From Identification to Smart Cards: ID Card Uses

Uses of ID Cards

People use ID cards in a wide variety of applications and in many industries. Some places where these documents are used include government offices, schools, libraries, businesses, health institutions and retail stores. The following are the common uses of ID cards.

Identification

As their name clearly indicates, ID cards are commonly used for identification purposes. This may range from identifying employees of a given organization to citizens of a particular country. Identification cards generally contain photos of the owners together with such personal details as names, job title and addresses.

Security

ID cards may be used for different security-related applications. The cards meant to provide security include such extra features as lamination and watermarks to protect against illegal duplication and tampering. Other secure design features include UV printing, fingerprints and electronic signatures.

Access Control

In addition to the use of traditional keys, ID cards are nowadays commonly used to restrict access to particular areas. The systems provide keyless access to sensitive areas. Card readers are usually installed at strategic places to read details embedded within the access control cards.

The cards provide better security than keys because they can be de-activated if they get lost, and duplicating them is impossible. There are different types of access control cards, such as magnetic stripe cards that are swiped across readers to get embedded information and contactless or proximity cards that use RFID technology to read the details from a distance.

Time and Attendance

Some ID card programs are integrated into time and attendance systems to make it easy to track the attendance of different groups of people, such as students, employees or visitors. This helps save a lot of hours because no paper is used in managing attendance. Records are organized and stored in databases that allow for electronic management. Tracking can be performed using smart chips, proximity technology, magnetic stripes or barcodes. Each technique involves special readers used to collect information from the cards.

Payment

There are different types of payment cards in the market, among of which are retail gift cards, debit cards, credit cards and even some student ID cards. The cards provide great convenience because the holders do not have to walk around with large sums of money. They incorporate enhanced security features considering their highly-sensitive nature.

Loyalty and Membership Programs

Many discount and grocery stores use loyalty cards to give their customers different rewards when they use the cards to make purchases. The customers present the cards as they check out to receive the rewards. The cards help businesses keep track of their customers and learn more about their interests and purchasing trends.

Multifunctional Cards

Cardholders can use these cards to perform several functions, such as financial transactions, access control and identification. Most of the cards use smart-card technology to embed information on smart chips that can contain a lot of details.

These uses demonstrate how versatile ID cards are in the present world. Businesses can choose suitable ID card printers depending on what they want to do with their cards.

    Barb Ramey

About the Guest Author:

Barb Ramey works for CardPrinter.com an online retailer of ID card printers and systems. View the full line of products and get more information at www.CardPrinter.com.