Compatibility of card schemes
Card systems and digital media in the Hypersoft environment
Different card technologies and data carriers can be used in the Hypersoft system - from the classic chip to the virtual card in the smartphone.
Depending on the area of application, hardware and target group, there are different requirements for technology, security, design and integration.
Overview and objectives
There are numerous card systems with different encodings and carrier media - such as chips, magnetic strips, barcodes, RFID, QR codes or virtual variants.
In many projects, several technologies come into question at the same time. However, not all media are compatible with all devices or requirements.
This chapter conveys:
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Basic technological understanding
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Areas of application, advantages and disadvantages
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Safety & design recommendations
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Typical combinations and practical examples
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Important note on safety
Barcode cards with cash values can be easily copied.
If you are mapping sensitive functions such as credit balances or access rights, you should rely on more secure technologies (e.g. RFID with PIN or cloud-based accounts).
Different media - one goal: easy access
Cards and carriers are a proven means of making functions quickly, recognisably and conveniently accessible.
Classic card formats (EC card size): standard in catering, retail & leisure
Special carriers: bracelets (e.g. sauna), lanyards (e.g. festival), key tags
Virtual cards: Mapped in the smartphone - often as a digital QR/barcode, e.g. in the wallet
The visual design should be high-quality and CI-compliant - especially for digital media. Your card design represents your brand.
Cards as an emotional bonding element
Card systems are more than just technology - they convey image, status and affiliation.
Example: A "platinum card" symbolises exclusivity.
The status arises from design, utility value and communicated meaning.
What counts is the perception of your guests:
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Is your card just a discount tool - or an expression of appreciation?
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Is ownership linked to real benefits - or is it merely symbolic?
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Is the function transparent and easy to use?
Successful customer loyalty starts with the feeling that your card conveys.
Technical purpose of cards in the Hypersoft system
In principle, all maps - whether physical or digital - refer to a data record in the Hypersoft system.
The associated accounts are managed on site or in the cloud.
Exception...
Some transponder cards store values locally in the chip. This technology is used less frequently, but can be useful if there is no network connection, for example.
Technical differences - media in comparison
| medium | Features & Benefits |
|---|---|
| Barcode / QR code | Simple, inexpensive, but easy to copy. More secure with optional PIN. Integrated in the app and protected with animations, largely secure, provided the employees are qualified. |
| Mifare RFID | Frequently used RFID standard. Readable/writable, with unique ID. |
| Legic | Highly secure RFID standard. Write operations usually only with special authorisation. |
| Virtual card (e.g. wallet, token) | Smartphone-compatible, convenient, flexible. Rapidly growing field of application. |
Special RFID functions with Hypersoft
Among other things, Hypersoft uses special Mifare chips with a cash segment that allow chip credit and a cloud account to be managed in parallel.
This offers advantages in reporting and ensures reliability.
Media can even be combined in separate systems (e.g. access control + payment):
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RFID + barcode on the same card
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QR code on transponder
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RFID stickers on existing media
The QR code as a flexible all-rounder
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Readable with scanners and smartphones
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Can be combined with landing pages or PIN
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Particularly suitable for vouchers, event login, guest identification
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High acceptance among users - particularly digitally savvy
Combination of existing systems
In many cases, time recording systems or access solutions are already in place.
Hypersoft offers flexible interfaces and supplementary media solutions so that not everything has to be rethought.
Tip: Use hybrid media (e.g. RFID tag + QR code) for transitional projects - this saves costs and increases compatibility.
Technology and compatibility
Table 1
(possible/not at all) means that there will be more or less effort to support it, depending on the application. There may be additional costs and waiting times for offers and implementation.
(1) The integratability refers to the standard of the current product range. On request, devices can be integrated as a special service.
(2) The Orderman MAX had special readers in the offer beside the Ordercard, these are discontinued by the manufacturer and have restrictions. The Orderman 7 can read Mifare, possibly also write later with restrictions. Here the new firmware of the manufacturer is not finished. The desire to also use Legic has hardly been used in practice at Orderman.
Table 2
| voucher Manager (a) |
web vouchers PIN optional (b) |
process cards |
process cards | loyalty cards | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Link | Club Check-In | Club Check-In | ||||
| swipe card | yes (c) | (possible) | no | yes | yes | yes |
| barcode |
yes |
(possible) | (can) | yes | yes | yes |
| QR code | yes (c) |
yes |
yes |
yes | yes | yes |
| order card EM 4101-2 |
no | (possible) | no |
yes |
yes | yes |
| RFID ISO | no | (possible) | no |
yes |
yes | yes |
| MIFARE | no | (possible) | no |
yes |
yes | yes |
| MIFARE DESFire | no | (possible) | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Legic | no | (possible) | no | (possible) | (possible) | (possible) |
(possible/ rather not) means that it takes more or less effort to support this, depending on the desired use. There may be additional costs and waiting times for offers and implementation.
(a) The voucher manager can also print barcodes on cash register printers and thus create simple vouchers "on demand". Copied vouchers can be a security risk. There are many variants and functions: http://dokumentation.hypersoft.de/#html_backo/DerGSManager.htm
(b) The web vouchers were specially developed for use with QR codes. It includes web functions such as mails, online forms and PHP interfaces, so that the QR code can be used to redirect to a landing page. A PIN can be activated if there is an increased need for security. Web vouchers can be used especially across locations and can account for the simultaneous cross-location expenditure and income correctly and in an easily understandable manner. This is done easily and comprehensibly from an accounting point of view within several locations of a company and also between different companies.
(c) In order to use QR codes or magnetic cards with the Voucher Manager, these must be pre-produced and set up as quotas.
The CLOU-Mobile for Orderman supports the order card and the magnetic card for the card types transaction card and customer card.
Customers and cards
A customer may receive one or more cards . This varies depending on the system used.
A card (e.g. magnetic card or transponder card) can be connected. Each card can optionally have a fixed pricelevel, a fixed reason for loss or a discount rate in the customer base. If the customer is then identified with the data medium, the price level, reason for loss or discount rate that was stored together with the card applies.
Two different card types are used within MOBILE PEOPLE:
- Customer cards can be used to identify the customer, and with optional credit for payment. Customer cards can be transponder cards, magnetic cards or barcode cards.
- Transaction cards can also be used to identify the customer. They are suitable for use in a cashless area, or where you want to give credit to your customers. The maximum balance of the operation is determined by the Limit field in the card. Transponder cards or magnetic cards can be used as transaction cards.
Both card types maintain a customer account, whereby the customer card must have the corresponding credit balance (which has been loaded beforehand) for payment and the transaction card can be used within the specified limit (which must have been set when the customer card was set up). Each transaction card creates its own transaction, so that a customer assigned to multiple transaction cards can have multiple transactiones open simultaneously. Transaction cards also have the special feature that they can also be used without a link to a customer (see details on Cashless Area). The use of customer cards is currently limited to a single open transaction - a customer transaction.
You can conclude transactions with the payment category customer account (+) independently of cards and accounts. The customer is then assigned an open item, which can be paid at any later time either in cashier mode or booked using the MOBILE PEOPLE Invoice program.
If you work with customer cards and credit balances, you can prioritize the use of the credit balance for payment so that automatically available credit is used when using customer cards.
Further documentation: Cashless Top-Up Terminal
For use as data carriers, we recommend transponder cards for quick check-in and canteen systems, as they are reliable and can be used almost indefinitely, or barcode cards, as they are particularly inexpensive. The Hypersoft Suite supports different systems, but not all peripherals and functions can be used with all types in the same way. Only one system can be selected within a client.
Choose between:
- Ordercard Reader (EM 4002) (a possible standard)
- Mifare
- Possibly Legic
- SKIDATA (project work requiring planning)
- Dallmayr Card
The Ordercard Reader for the Orderman product range is the most common transponder technology and is supported in different devices. The order card can only be read but not written to. With the order card, the information is not managed on the card, but in the database of the POS system. The systems with Mifare, Legic and SKIDATA (ISO read, write according to own procedure) can also be written to and store the current total and other information directly on the card. They are then suitable for the exchange of information in areas or with devices that are not networked.
Further documentation:
CLOU-Mobile und MOBILE PEOPLE
Further documentation:
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