What is ISO/IEC 7810 - identification cards about?

ISO/IEC 7810 describes the characteristics for identification cards and the use of such cards for international interchange.

ISO/IEC 7810 specifies the physical characteristics of identification cards including card materials, construction, characteristics and dimensions for four sizes of cards.

ISO/IEC 7810 specifies the requirements for cards and card interface devices used for identification. It takes into consideration both human and machine aspects and states minimum requirements. ISO/IEC 7810 also provides criteria for the performance of cards.

NOTE: No consideration is given within ISO/IEC 7810 to the amount of use, if any, experienced by the card prior to test.

Who is ISO/IEC 7810 - identification cards for?

ISO/IEC 7810 on identification cards is useful for:

Identification card designers
Card equipment and interface device manufacturers
Government authorities
Inspection bodies
Cards printing industries

Why should you use ISO/IEC 7810 - identification cards?

Identification card is used to connect a person to information about the person, often in a database. When designing a card, practitioners should consider context-specific needs such as card materials and security features, machine-readability, including data storage and processing, and the visibility of data on the card.

ISO/IEC 7810 provides you with the physical characteristics of the identification cards such as bending stiffness, flammability, toxicity, resistance to chemicals, dimensional stability, adhesion or blocking, warpage, resistance to heat, surface distortions, and contamination.

The material used to design cards need to be compatible to meet high-quality standards. ISO/IEC 7810 helps to calculate mechanical strength of cards.

By adopting ISO/IEC 7810, you can manufacture and supply high quality cards to your customers and demonstrate the reliability of the cards.

What’s changed since the last update?

BS ISO/IEC 7810:2019 supersedes BS ISO/IEC 7810:2003+A2:2012, which has been technically revised. BS ISO/IEC 7810:2019 includes some technical changes with respect to BS ISO/IEC 7810:2003+A2:2012. These include:

The test method and criteria for opacity has changed; previously the test method used a spectrophotometer and criteria included both visible and IR light; the present method uses 2 frequencies of only IR light and a reference material to establish compliance
Criteria for cards containing certain types of IC’s has been added (formerly these were in the specific IC card standards but as the same requirement applies to many types of IC cards they have been placed in this document)
The heat deflection test (formerly Annex A) has been placed in ISO/IEC 10373-1
The clause on light exposure has additional explanation
The overall size tolerance of the ID-1 size returned card has changed
Patch layer peel strength has been added and is lower than other values
Address for availability of optical reference media has changed

BS ISO/IEC 7810:2019

Identification cards. Physical characteristics

Current, Under Review

Published:

31 Dec 2019