Although hard-based paper and card remain suitable materials used for printing of cards that are perfectly sized to fit within a wallet, companies have turned to plastic cards to ensure their professionalism and high quality of service is reflected with items such as business and membership cards. The durability and consistency of material makes plastic ideal for any card that represents a business as it provides the perfect foundation for an eye-catching hand-held card that is both striking and memorable to the naked eye. In this instance, a company can use a plastic card for a multitude of purposes aside from a business card that represents the overall business; cards such as membership and gift cards are prominent features within gyms and retail stores as an incentive to become a loyal customer.
Membership cards are ideal for businesses who wish to create a relationship with their loyal clients and customers to make them feel valued and part of the company. The durability of plastic cards is essential in the formation of membership cards as not only does the card have to create a lasting impression that assists in re-subscriptions and renewals, but has to remain damage-free in order to remain legitimate to use on a company premises or website. The advancements in computer technology have integrated personal encryptions within a plastic card, whether it is through encoded magnetic strips, barcodes or sequential numbering, that is essential to each recipient as it contains information about themselves, their membership details and, more importantly, the essential access data to enter certain premises.
While companies are not held accountable for any damage once a card is issued, it is arguably their responsibility to provide a card that is extremely secure due to its personalised contents, and durable to prevent against damage to the overall card and electronic encryptions. The same rule applies with gift cards, as although the incentive for a company to receive money in return for the distribution of products at a later date to match the value of money allocated on a card revolutionised the retail industry, it can be detrimental to use a material of card that can become easily damaged so that a recipient cannot receive their specific denomination. Choosing to issue cards in plastic form not only eradicates such potential problems for both the recipient and company to ensure longevity within each card, but also allows the latter to promote themselves and make a powerful impression on its recipients.