ICMA Blog

Spotlight Cast on Global Card Industry Leaders at ICMA’s Élan Awards

Winners Recognized at ICMA’s 18th Annual Awards Ceremony on March 31st

The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA) announced the winners for Card Manufacturing Excellence on March 31, 2015 at the awards dinner held during the annual Card Manufacturing and Personalization EXPO at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.

In the global arena of world-class cards, the ICMA Élan Awards for Card Manufacturing Excellence are the pinnacle of design innovation and technical achievement. Past recipients have included leading card manufacturers from around the globe. Winners of this prestigious competition tap the power of industry recognition and promotional opportunity.

ICMA honors its members’ world-class achievements in both card design and technology innovation through its Élan Awards.

For 25 years, the ICMA EXPO has been the meeting place for industry professionals to network and discuss changing technologies, developments and products. This year’s EXPO celebrated 25 years of innovation in an evolving industry.

The 2015 finalists and winners are:

Secure Payment Cards:

Finalist: CPI Card Group for the Arrival/Arrival Plus Campaign manufactured for Barclaycard US

Finalist: CompoSecure, L.L.C./ Goldpac Secur-Card (Zhuhai) Ltd. for the League of Legends manufactured for China Merchant Bank

Winner: CompoSecure, L.L.C. for Visa Corporate manufactured for Visa, Inc.


Loyalty, Promotional, Gift Cards:

Finalist: Production Services Associates (PSA) for the Mills Farm Fleet’s Merry Christmas Lights on Wagon Wheel Card manufactured for First Data

Finalist: Valid USA for the Starbucks Asami Kiyokawa manufactured for Starbucks

Winner: Production Services Associates (PSA) for the Steak ‘n Shake Halloween Card manufactured for Steak ‘n Shake


ID and Access Control Cards:

Finalist: Checkpoint Card Technology LLC for the Honduras Driver’s License manufactured for Blue Star

Finalist: ABnote for the DR Voter and NID/ Non Voter NID manufactured for the Grupo CSI/Junta Central Electoral República Dominicana.

Winner: ABnote for the Western Australia Driver’s License/ID manufactured for the Government of Western Australia


Unique Innovation:

Finalist: Bristol ID Technologies for the Livingston Aquarium Business Card manufactured for Livingston Aquarium

Finalist: Goldpac Secur-Card (Zhuhai) Ltd. for the Bank of Suzhou CUP Platinum Credit Card manufactured for the Bank of Suzhou

Winner: CompoSecure, L.L.C. for the Capital One Venture Card manufactured for Capital One


Personalization & Fulfillment (P&F) Product, Service or Project:

Finalist: Argo Card for the Argo Card—Matras Christmas Gift Pack manufactured for Matras S.A.

Finalist: HID Global for the Western African Examinations Council Electronic Student ID Card manufactured for the West African Examinations Council

Winner: Goldpac Secur-Card (Zhuhai) Ltd. for the 2015 China & City Series My Starbucks Rewards Cards manufactured for Starbucks (China) Company Limited


Best Supplier/Vendor New Product, Service or Innovation:

Finalist: H.W. Sands Corp. for the MSA4368-Reflective Silver UV Screen Ink Finalist: VTT GmbH for the VTT-Holophotic Technology
Winner: VTT GmbH for the VTT Fly-Eye Technology


People’s Choice (selected by ICMA EXPO delegates):

Finalist: CompoSecure, L.L.C. for the Starbucks Keycard, manufactured for Starbucks
Finalist: Valid USA for the Virgin Airlines Premium Card, manufactured for ADS/Virgin Airlines
Winner: Schreiner Group GmbH & Co. KG for the Ceska Debit Black Card, manufactured for Ceska Sporitelna

The judging criteria for the winners are based on three categories: card manufacturers, personalization and fulfillment and supplier. More on the specifics of these criteria can be found  here.

For more information on ICMA, contact Lynn McCullough at 609-799-4900 or email LMccullough@icma.com.

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About ICMA
Based in Princeton Junction, NJ, ICMA is a non-profit association of card manufacturers, personalizers, suppliers and related industry participants. With more than 240 members globally, ICMA acts as a resource for industry issues, including the production, technology, application, security and environmental issues of cards. More information is available at  www.icma.com.

Editor’s Note: Click here to view the winning entries. JPEG images are available upon request. Please contact Elana Stein at (609) 297-2210 or email estein@cmasolutions.com.