The University of Greenwich to provide its students with personal ID cards without the expense of buying specialist equipment.
Previously, the south-east London uni produced laminated ID cards using in-house equipment but students complained that the results looked flimsy and unprofessional. It was while researching the card market and the options available that the university learned of Payne Security’s card management service.
The ID card company pointed to the high cost both of equipment and staff time and how the security manufacturer’s digital printing facility would optimise the appearance and security of cards.
Payne Security designers worked with Greenwich to create a secure and eye-catching design that gave a corporate identity to remove the risk of the card being copied. The PVC cards lock all essential data and graphics into the core of the card to prevent tampering or fraudulent alteration of the card.
The final design chosen by Greenwich differentiates types of student – such as research, partner or associate – by means of a distinctive stripe, which is easily added by the digital print process at the time of production. Also to maximise the card’s uses, Payne Security included a readable barcode for library use and an encoded magnetic stripe used for accessing photocopying and printing services.
Staff at the university upload the cardholder data to Payne’s secure ftp server. The cards are printed using digital presses, encoded and checked before being sent out and delivered to the cardholder’s address. To date an initial supply of 20,000 cards have already been delivered to students, with further orders to follow.
"Card production has been taken away totally, giving us one less thing to worry about," says Henry Hill of the University of Greenwich. "For a low cost-per-card, we also benefit from Payne Security’s expertise in creating a multi-functional, highly secure and professional-looking means of student ID."
