by Jennifer Kohlhepp, Managing Editor, ICMA

ICMA announced the winners of the prestigious 2020 Élan Awards of Excellence during our association’s inaugural virtual event—ICMA Connect: A Global Virtual Forum and Trade Show.

Jeffrey Barnhart, ICMA founder and executive director, revealed the winners at a special virtual ceremony on November 4. “The contest motivates companies to showcase their technological advances, superior manufacturing techniques, new security features and superb design quality,” Barnhart said. “The competition also drives innovation within our organizations, ultimately strengthening the entire card industry—making all of us true winners in this acclaimed program.”

ICMA would like to thank the 2020 Élan Awards judges: ICMA Standards and Technical Representative David Tushie of Magellan Consulting, Scott Magnacca of Linxx LLC and John Schneiderhan of Klöckner Pentaplast.

The following are the 2020 Élan Awards of Excellence winners and finalists:

Best Supplier/Vendor New Product, Service or Innovation

• Winner: Mühlbauer Inc. for their MB ALFRESCO® Protec (liquid coating)
• Finalist: Liveo Research Srl for NATURKIND made with 100% recycled PVC core and overlay for MELIA Jardines del Teide
• Finalist: Covestro LLC for their Platilon® F - Card (made with novel core material leveraging thermoplastic polyurethane foam for facilitating the embedding of electronic components in a safe and durable way)

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

• Winner: CPI Card Group for the Oxygen Debit Card Package for Oxygen Bank
• Finalist: Burgopak for the Xinja Debit Card Mastercard Packaging Design
• Finalist: PLI Card Marketing Solutions for the Popcorn Card n’ Carrier for Cinemark

MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Loyalty, Promotional and Gift Cards

• Winner: Goldpac Limited for the 2019 Siren Series SR Kits for Starbucks (China) Company Limited
• Finalist: Valid (USA) for the Walmart U.S. Happy Holiday Snow Globe Card for First Data Corp. (FDC)
• Finalist: Valid (USA) for the Target Just Married Card for Stored Value Solutions (SVS)/Target

Best Secure Access ID Card

• Winner: Thales for the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) Driver License
• Finalist: Hengbao Co, Ltd for the Lingyuntong Anniversary Card for Yunfu Lingyunyi Card Technology Co, Ltd

Unique Innovation

• Winner is Thales for the American Express Green Reclaimed Ocean Plastic Card for American Express
• Finalist: PLI Card Marketing Solutions for the Sustainable Macy’s Star EcoFoil Card for Macy’s
• Finalist: Wuhan Tianyu Information Industry Co., Ltd for the Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, We Dream All the Way Card for Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)

Best Secure Payment Card

• Winner: CPI Card Group for the BMW Credit Card for US Bank/BMW
• Finalist: CPI Card Group for the RCI Ocean EMV Card for Barclay’s/RCI
• Finalist: G+D Mobile Security GmbH for the Fingerprint Card for CRÉDIT AGRICOLE

Best Secure Metal Payment Card Subcategory

• Winner: CPI Card Group for PSCU Corporate Card for PSCU
• Finalist: CompoSecure L.L.C. for the Morgan Stanley Premier CashPlus Debit MasterCard for Morgan Stanley
• Finalist: Giesecke+Devrient (China) Technologies Co., LTD for the Infinite Visa Credit Card of China CITIC Bank for China CITIC Bank

For more information or to submit entries into the 2021 Élan Awards of Excellence program, visit ICMA.com.