printer friendly version

Fargo fuels success for Shell

When Shell Venezuela was exploring new marketing strategies to use against its competitors, it determined that one of the most effective ways to attract and retain customers was to develop a convenient pre-paid customer credit card program. This would not only provide customers with a fast, easy way to pay for their purchases, it would help Shell Venezuela track customers as well.

For the program to be a success, the company needed an affordable card printer that could personalise preprinted dual-sided colour cards. It also had to offer simultaneous smartcard encoding so the cards could carry customer information and interface with card readers at the service stations.

In addition, the printer had to offer speed and durability to keep pace with a heavy volume of cards and have an open platform so it could be easily integrated with the company's existing equipment.

Card personalisation solution

To meet its needs, Shell Venezuela turned to CardFrems Systems International, a local Fargo integrator, and Gemplus Venezuela. After analysing the company's needs, the team determined that a custom solution, featuring a Fargo Card Printer equipped with a Gemplus processor and a special interface between the printer and encoder, was required.

The printer's open platform allowed it to integrate with existing equipment and be equipped with the Gemplus processor and special interface. In addition, its in-line smartcard encoding allowed cards to be quickly encoded with custom information such as the customer's spending limit, while the dual-sided full colour printing capabilities provide maximum flexibility in the personalisation of cards.

The solution was quickly deployed and is expected to produce 100 000+ cards in the first year alone. Fargo is a division of ISOPhoto.

For further details contact Tersia Terblanche, Fargo on tel: (011) 887 3301.

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