What is a Plastic Card

A Plastic Card is a rectangular-shaped piece of plastic with rounded corners measuring

85,60mm by 53,98mm (3.375 by 2.125). The physical characteristics of a Plastic Cards are
standardized and defined by the ISO/IEC 7810:2003 specifications.

A standard Plastic Card have rounded corners with a radius of 2.883.48 mm and a thickness
of 0,76mm (0.030 in). Plastic cards fully compliant with the ISO/IEC specifications are often
called ID-1 Cards or CR80 Cards.

Illustration of ISO/IEC 7810 sizes

The body of a Plastic Card is usually a multi-layer of individual plastic foils that are fused
together by means of pressure and temperature. Standard Plastic Cards are made of 3 to 5
layers while more complex cards, such as ID Cards with advanced security features can have
up to 10/12 layers.
A stack of white PVC Cards

Some of the most common materials used for the production of Plastic Cards includes:

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC, PVCA)

Polycarbonate (PC)

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)

Polyethylene terephthalate (PETG, PETE, PET)

Poly Lactic Acid or Polylactic Acid or Polylactide (PLA Corn cards)

Recycled ABS

Recycled PVC

Eco PET

Teslin

LUC-BIO (trademark of Gallazzi S.p.A.) is PVC range that will degrade within 39
months of its introduction to the environment.

Kamicard (trademark of Toppan Printing Co., Ltd Japan) is a paper based material
made for 95,5% of Cellulose, 2% of Talc, 0,35% of Zinc Chloride and 0,001% of
Sodium Chloride.

Composite materials such as mix of PVC and Polyester

A transparent Visa card

Plastic Cards are commonly used for literally hundreds different applications and most of
them fall within this main categories:

Financial Cards (Debit cards, Credit Cards, ATM Cards, Cash Cards, etc.)

Identification Cards (National ID Cards, Citizen Health ID Cards, Employee ID

Cards)

Driving License Cards

Transit Payment Cards

GSM SIM Cards

Payphone Cards

Voucher Cards

Access Control Cards

Loyalty & Membership Cards

Business Cards

Tachograph Cards

PKI Cards
Some applications requires a smaller form factor than the standard ID-1 that is achieved by
punching (pre-cut) the cards with a custom made hollow punch. For instance, the common
GSM Sim Cards are produced pre-cutting a ID-1 card.

A plastic card with its pre-cut GSM Sim Card.

Other custom shaped cards, MasterCard mc2, comply with ID-1 width and height but feature
a large rounded edge.

A MasterCard Debit MC2 featuring a custom curved shape.