A card processing system, comprising: a card processing path; a card printing mechanism disposed along the card processing path, the card printing mechanism includes: a primary card travel path along which cards can travel in a downstream direction; at least one drop-on-demand print station on the primary card travel path that is adapted to perform a drop-on-demand printing operation on a surface (A, B) of a card on the primary card travel path using ultra-violet, UV, curable ink; a return card travel path along which a card that has been fed through the at least one drop-on-demand print station can be diverted from the primary card travel path and returned back to the primary card travel path at a location upstream of the at least one drop-on-demand print station to be fed again through the at least one drop-on-demand print station; a UV curing station on the primary card travel path located downstream of the at least one drop-on-demand print station; the card processing system is characterized in that it comprises a smart card programming mechanism disposed in the card processing path upstream of the card printing mechanism or downstream of the card printing mechanism, the smart card programming mechanism configured to program a chip embedded in a card. a card processing path; a card printing mechanism disposed along the card processing path, the card printing mechanism includes: a primary card travel path along which cards can travel in a downstream direction; at least one drop-on-demand print station on the primary card travel path that is adapted to perform a drop-on-demand printing operation on a surface (A, B) of a card on the primary card travel path using ultra-violet, UV, curable ink; a return card travel path along which a card that has been fed through the at least one drop-on-demand print station can be diverted from the primary card travel path and returned back to the primary card travel path at a location upstream of the at least one drop-on-demand print station to be fed again through the at least one drop-on-demand print station; a UV curing station on the primary card travel path located downstream of the at least one drop-on-demand print station; the card processing system is characterized in that it comprises a smart card programming mechanism disposed in the card processing path upstream of the card printing mechanism or downstream of the card printing mechanism, the smart card programming mechanism configured to program a chip embedded in a card. a primary card travel path along which cards can travel in a downstream direction; at least one drop-on-demand print station on the primary card travel path that is adapted to perform a drop-on-demand printing operation on a surface (A, B) of a card on the primary card travel path using ultra-violet, UV, curable ink; a return card travel path along which a card that has been fed through the at least one drop-on-demand print station can be diverted from the primary card travel path and returned back to the primary card travel path at a location upstream of the at least one drop-on-demand print station to be fed again through the at least one drop-on-demand print station; a UV curing station on the primary card travel path located downstream of the at least one drop-on-demand print station; the card processing system is characterized in that it comprises a smart card programming mechanism disposed in the card processing path upstream of the card printing mechanism or downstream of the card printing mechanism, the smart card programming mechanism configured to program a chip embedded in a card.