Types of bank cards and their characteristics. Types of bank cards - purpose, features and functionality
Modern society is actively practicing plastic cards 2015 in everyday life and business. They allow you to quickly pay for services and goods, receive discounts, bonuses and are a tool for personal identification. Plastic cards have many categories, depending on the purpose, type and functionality. The article contains detailed information on payment and non-payment plastic products.
Types of plastic cards. Classification
The inhabitants of the country have many cards in use, each of which has a certain history, quality, features and disadvantages. Depending on the purpose, all these products are payment and non-payment. Non-payment type of plastic cards includes:
- Discount - designed by trade associations to stimulate their customers. Provide a 3-5% discount. You can get such a card for money or as a reward for a substantial amount of purchases.
- Membership (corporate, club and trade union) - issued by a specific organization for its members. This type of plastic card confirms membership and provides established benefits.
- Identification (smart cards and badges) - contain personal information and are used in restricted access systems. They are used at the enterprise, they allow you to monitor the movement of employees and prevent visits to prohibited areas.
Payment cards depend on the manufacturing organization and, accordingly, are classified:
- Universal - manufactured by financial institutions and banks.
- Private - developed by commercial companies for payment transactions within the service and trade network of this company.
What types are provided for bank plastic cards
Taking into account the legal status of the holder, the following cards have been developed:
- personal - means use by individuals;
- corporate - for clients with legal status;
- family - for use by family members.
Bank plastic cards with money, depending on functionality, are divided into categories:
- Debit - with their help, services, work and goods are paid for by debiting money from the owner's account within the limit. The account is replenished when the salary / pension is transferred or the client deposits his own funds.
- Credit - allow owners to receive a certain amount from the bank and use it for their own purposes. Debt is repaid with interest during the specified period.
Taking into account the types of bank clients, cards differ in services, additional bonuses and discounts. The more prestigious the product, the higher its cost. The following classes exist:
- Electronic plastic cards are the most affordable option. They are used in all payment systems and make up the majority of salary cards. They are designed to be serviced at cash terminals and ATMs.
- Classic cards - designed for ordinary customers. With their help, payments are made in terminals, on the Internet, orders are accepted by phone.
- Gold and vip - plastic cards designed for wealthy clients. Their cost is usually high, which is offset by many additional services, bonuses and discounts.
- Business class cards are designed for persons with legal status. The products are linked to accounts registered with the company and allow specially authorized employees to manage this money.
How are plastic cards divided by payment systems
An electronic card is linked to a bank account and is an electronic carrier. It should be noted that one plastic can support a single payment association. Based on the payment systems within which the cards are serviced, the following financial products can be distinguished:
Today, there are no special differences between Mastercardi Visa plastic cards of the corresponding classes. Going abroad, you can link an account opened in the required currency to any card. If the money on the foreign currency account runs out, the debiting will begin from the account in Russian rubles at the conversion rate provided by the bank.
What do the numbers on a plastic card mean
Most of the information is printed on the front of the card. A long number, usually containing 16 digits, contains the following information about a banking product:
- The first means the type of payment system. American Express, Visa and Mastercard correspond to numbers 4, 5 and 3.
- The 2nd, 3rd and 4th indicate the number of the financial institution that owns the product.
- The 5th and 6th indicate additional information about the bank. The six initial digits that contain bank plastic cards make up the BIN of the bank.
- The 7th and 8th digits indicate the program for which the card was issued.
- The rest of the digits correspond to the card number, with the exception of the last one, which is the control one.
The card also indicates the expiration date of the product. The reverse side contains the seven-digit card number or the last four digits in it. In addition, there is a three-digit CVC code for making online payments.
The characteristics of plastic cards issued by other institutions are reflected in the initial digit of the number. It testifies to the activities of the company that issued the card:
- 1, 2 - a kind of airline;
- 3 - institutions in the field of tourism and entertainment;
- 6 - merchandising firms;
- 7 - fuel companies;
- 8 - telecommunication firms;
- 9 - structures of the state sphere.
In what ways the necessary information is applied
During the development of the market, many innovative technologies have appeared with plastic cards. For informational purposes, the maps contain the following technical elements.
It should be noted that most of the cards contain several technical devices.
Contact and contactless plastic cards
Among the listed technologies used by financial institutions, smart cards are the most promising. They have a microscopic circuit with a processor, operating system, memory and a device that controls the entry and exit of data.
Today the markets of plastic cards are saturated with smart plastic. Russia supports two methods of information reading using the following products:
- Contact - equipped with metal contacts, which are combined with the contacts of the reader (device for reading data). As a result, information exchange takes place. Such cards are actively used by financial institutions.
- Contactless - equipped with an antenna that emits and receives radio waves. The information is read at a distance of several meters from the reader using a radio frequency identification system.
Such smart cards are characterized by:
- Ease of servicing plastic cards.
- Limitless resource and credibility;
- Versatility;
- Increased speed of information exchange;
- Possibility of numerous applications;
- Safety of information.
- The Bank of Moscow has developed a plastic card for metro passengers that allows non-cash payments for travel. Money is debited from this debit plastic and when paying in other types of transport. The package of services includes a special program to reduce the cost of travel. As a result, the more often you pay for the trip, the lower the price for the next ticket.
- Euroset has developed a plastic Kukuruz card to stimulate its visitors. When making purchases, the card accumulates bonuses in the amount of 1% of the amount. They can then be exchanged for a discount on the products contained in the catalog. The card supports online payments and is serviced abroad.
- Certain banking organizations produce plastic cards according to their own designs for an additional fee. Photo samples can be selected from the proposed catalog or provide your own version.
Before issuing "plastic", it is worth finding out what types of payment systems are and how they differ from each other? What level of security does each of them offer, and what profitability can the owner expect?
The popularity of banking plastic is growing every year. Cashless payments between organizations and individuals are also gaining momentum. Cards are much safer and more convenient than a wad of cash. Moreover, paper money does not give the owner all the advantages of plastic.
The first plastic card appeared in North America in the mid 50s. 20th century, thereby starting the replacement of checkbooks that have lost popularity. The magnetic stripe for removing information about the account is an invention dating back to the 60 years, and the chip only appeared in the 90s. The tiny device contains the entirety of the cardholder's data, the state of his account and all the transactions carried out.
In the Soviet Union, the history of plastic financial instruments begins with the gift of the first credit card to Gorbachev by a private bank in 1967. Individuals wishing to own the new product had to transfer $ 2 thousand to a financial institution.
Important! According to statistics, online fraudsters steal about $ 2.5 million from cards every day.
For the safety of customer savings, banks are constantly developing special protective programs. Recently, the idea of biometrics in the field of bank security has been gaining popularity. For example, identification with a card of the owner by fingerprints or a picture of the retina of the eye. But scammers do not sleep, often finding themselves one step ahead of official developments.
One of the first plastic cards
What is the difference?
Plastic media have basic characteristics that make them different. What are these characteristics? First, let's look at what kind of "plastic" is type of funds storage and how it works:
- Debit cards - to save the owner's own funds. You can pay for purchases only if funds are available. Popular with employers for calculating employee benefits.
- Credit - provide a bank client with money for temporary use according to certain limits. You cannot go beyond these limits, otherwise you will have to pay interest or the percentage will increase. Usually, to popularize such cards, banks provide customers with an interest-free period of using funds, during which they can return money without costs.
- Overdraft - enable the owner to pay off the bills, even if the funds are insufficient. The bank allows the client to exceed the limit, subject to the return of money at interest.
By class cards differ in the level of bonuses and services:
Payment systems
They, like maps, are divided into several varieties, based on the geography of use. Some make it possible to fully use a financial instrument in any country in the world, while others - only within the framework of their own state. Here is a list of existing PSs:
- Visa - configured for dollar transactions.
- MasterCard - focused on the transfer of funds in dollars or euros. By the way, MasterCard unites in a partner network about 1000 institutions more than Visa.
- Maestro is an exclusively Russian product developed and functioning in Russia.
- American Express - American cards that are accepted in almost every country in the world, but they are not widely used by Russians.
- WORLD is the youngest of all existing payment systems. Created in Russia to replace imported counterparts.
To find out which payment system the bank plastic belongs to, you do not need to look at the card logo. It is enough to know its number, or rather, its first digits. The numbers of MIR cards begin with 2, with 3 - American Express, 4 - the first digit of the number of cards operating on the basis of Visa, 5 - indicates that the plastic belongs to the Master Card, 6 - to Maestro.
Additional map features
In order to attract as many depositors as possible to their products, banks regularly release new, more and more sophisticated and high-tech plastic cards to the market. For example, co-branded the bank issues cards together with a partner company. When calculating with this tool, points are received on the client's account, which can later be used to pay for bank services or certain goods. Various promotions and special bonuses are also popular, for example, cards with installments or cashback.
Cashback - a return of a small percentage of the funds spent from the card.
How safe is modern "plastic"?
One of the constant concerns of the security service of a financial institution is the level of protection of bank plastic. Recently, new concepts have appeared in this area, for example:
How to avoid fraud?
Any bank client from time to time thinks about the security of his own account. It is no secret that in the arsenal of modern fraudsters there are various computer programs and other innovative tools that help to hack cards. Therefore, when receiving a credit card, account holders try to use it only as a means of withdrawing cash. Meanwhile, observing several rules will help protect your plastic:
How does cashless payment work?
What is the procedure for cashless payments? The principle of operation is as follows:
- When making a purchase, the card is inserted into the terminal, which authenticates the plastic.
- Acquiring bank(that is, the institution responsible for the production of all operations on these cards) verifies the received data with those in the database.
- If no inconsistencies are found, a request is sent to the payment system.
- The system sends a request to the bank that issued the card (issuing bank) to find out information about the state of the account. Then the possibility of purchase is established, and if there are enough funds, then the required amount is transferred to the seller's account.
- The terminal prints out two checks, the seller signs them and keeps one for himself, and gives the second to the buyer.
- At the end of the day, all data on funds transfers are sent to the acquiring bank, with which the store conducts recalculations.
Bank card- a tool that allows you to access your personal bank account. Such an account is called a special card account (SCA). It is opened by the bank to reflect all transactions performed by the client using a bank card. Cards will not have their own special card account only if in the bank all plastic cards of the same type are “tied” to a single account, or if the card is prepaid.
Bank cards are used for non-cash payments, including via the Internet, as well as for withdrawing cash or replenishing an account through an ATM or a cash withdrawal point (CDP). They are also sometimes called credit cards or credit cards, but this generic name does not correspond to reality, as cards can be both credit and debit cards.
The type of card, credit or debit, is determined by the account to which it is attached, or which is the main one for the card. The card can be attached to several accounts at once (such cards are called multicurrency) and, conversely, several cards can be attached to one account. Some credit institutions give their clients the opportunity to replace the main card account with another of their card accounts opened with the same bank.
The card can be issued both on a physical medium and in electronic form (virtual card).
On the front side of the card, any image may be applied. The card number and validity period are mandatory. If the card is issued on a tangible medium, then the name of the bank, the logo of the payment system and the name of the holder are also applied to it (not always). On the back there is a magnetic strip and a paper strip for the holder's signature. On some cards the code CVV2 or CVC2 is indicated.
A bank card can simultaneously use a number of technologies and work in several payment systems at once. For example, the card has the logo of the Mastercard and Cirrus payment systems, or the card has a magnetic stripe, a chip and is equipped with Mastercard contactless technology.
Content
Non-cash payment methods have become an integral part of most Russians. A bank card is a type of payment system for paying for services and purchases, storing funds, making transfers and payments via the Internet or ATMs. However, there are people who have not yet decided to use cards due to ignorance of the advantages and features of this banking product.
What is a bank card
Such a product as payment cards appeared in the middle of the 20th century and has already become familiar to most Russians. Plastic can be used to store your savings, manage expenses, receive wages and social benefits, pay for services and purchases. Initially, the cards were cardboard rectangles with perforations in some places, which were owned only by the very wealthy. Today, plastic is used for their manufacture, and the range of products is designed for all categories of citizens, including children and pensioners.
What does a bank card look like?
All types of bank credit cards have an international format (according to the ISO 7810 ID-1 standard): 8.56 cm x 5.398 cm. The thickness of the plastic is 0.76 mm. It has front and back sides, each of which carries different information. The design and shade of plastic depend on the issuer and the characteristics of the payment system. The design of the front side is usually patterned, while the back side is in one color. The background contributes to the issuer's brand awareness and the aesthetic perception of the card.
Front side
Each side is important and contains functional information. On the outer surface, the following is applied:
- A four-digit number is an important element of data protection, must match the first block of the number.
- Name, surname of the owner in Latin letters. The information is applied to the plastic of customers who have decided to personalize their card.
- Validity period (month / year). After its expiration, the client can reissue the card for free, while all the funds in the account will be saved, and its details will not change.
- Logo, hologram of the used payment system.
- Number (15, 16 or 19 characters).
- Authentication code (if the bank card belongs to the American Express system, in other cases it is applied on the back).
- Built-in chip.
- Issuing bank logo.
- Contactless payment mechanism icon.
back side
Any bank card on the back has the following elements:
- Bank's name.
- Paper strip for a sample signature of the owner.
- CVV2 / CVC2 code (needed to identify the card and the client for online purchases).
- Magnetic stripe (information carrier).
Types of bank cards
What are bank cards? There are many differences by which all products are classified. First of all, the card can be issued instantly or produced within two weeks. It depends on whether it is named or not. By the type of funds that are on the account, there are credit and debit funds. In addition, banks issue gift options that can be presented to loved ones. Especially for online stores, virtual ones have been developed, which have all the data for identifying the holder, but do not have a physical medium.
Debit
This option differs in that it is used exclusively for storing the holder's own funds. You can pay for purchases or services with a card only if the required amount is available on the balance. However, the issuer can open an overdraft to the owner of the debit card (if the function is provided by the agreement), which is needed for payments in case of insufficient funds on the account. A salary card is issued as part of a salary project.
Credit
This type differs in that not only own funds are stored on the holder's account, but also borrowed funds. The issuer sets a certain credit limit, in excess of which it is impossible to spend the bank's money from the account. You can withdraw cash, use it to pay for purchases and services. All credit cards differ in the method of calculating interest for the use of borrowed funds. Most cards have a grace period when money can be used for free. Others provide for the accrual of interest immediately after activation and the first payment transaction.
Virtual for online shopping
Before ordering products online, it is important to make sure that the online store is safe. If you use your credit card or debit card online, there is a risk of data leakage. This threatens to steal funds from the owner's account. Financial institutions have taken care of their customers and developed a product such as virtual. They do not have a physical medium and are used only for online transactions. After opening an account, the client receives all the details: number, validity period, CVC2 / CVV2 code.
Prepaid Gift
In order not to give money in envelopes to relatives or colleagues, banks have developed special prepaid ones. The product has limited functionality and expiration date. Plastic cannot be replenished or cash withdrawn from it. Electronic money can be used to pay for purchases or services, after which the credit card cannot be used. The credit card is unnamed, but it has all the details of an ordinary card and can be used all over the world.
Embossed Map
Plastic cards are issued with both flat and embossed surfaces. In the second case, embossing is used in the manufacture - the technology of extruding identification information on the surface of the card:
- room;
- validity period (month and year);
- holder data;
- employer's company name (for corporate and payroll clients).
Bank non-embossed credit cards have an absolutely flat surface. It should be noted that the production of maps with relief is much more expensive for the bank, therefore, as a rule, premium products (gold, platinum series) are embossed. The technology is used to simplify identification of the owner and plastic, as well as to increase the level of protection of customer data.
Bank card payment systems
Absolutely all card products are made on the basis of one of the payment systems. They all have their own distinctive features and a distinctive logo. On the territory of Russia, cards of the following payment systems are issued:
- Visa is the most popular and is valid in Russia and abroad.
- Maestro is a Russian payment system, cards based on which are valid only within the country.
- Mastercard - a card based on this payment system is quite a bit inferior to the previous type and can be used on the territory of many countries.
- American Express - based on this payment system, credit cards are rarely used by Russians. However, the advantage of this type is that American Express cards are accepted anywhere in the world.
- appeared relatively recently. Cards based on it are issued by most Russian banks and are valid only within the Russian Federation.
How does a bank card work
This bank card is being improved every year. After receiving it at the bank, you need to activate the card, then insert the acquiring bank into the terminal. The device reads information from the card, after which the transaction is carried out. Modern credit cards can be equipped with a security system when paying for purchases on the Internet and a contactless payment function, when a PIN code is not required for the operation. To make a payment for a purchase in an online store, the information and code cvc2 / cvv2 are used.
The payment procedure includes the following steps:
- The acquiring bank processes the information.
- A request is sent to the issuing bank to transfer the required amount from the card to the merchant's account.
- If the holder has the required amount in the account, then the issuer transfers the money to the seller.
Service
It is important to take into account that absolutely all financial institutions set their own tariffs for servicing the account. The cost depends on the category of banking products (Classic, Gold, Platinum). Free service is available to those customers who fulfill the relevant requirements of the issuer (provide the necessary movement of funds on the account or monthly balance). Within the framework of banking services, the client can receive information about the account around the clock, block the card, use Internet banking for free.
How to choose a bank card
Each bank offers Russians a whole line of cards. Banking products differ in payment systems, the presence of a chip or magnetic stripe, service tariffs, cashback, bonus programs. To make your choice, you should consider all the offers of different banks, pay attention to the issuer's rating, conditions (if a credit card is issued).
When choosing the right option, you should consider the following:
- Bank credit cards can be classic or bonus. It is not difficult to choose which one suits a particular person, given his lifestyle, preferences.
- Before signing a banking service agreement, you should carefully study all of its points.
- An additional level of security - a chip, security technology for purchases on the Internet, embrossing ensure the safety of the client's savings.
- Those who often use funds in several currencies should consider multicards, the current account of which is opened immediately in rubles, euros, dollars.
- It is recommended to choose a banking product with Visa or Master Card payment systems in order to freely use it around the world.
Pros and cons
Among the advantages of plastic cards are convenience and safety. When traveling abroad, you do not need to convert funds into the currency of another country. In case of loss, you can quickly block the card, after which the bank will reissue the plastic, while the funds on the client's account will remain. The tool is universal, suitable for storing savings, receiving a salary, and withdrawing cash. It can be used to pay for services and purchases in any region of Russia and abroad. Bonus programs and cashback allow you to return part of the money spent back to your account.
Considering the types of plastic cards, it is worth highlighting the following disadvantages of this banking product:
- Not all retail outlets have terminals for cashless payments.
- For some non-cash transactions, banks charge commissions.
- Issuers charge for servicing a card account from 300 to 9000 rubles per year.
- When withdrawing cash or replenishing at ATMs of third-party banks, a commission is charged.
- Unscheduled credit card reissuance is carried out for a fee.
- The bank's debit card is not subject to the deposit insurance system.
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Bank card for payment
Plastic, banking, payment, club, discount, identification, embossed, non-embossed, credit, debit, ATM, magnetic, smart, individual, corporate, family, VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Diner Club, standard, gold, electronic - these and many other words you can find in a phrase with the words card and card. Let's try to understand all this variety of types of cards and cards.
Discount plastic cards |
Club plastic cards |
Insurance plastic cards |
|
Gift plastic cards |
Bank plastic cards |
Identification plastic cards |
Family plastic cards |
So, all these types of cards are plastic cards. They are made from a special plastic, and the vast majority of these cards come in a standard size of 2.125 "x 3.375" (approximately 53.9 x 85.6 mm) and a thickness of 0.039 (~ 0.76 mm).
Plastic cards can be classified according to a number of parameters. One of the main parameters is the purpose of the card. Plastic cards can be divided into bank cards (sometimes they are called payment cards), identification, club and discount cards.
Types of plastic cards
Bank cards
Bank cards are intended for non-cash payment for goods and services by the cardholder, as well as for receiving cash from his bank account in special ATMs almost anywhere in the world. This type of cards is of the greatest interest, since it is these cards that are mainly used both for making purchases on the Internet and in offline trade.
A bank plastic card usually contains the following information:
on the front side of the card, the name of the owner, card number, card expiration date, logo of the card issuing bank, logo of the payment system are printed. On some cards, as one of the means of protection against counterfeiting, a hallogram is applied.
on the back of the card there is a place for the cardholder's signature, a magnetic stripe, sometimes a photograph of the owner and logos of ATM networks where the card can be cashed.
The card number consists of 16 digits: the first six - the code of the issuing bank (Issuing Bank); the next nine - the bank card number (card account number); the last digit is the check digit.
According to their functional characteristics, bank cards are divided into credit and debit.
Credit card allows its owner to receive a certain loan when paying for goods or services, the cost of which is higher than the balance in the bank account linked to the card (card account). The issued loan must be repaid within a certain period. The loan can be repaid from an insurance deposit, which is made by the client when opening a card account with the bank, or by crediting the account with money deposited by the cardholder in cash or by money transfer. Thus, a credit card is a card that allows its owner, when making any purchase, to postpone its payment by obtaining a loan from the bank.
Debit cards(External parameters, see discount card) are intended for immediate payment for goods, works and services by direct debiting of funds from the current account of the cardholder to the account of his lender within the amount available there. In this case, if funds are insufficient, the bank will not make settlements, since the limit paid when opening an account cannot be reduced, and the bank did not assume obligations to lend to the client.
Both credit and debit cards can be individual and corporate. Individual cards (Customer cards) only for individuals, corporate cards - only for companies (organizations). The corporate card is tied to the company's account and can only be issued to an employee of the company. Such a card can be limited by the company and then the cardholder is set a limit on the use of funds from the company's account. If the limit is not set, the cardholder can dispose of the entire amount of the company's account (linked to this card).
As part of the classification of cards into individual and corporate, family cards can be distinguished as a separate type. They are issued as individual cards only to individuals, but also as separate corporate cards can be issued for each family member of the card account holder. At the same time, a limit on the use of funds is usually set for the credit cards of family members.
Bank cards can also be divided into payment systems or card associations (Card Associations) within which the cards are serviced. The most common in the world are the cards of the following major systems: VISA, EuroCard / MasterCard and American Express (AMEX). One card can be supported and serviced by only one payment system.
It should be noted that some payment systems can only issue cards of a certain type. For example, American Express and Diners Club only issue credit cards, while other lesser known systems (especially those that only work within one country) do not risk getting involved with credit cards and only issue debit cards. The world leaders VISA and EuroCard / MasterCard issue and support both credit and debit cards.
The peculiarity of credit cards of different systems as their division into classes.
VISA has two main classes - Classic and Gold. MasterCard - Standart and Gold, American Express - Mass and Gold. The choice of a credit card of one class or another significantly affects the amount of the insurance deposit made upon receipt of the card. Otherwise, the difference between classes is mainly down to the issue of prestige. In addition to the main classes, cards of the Platinum, Silver, Basic and some others classes can also be issued. Corporate cards are allocated to a special type of cards. And recently, such cards began to be divided into Business cards (cards for small businesses) and directly Corporate cards.
Within each of these classes, cards can be divided into a number of subclasses. More details about this division and the difference between one or another class or subclass of cards can be read directly on the websites of the companies issuing cards.
Another type of cards issued within the framework of payment systems is electronic cards. Such cards are available in many payment systems. In VISA, for example, it is VISA Electron, in MasterCard - Maestro. As noted, these cards are non-embossed and intended for electronic use only. With such a card, you can get cash at ATMs, and you can pay for goods and services with them only in retail outlets equipped with special electronic terminals. There are electronic cards that are intended only for cash withdrawal from ATMs, for example, the Cirrus card in the MasterCard system.
And in conclusion, let's figure out what ATM cards mean. ATM is an abbreviation from English Automatic Teller Machine (sometimes they are also called Automatic Banking Machine (ABM) or Payment Banking Machine (PBM)), that is, ATM. All bank cards, with rare exceptions, can be called ATM cards, since they are all serviced by ATMs and you can use them to get cash.
Insurance plastic cards
Insurance Cards - This plastic card is an alternative to a paper insurance policy. For these purposes, cards with a barcode or microcircuit (chip) are used. An insurance card can contain various information: policy number, insurance program, insurance period, individual data of the owner. The card may contain the necessary information about the actions of the insured event. In addition, such a plastic card may also have the properties of a discount card, i.e. give the opportunity to receive discounts in the network of controlled companies.
Plastic insurance cards are more modern and durable custodians of information about the owner of the insurance policy.
Insurance cards can also be divided into categories by service level.
Advertising cards
This type of plastic cards is used for advertising purposes. The advertising plastic card acts as the face of the company. Personal business cards and corporate calendars made on plastic look much more expensive and richer than on paper and can serve as an advertisement and a pleasant souvenir. Such plastic cards can be used for local advertising purposes, for example, at exhibitions. Advertising cards are becoming more and more effective advertising of their products and services.
Club cards
Club cards are, in fact, an ordinary plastic card, but in a certain direction.
Club cards - the name speaks for itself, and is a document certifying that a person belongs to any club that unites people of interest. Club cards can give a person various benefits and privileges. In some prestigious clubs, the club card entitles you to unhindered and free admission and even free dinners. It's like the rules of the casino, thus attracting wealthy customers. Usually, club cards are divided by classes and determine the status of the client, VIP club cards are very popular, therefore, information about the status is often hidden so as not to offend other members of the club, and sometimes vice versa, so that all clients strive for a more prestigious denomination.
The more prestigious the club, the more expensive the club cards are. The card should look elegant, beautiful, and sometimes it should be protected from counterfeiting, and it should differ favorably from other plastic cards. That is why, in terms of design, club cards must be at a high level.
Usually, club cards carry some information (open or hidden) about its owner, it can also be a pass, identity card, discount card, etc. Often, club cards must contain at least one type of personalization, this can be: embossing with coloring, applying a magnetic stripe, encoding a magnetic stripe, printing individual data, applying a signature strip, foil stamping, sublimation.
Microprocessor cards
They open up fundamentally new possibilities, since they have their own internal logic and, in fact, are microcomputers.
A specialized operating system is embedded in the card, which provides a wide range of service operations and security tools.
The operating system of the card supports a file system providing for the differentiation of access to information. For information stored in any record (file, group of files, directory), the following access modes can be set:
always read / write accessible. This mode allows reading / writing information without knowing special secret codes;
is readable, but requires special write permissions. This mode allows free reading of information, but allows writing only after presenting a special secret code;
special read / write authority. This mode allows read or write access after presenting a special secret code, and the codes for reading and writing may be different;
unavailable. This mode does not allow reading or writing information. The information is available only to the internal programs of the card. Typically this mode is set for records containing cryptographic keys.
As a rule, such cards have built-in cryptographic tools that encrypt information and generate a "digital" signature. Traditionally, cards use a cryptographic algorithm for these purposes. In addition, the card contains the means of maintaining the key system.
The cards provide a different range of service commands. For banking purposes, the most interesting of them are means of conducting electronic payments.
Special means include the ability to block work with a card. There are two types of blocking: upon presentation of an incorrect transport code and upon unauthorized access.
The essence of the transport blocking is that access to the card is impossible without presenting a special "transport" code. This mechanism is necessary to protect against illegal use of cards during theft during the transfer of the card from the manufacturer to the consumer. The card can be activated only upon presentation of the correct "transport" code.
The essence of blocking in case of unauthorized access is that if the access code was incorrectly presented several times when accessing information, then the card ceases to be operational at all. In this case, depending on the set mode, the card can be subsequently activated either upon presentation of a special code, or not. In the latter case, the card becomes unusable for further use.
plastic cards with microchips have a higher degree of protection against fraud and counterfeiting.
Despite the obvious advantages, smart cards have so far been of limited use because such a card is much more expensive than a magnetic stripe card. Only in recent years, when the damage from magnetic card fraud in international payment systems has become alarmingly high and continues to grow, banks have decided to gradually switch to smart cards.
Smart cards
Let's consider a typology of smart cards. Depending on the internal structure and the functions performed, specialists subdivide smart cards into two types: cards with memory and microprocessor cards.
Smart cards
This is a plastic card with a built-in non-microprocessor, which allows you to perform operations with the data stored in the card. These cards have their own operating system, which provides a set of memory management functions, services and security tools. A huge trend in the development of smart cards in everyday life, in access control systems, anti-theft protection, automation of various processes, logistics. Intelligent contactless plastic smart cards are: e-wallets, time tracking at the workplace and much more. Smart cards in their operational, informational characteristics and information security are significantly superior to conventional magnetic cards. Smart cards work in real time. Carrying out an operation using a smart card requires the owner only to dial a personal PIN code. This password is written on the card itself, which means that it does not require access to authorization centers
Super smart cards. An example is Toshiba's multipurpose card used in the Visa system. In addition to all the capabilities of a conventional microprocessor card, this card also has a small display and a keypad for data entry. This card combines credit, debit and prepaid cards, and also functions as a clock, calendar, calculator, currency conversion, and can be used notebook, etc. Due to the high cost, super smart cards are not widely used today, but their use is likely to grow.
In 1981, J. Drexler invented an optical card. Optical memory cards have a higher capacity than memory cards, but data can only be written to them once. These cards use WORM (write-once-read many) technology. Recording and reading information from such a card is performed by special equipment using a laser (hence the other name - laser card). The technology used in cards is similar to that used in laser discs. The main advantage of such cards is the ability to store large amounts of information. Such cards have not yet become widespread in banking technologies due to the high cost of both the cards themselves and the reading equipment.
Memory Cards
In cards with unprotected memory, there are no restrictions on reading or writing data. They are sometimes referred to as full / available memory cards. You can arbitrarily structure the map at the logical level, considering its memory as a set of bytes that can be copied into RAM or updated with special commands.
It is extremely dangerous to use cards with unprotected memory as payment cards. It is enough to purchase such a card legally, copy its memory to a disk, and then, after each purchase, restore the memory by copying the initial state of the data from the disk, that is, encrypting the data in the memory of the card does not save this kind of fraud. Practice shows that in Russia there are enough people capable of such an occupation.
Protected memory cards use a special mechanism to enable read / write or erase information. To carry out these operations, you need to show the card a special secret code (and sometimes more than one). Presenting the code means establishing communication with it and transmitting the code "inside" the card. The comparison of the code with the data protection key for reading / writing (erasing) data will be carried out by the card itself and "reported" to the reader / writer of smart cards. It is not possible to read the protection keys stored in the memory of the card or copy the memory of the card. At the same time, knowing the secret code (codes), you can read or write data organized in the most logical way for the payment system. Thus, protected memory cards are suitable for universal payment applications, are well protected, and at the same time are inexpensive. Thus, the price of the CPM896 card is no more than $ 4 for circulation over 5 thousand copies.
Typically, protected memory cards contain an area in which identification data is written. These data cannot be changed later, which is very important to ensure that the card cannot be forged. For this purpose, the identification data on the card is "burned".
It is also necessary that the payment card has at least two protected areas. It has already been noted that usually three legally independent entities are involved in the technology of non-cash payments by cards: a client, a bank and a store. The bank deposits money on the card (credits it), the store withdraws money from the card (debits it), and all these operations must be performed with the approval of the client. Thus, access to data on the map and operations on them should be differentiated. This is achieved by dividing the memory of the card into two areas protected by different keys - debit and credit. Each participant in the operation has his own secret key.
Correct presentation of the PIN-code opens access to the card (for reading data), however, it should not change the information that the lender of the card (bank) or its debtor (shop) controls. Only the bank has a key for recording information in the credit area of the card; the key for recording information in the debit area is at the store. Only upon presentation of two keys at once (PIN-code of the client and bank key for crediting, PIN-code of the client and store key for debit), it is possible to carry out the corresponding financial operation - to deposit money or to write off the purchase amount from the card.
If plastic cards with one protected memory area are used as payment cards, then the bank and the store will work with the same area using the same security keys. If the bank as the issuer of the card can debit it (for example, at ATMs), then the store does not have the right to credit the card. However, such an opportunity was given to him, since, due to the need to debit the card during purchases, he knows the key to erase the protected zone. The fact that both the lender of the card and its debtor (usually different persons) use the same key violates several basic principles of information security (in particular, the principles of separation of powers and minimum powers). This will lead to fraud sooner or later. Cryptographic methods of protecting information do not save the situation.
Of the known cards with protected memory, only the already mentioned CPM896 card has two protected memory areas and meets the requirements for delimiting access to information, both from the side of the bank and from the side of the store.
Scratch cards
Scratch cards, payment and prepaid cards
Payment cards are plastic cards issued by various companies for settlements in the trade or service network of the company. Such cards are used in payphones, petrol stations, etc., for example, if it is possible to organize access to the client's bank account. "Chip cards" are often found among payment cards. Such cards use a microchip embedded in a plastic card, which can contain a large amount of information, be read and processed through a computer interface. In other words, such plastic cards are called "microprocessor" or "smart cards".
A prepaid card is called a scratch card. This is a plastic card, a feature of which is the presence of some secret data, the knowledge of which provides access to any service (login password of an Internet provider, pin code for crediting cash to a mobile phone account, etc.). The information is covered with a special erasable scratch panel, and the very fact of removing the panel opens information for activating the service. The method of applying a scratch panel to a card is different, the most common are embossing, silk-screening or sublimation printing.
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