Card issuance software is used to generate ID cards, hospitality cards such as player tracking or loyalty and payment cards. The software enables banks and financial institutions to instantly issue EMV credit or bank cards to customers on-site. Card Issuance software can be used to create membership cards, access cards, or gift cards. For instance, visitor management software can offer options for issuing cards. In this case, the software is used to create passcards, “backstage” passes, or ID cards for visitors entering secure locations and events.
Card issuance usually evolves printing an identity (face photo, biographic data, serial number, etc.) physically on a card using an ID card printer, this can also include electronically encoding data (facial image, biographic data, biometrics, serial number, certificates, etc.) into a smart card chip. Typical cards used with issuance software can be a plastic card with no technology, LF Proximity card (Prox), HF cards such as MIFARE, or a microprocessor smart card such as a Java Card.
Card issuance systems are typically used in conjunction with a Credential or Card Management Systems (CMS). Card Management Systems involves controlling the life-cycle of a card. It could be a Credit card, ID card or Transportation card, and it may include some electronic credential on the smart card (certificate, card serial number, e-wallet, digital ID). The life-cycle is the process that starts from generating the need for a card, i.e. a request, moving to approval and then issuance, and follows with the monitoring of use, expiry, blocking and re-issuance of expired, lost or stolen cards. Each business will have its own rules around each stage of this process.
