Retail

Stores or their contracted credit providers issue plastic cards with magnetic stripe or bar-code as an entry mechanism to access the mainframe computer when processing a sale of merchandise to be paid for at a later date. Retail gift cards is a fast growing market segment that uses cards to record amount given and decrement usage by recipient. Bar coded cards are also issued to store employees to record their hours of work on an electronic time clock. Often cards are used as employee badges to convey their name to the store client. Discount cards are also used to reward loyal customers and help increase retail sales of specific product.