What makes a good scratch card? Malcolm Keightley, Head of Factory Operations at Workz Group reveals the key elements, technology and techniques employed in producing a high-quality scratch card.
What’s important?
The key elements? I think it’s all about getting the PIN to the customer. A layer of protection is absolutely fundamental, the clarity of the digits so it’s easy to read and the ease of scratch so that the card isn’t destroyed in the process of actually removing the panel. It needs to be aesthetically nice, the artwork needs to be good and the printing needs to be clear.
The right ingredients
The process starts with the inbound testing so it’s about getting the materials right in the first place. The selection of materials, the selection of boards, the selection of inks and all the right elements go together to make the right product.
Making it look good
The artwork, as I say, is paramount to the look of the card. The quality of the artwork starts with the plate and the origination. We use the latest technology from Kodak, using the very best inks that can be provided. The image quality is second to none, it approaches anything that the market can currently produce. We have the latest test equipment built into the press which is able to spot a defect down to a few microns within the artwork.
Ensuring performance
We’re checking the over-scratch performance with a scratch tester. We use the same equipment to test the ease of scratch and, as I said, ease of scratch is important, as the easier the PIN is to scratch the more readily the PIN is exposed, without being too aggressive with whatever you’re scratching it with.
Data integrity
Then we have the camera system that reads every PIN and every serial number. The camera doesn’t expose the PIN number; it shows an error but it will not, actually, expose a readable PIN number.
Protecting the PIN
Security is about, in most cases, the opacity of the product so the card can be attacked in a number of ways. One is that the board can be split usually either with water, alcohol or something is applied to the back. The board is then removed down to the ink layer then often with some products it’s possible to read the PIN number from the back. With our product, because of the construction, it doesn’t matter how much board you remove you can never reveal the PIN because the PIN is concealed within the ink layer.
The outcome
We’re producing the best product in the market at a very competitive price, we’ve not compromised on the quality, the quality has gone up significantly but we’ve driven down the costs in general.
Learn more about Workz’ card security and performance features.
For high-quality, low-cost scratch card printing, call us today on +9714 453 3198