The look and feel of your credit union’s payment cards is an essential part of your brand. That’s why MAP Plastics offers an exhaustive array of plastic and finishing options for you to present a unique and valued identity for your institution. Here are MAP’s unrivaled plastic media and finishes available to support your card branding needs: 
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) is the most widely used plastic for card production. All inks and effects are available on PVC. PVC is our standard material, any premiums quoted for features, including plastic changes, are against the base PVC card body price.
Smart Glacia
Cards include a transparent core that incorporates an IR blocking filter developed by 3M.
Smart Crystal
Cards include a transparent core that incorporates an IR blocking ink applied between the printable cores. A license fee is payable on each finished Smart Crystal card. Due to the cost of the IR ink, the license fee, and collation alignment requirements, this card has a premium grade compared to standard PVC, but overall cost is lower than transparent.
Smart Reflect
Cards contain a holographic metalized insert across the whole card. The printed elements are then placed on the clear or white plastic layers to achieve the desired design effect.
Smart Touch Varnish
Is the processing of adding a varnish onto the surface of the card to add another layer to the design. The process involves the collation and lamination of the sheets, before being returned to the screen printing area for the application of the tactile varnish. This varnish can be colored within a limited range pallet.
Smart Touch Stamping
Is the process of applying a hotstamped image, shape or text onto the surface of the card, allowing more design options. Special tools are required to create the pattern. These need to be designed and ordered at the assessment stage to confirm suitability. The hotstamped image must not cover holograms, signature panels, magnetic stripes, or contact plates.
Smart Glow
Card uses special ‘day glow’ or phosphorescent inks which can glow in the dark. These inks need to be screen-printed on to the card and therefore will always be at 100%. Halftone images are not possible with these inks.