With over 1 billion transaction cards issued each year in the U. S., the processes that are required for the issuance and distribution of the cards have created an industry known as the card personalization industry. This paper discusses the materials, processes, and technology used in the personalization of cards. Before cards can be personalized to a specific cardholder, that cardholder must be identified as a customer by a card issuer . The card issuer is the 'owner' of the customer and, in most cases, the owner of the card. Most transaction cards contain a printed statement on the card claiming ownership by the card issuer.
Many card issuers have facilities to do card personalization.
In this scenario, the card issuer will purchase the materials required to personalize the transaction cards, and do the card fulfillment in an internal operation. In some cases, the personalization of cards is done by a third-party service bureau . The third-party service bureau serves as an agent for the card issuer, providing the purchasing, personalization, and fulfillment services to the card issuer. The card issuer still owns the customer and the card issued, but the third-party service bureau provides the processing. The 'inputs' to the personalization process include various material components.