Holograph Ink Combats Telephone Card Fraud

Like all forms of card fraud, criminal misuse of pre-paid telephone cards is a growing area of concern.

Like all forms of card fraud, criminal misuse of pre-paid telephone cards is a growing area of concern.

One phone card issuer in Italy has taken action to curtail a major way in which the fraudsters are active - reading the pre-printed authentication code on the card.

Essentially intended to be covert and unreadable, the codes, which enable legitimate users to re-charge their cards with additional funds, can be easily viewed with the use of a basic laser reader.

Printers charged with converting phone cards found a solution to the problem that worked, that being the use of multiple ink layers to render the code opaque.

Practical though this proved, it was an extremely costly way of guaranteeing the cards' security and card issuers are anxious to minimise the cost of producing what are basically limited-life items.

Working with Italian converters Eurolabel, XSYS Print Solutions' narrow web division developed what it believes is an economical, secure answer to the problem that offered additional protection against another popular phone card fraud.

Marco Mastandrea, the managing director of XSYS Print Solutions' narrow web division in Italy, said: "Eurolabel was keen to deliver all-round security to its phone card customer but at the right price.

Together, we engineered a method of using our new Holographink to give the kind of security you can expect from a standard hologram - at a fraction of the cost.

The cold-foil application of the Holographink process was achieved in-line during the conversion of the phone cards on Eurolabel's UV flexo Arsoma M 280 press.

The cards were first printed using standard XSYS UV flexo inks and then patch overprinted on top of the code with a so-called 'wallpaper' hologram, which renders the code invisible, even to laser readers.

Conversion speeds were quite acceptable said Xsys - an average of 80 metres per minute - and the Holographink process delivered security without the high costs usually associated with holography.

But that was not the only benefit of the new system.

Mastandrea added: "We were able to kill two birds with one stone.

The added benefit of the hologram produced using Holographink was that the phone cards were also impossible to copy, which is another blow against the card fraudsters.

Eurolabel and its customer were delighted and commented: "We really benefit from working with suppliers like XSYS, who are expert at helping us to get the most out of our presses and we have on this occasion been able to strengthen our relationship with our customer by offering added security for his products.

Now Eurolabel is exploring the possibilities of using the same printed Holographink system to give added security to other types of card.

Mastandrea commented: "We are looking at the possibilities of protecting residents' pass cards for areas of the city which are 'no go' except for residents and authenticated visitors.

In this case, we will print the cards with a transparent foil and a special personalised Holographink pattern carrying a unique logo for that particular district.

XSYS can offer a guaranteed customer-unique service on Holographink logos, symbols and holographic patterns, so we can really offer a confidential service and peace of mind for the users.

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