Here are some examples of the common identifying features on payment cards:

Credit Cards

Debit Cards

Online debit cards

American Express and Diners Club cards

Payment cards issued by card schemes usually conform to certain physical and technological standards. These standards ensure wide acceptance of the card and international compliance, interoperability between banks, retailers and card associations (locally and internationally) and help to reduce fraud. For cardholders, this means more and more sites where their cards are accepted, both in bricks-and-mortar locations and on the Internet, and increased security at the point-of-sale.

The primary standards currently applied in the design and manufacture of payment cards have been developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), including Visa and MasterCard. Each international card scheme, such as Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, Diners Club, JCB, as well as the UK Domestic Cheque Guarantee Card Scheme, has its own specific requirements in order to ensure additional security and consistency of scheme branding.

The standardised characteristics that are most familiar to cardholders include:

• card materials
• card dimensions
• the information that appears on the card face such as the primary account number (PAN) - containing a maximum of 19 digits that serve to identify the card issuer and the cardholder
• the magnetic stripe
• the signature strip

In addition to these familiar characteristics there are other physical standards include:

• card construction
• the text typeface
• embossing
• the format of the expiry date
• character spacing
• an area reserved for individual bank use
• bending stiffness
• flammability
• toxicity
• resistance to chemicals
• delamination
• light transmittance

Most cardholders will also be familiar with some or all of the specific scheme badges and identifying marks that accompany these, and which have scheme specific standards that must be applied when they are used.

Details of the payment card standards for the construction of a card, its dimensions and end use specifications are specified in ISO/IEC 7810. Information about these standards can be obtained from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) http://www.iso.org/iso/en/ISOOnline.frontpage or from the British Standards Institute (BSI) website http://www.bsi-global.com/index.xalter

Refer to ISO 7816-1 for additional payment card standards and characteristics, including those for integrated circuits/chips.

For scheme specific standards and requirements contact the respective scheme directly or through their website.

For details of the UK Domestic Cheque Guarantee Card Scheme standards with card format specifications and instruction for use of the scheme hologram components contact APACS on 020 7711 6200.