used for the less complex applications such as loyalty cards, gift cards and membership cards.
Security
The characteristics of PVC cards and the possibilities offered by the PVC material to print on long-time preserving cards readable, and to include the specialized maker elements, such as holograms and security inks, make PVC an effective high-security plan of cards that is used for the main purpose of authentication and identification. They can endure forces that can reduce paper or other card stocks into pulp and still be capable of reinforcing their capability to verify themselves via security. This makes it most suitable for cards where long-span security is essential such as, access control badges, licenses, secure identification or proof of qualification etc. Despite the never ending reader authentication or visual validation of the PVC cards, the cards still prove to be very reliable for extremely high number of reads annually.
Environmental Stability
PVC card stock is quite impressive when it comes to its ability to withstand the test of time and environmental factors such as heat, cold, moisture and light when well maintained. In fact no material is safe with UV rays exposure, but often PVC cards have better resistance to deterioration due to environmental stress than paper cards and many other cardinal materials. All in all, most of the materials used to produce them are better capable of withstanding sunlight, hot and cold temperatures, and humidity variation than most card stocks. This contributes to their flexibility for use in applications such as insurance cards, security access badges and travel documents which are exposed to various environmental challenges in day-to-day life. In addition, the use of UV-protection coatings and lamination can provide additional ability to withstand weathering.
Recyclability
PVC is one of the most recycled types of plastics as it has very well-developed channels for its collection and re-processing in many places. It can easily integrate high percentages of post-consumer PVC from old cards and plastic bottles, as well as piping. And PVC cards themselves are reusable multiple times after their first use while they are still recyclable cards. Recycling services for PVCs of access cards, ID cards, and payment cards to enhance environmentally sustainable solutions at the end of service. The flexibility and the capability of decomposing and reforming of PVC polymers are also advantageous to the utilization of these materials from a sustainability point of view.
Visual Appeal
The PVC card stock provides extremely high quality and very non absorbent, contains vibrant colors, and great graphics. Hypertrophy of logos, text and imagery makes their reproduction with a realistically captured life-likeness and clarity. Dynamic: the text does not fade or become blurry even if it undergoes several handling. Along with metallic card finishes, spot varnishes and other personalized graphics, PVC card stock excels when it turns to the sectors where the look of the card play a critical role in branding and marketing, this makes it ideal for marketing-orientated cards such as the gift cards, loyalty cards or premium membership card.
Consistent Thickness
PVC cards are available with specific caliper or thickness tolerance, and their degree of uniformity is high, the same within a given card and between the cards. They do not reduce in thickness even after they have been printed, encoded and personalized such as through embossing or engravings. This uniformity ensure that the card dimensions, surfaces and edges are easily processed in automated card manufacturing and handling to avoid jamming of card machinery. Consistency also results into long life of a product since one area of a product is not heavily worn out due to thinness of the product as compared to another area.
To sum up, PVC ID cards and similar kinds of cards remain on top of the card perspectives due to the extremely short list of their competitors offering the same set of advantages: high security level, increased durability, the possibility of individual design, attractive appearance and relatively low price. Today’s card issuers, security managers, and brand marketers know that PVC cards’ particular advantages and cost/savings are perfect for a staggering number of card programs. Where long-lasting, high-quality, secure, and inexpensive are considered, PVC still has an unbeaten card solution.
