Cardzgroup adds 3D proofs for smart cards and RFID wearables

Cardzgroup, the Shenzhen-based manufacturer of PVC cards, smart cards and RFID credentials, has started sending its clients an interactive 3D proof alongside the flat proof sheet, built with Proofscene. Buyers at banks, telecoms, retailers, transport operators and governments open a link, turn their card, key fob or wristband in the browser, check the front, the back and the finishes, and sign off with a clear picture of what will arrive.

Who is Cardzgroup?

Cardzgroup is a card manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China, with offices in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and South Africa. The company is Western-owned and managed and was formed by former Gemalto managers, and its public profile sums up its focus in one line: "Your contact in a contactless world."

Cardzgroup makes and personalizes the credentials that payment, transport, loyalty and identity programs run on:

• PVC cards, contact smart cards and contactless RFID cards;
• EMV payment cards and payment wearables;
• inlays, inkjet, drop-on-demand and thermal personalization, and magstripe and chip encoding.

Its clients span banking, telecoms, retail, transport and government, and the company says it produces more than 50 million cards a year. Cardzgroup is also an affiliate member of the OSPT Alliance, the industry body behind the CIPURSE open security standard for transit and access cards.

Why does a smart card order need a 3D proof?

Because the details that make a card right are physical, and the people approving it are rarely card specialists. A payment or transit card is often signed off by a brand manager, a program manager and a procurement team, sometimes in different countries, and each of them has to picture the finished card from a flat page:

• how holographic foil, metallic inks and raised UV catch the light;
• where the chip, the contactless antenna and the magnetic stripe sit;
• what the back looks like, with its signature panel, personalization and fine print;
• how a key fob or wristband wraps the same design around a three-dimensional object.

A detail that surprises the client after production means a reprint of thousands of cards. The clearer the proof, the safer the order.

How does Cardzgroup use Proofscene?

Cardzgroup kept its proofing process and added one link to it. Its team prepares the proof sheet as before, uploads it to Cardzgroup's Proofscene workspace, and the 3D Proof Studio builds the product from the artwork, the die line and the specification. After a check against the sheet, the proof is published on Cardzgroup's own address at cardzgroup.proofscene.com, with an optional password for each client.

The client receives both documents: the PDF proof sheet, as before, and the 3D link, which opens in any modern browser with no app or account. In the 3D proof the client can turn the card over, watch foils move under the light, switch to an X-ray view of the chip and antenna, and read the specification and the original sheet without leaving the page.

Cardzgroup has announced the rollout on its own news page, where it describes the response from clients around the world.

What can Proofscene build for a card manufacturer?

Proofscene and Cardzgroup are close partners, and smart cards are where Proofscene's engine is most at home. The 3D Proof Studio reads card proof sheets natively: PVC, PET and wood cards, foils including holographic, raised UV, metallic inks, magnetic stripes, signature and scratch-off panels, 6- and 8-contact chips in gold or silver, thermal and inkjet personalization, embossing, and an X-ray of the RFID antenna inside. Key fobs, SIM punch-out cards, card carriers and silicone wristbands are built from the same kind of sheet.

For a manufacturer shipping credentials to clients around the world, that means one familiar link for every product line, under its own name.

Card manufacturers and print shops can do the same: create a free Proofscene account, upload a proof sheet and publish a 3D proof today, or read how Proofscene handles card and credential proofing.

Related reading

See how a proof sheet becomes a 3D card in the PDF-to-3D card proof guide, read proofing for RFID and smart cards, or turn the sample cards, fobs and wristbands in the live 3D demo.