Patent ID: 7184856

Claim:
A method in a personalization system of processing data for portable programmed data carriers, the method comprising: acquiring personalization data for a cardholder in a first batch of portable programmed data carriers; acquiring personalization equipment characteristics for a particular type of personalization equipment to issue the portable programmed data carriers for the first batch; creating instructions for an internal script from the personalization data; and translating the internal script into programming control commands for the particular type of personalization equipment in accordance with the personalization equipment characteristics, if the first batch includes additional cardholders, then for each one of the additional cardholders in the first batch, repeating the actions of acquiring personalization data, creating instructions for the internal script, and translating the internal script; and determining if further data is to be processed for a subsequent batch of portable programmed data carriers, and if further data is to be processed for the subsequent batch, then acquiring personalization equipment characteristics for one of a plurality of types of personalization equipment to issue the subsequent batch; wherein the subsequent batch is different than the first batch.