From: daf@wts.com (David A. (Dave) Fox)
Subject: Re: Advice about producing plastic cards
Organization: Wegmans Transaction Services
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 20:24:51 GMT

In article <1992Aug21.180856.3940@hou.amoco.com> zgeo0a@hou.amoco.com writes:
>
>... I keep getting unsolicited plastic
>imprinted "membership" cards from auto clubs, life insurance companies (etc.)
>in the mail?

I receive those cards also, however those cards are not actually doing money 
transactions, those are membership cards.  Anyone can punch digits into a 
piece of plastic and call it a membership card.  

>
>What about your local grocery store's check-cashing card? What about the
>card imprinting they do at trade shows? Do these need federal permission
>to imprint the cards?

Perhaps I made an incorrect assumption of the original posters intentions.  My
understanding was that it was desired to have some type of production system
for the manufacturing of atm-like cards.  Since the original poster specified
atm-like cards, I made a (possibly incorrect) assumption that the use was
similiar also.  The reason you have to go to the feds is to get an ISO which 
is the first x digits that you punch onto a card.  For instance Visa, 
Mastercard, Discover, etc have a certain range of numbers which they can use 
in the first x digits (x is not necessarily 4 ) when a bank gets those 
certain numbers they know that this card is from Visa, or MC, etc. 

Yes, a grocery store has to apply to the feds and get an ISO, the card is 
designed to do money transactions.  I am not sure about trade show cards, 
who is producing them?  Somebody that already has done the paper work and 
has an ISO? Anybody who has the equipment can produce or reproduce a card 
with any number on it.  That doesn't mean you can use the card in a financial
transaction.

>
>I was at my bank getting a Cash Station card. They imprinted the card
>with numbers on the front using a small typewriter-like machine, then
>programmed the magnetic strip with some other gizmo. Is a BANK going
>to spend "easily" $100,000 to imprint a few hundred or few thousand
>Cash Station cards?

I assumed (again possibly incorrectly) the cards would be produced in some 
quantity.  After all why get the equipment if your only producing a small number
of cards?  I understand the above situtation because the cards are being 
produced on demand, and I'd be willing to bet that they produce quite a few of 
those cards.  If they don't then the bank would be providing a service that is
not giving them much of a return. I've never heard of a bank doing that.
By the way, what is a Cash Station card? 

You could use something like the bank has, but for a scale production system, 
but you would be throwing away money.  Sure the equipment costs less, but it 
takes more time and effort to manufacture each card.  Since I made a possibly
incorrect assumption of the quantity of cards being made and the intended use
of the cards, I figured on a system which is designed for manual entry but 
allows for input from an outside source i.e. a PC, and produces cards 
relatively slowly.  If the person wishes to produce only a small amount of 
cards then it is much easier to go to the manufacturer of the equipment and 
have them produce the cards.

Also I did say that I was not sure of exact pricing on the machines, I might
be way off.  This is a number I've heard before, but I am an engineer, I 
just program the machines I'm not involved in buying them.

>
>It might be a little more expensive hard to do the magnetic strip on the
>back of such a card, but I don't know if federal statutes say "no,
>you can't just make a card."
>

Sure, I can go to the library and put money into a machine which imprints a 
magnetic stripe on a card, which I can then use in a photocoping machine.  
They didn't have to apply to get an ISO.  But they are not doing atm-like 
transactions.  Nor is the quality of those cards the same as the quality of 
a credit card.  The mag stripe wears out quicker, the plastic is more prone
to crack.  But the cost of the card itself is insignificant compared to the
investment of the machine.

Dave
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Dave Fox                                                              uunet!daf
   And Remember: He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet.
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