ID Cards

ID report

by Mark Rowe

Citizens are required to provide a reliable identity proof when travelling, interacting with governmental agencies or accessing sensitive information. Identity documents (ID) were paper based, consisting of limited information with a poor security level. Nowadays, most ID documents are becoming electronic, plastic cards with or without an associated chip.

A Frost & Sullivan recent white paper titled “The Ideal ID Document: The best way to ensure the perfect mix between convenience and long-time security” forecasts that the e-ID segment will rise to 325 million unit shipment globally in 2019. The document also sees market opportunities and solutions that address ID market requirements.

Governments and law enforcement agencies are looking for ID documents that could reach a lifetime of five to ten years, according to the market research company. This lifetime is requested for security reasons (to minimise the risk of potential fraud during the issuance process) and to optimize the total cost of investment for the entire ID project. Indeed, to renew or re-issue ID documents could rapidly become costly.

Frost & Sullivan Global Programme Director Jean-Noël Georges says: “The optimization of the document lifetime is based on constant innovation and improvement of technologies that can guarantee physical, chemical and mechanical durability. The ID document support should also be carefully selected to fulfill requirements of a secure and reliable ID document.”

Different durability and security features are required for various documents. For plastic-based ID documents, different materials could be used as a card body and support to include a chip when necessary or to incorporate numerous security features. The selection of the material is based on two major criteria: the price and the durability. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a low-cost material but can’t support long UV exposure and is sensitive to mechanical stresses, such as bending stress. Intensive mechanical stress could cause micro-cracks to the card body structure. The addition of polyester (PET) increases physical durability of the ID document by reducing certain weaknesses.

Georges adds: “To withstand the test of time, the most valuable support for plastic cards is polycarbonate (PC). This material can provide high performance under physical and mechanical stresses.”

Many companies deliver ID documents, but few have the ability to offer high quality, according to the research. Gemalto has a history in the public sector and pioneered the polycarbonate ID document. The company recently deployed the Sealys Color in Polycarbonate solution to create a colour photo on a polycarbonate support. The German company Bundesdruckerei is involved in the entire secure ID process and developed the Polycore colored ID method to create colour personalization of polycarbonate documents. The white paper can also be found on www.frost.com.

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