Proposal for "functional cards" (smart cards) category

[shugal]

Hopefully I picked the correct forum - or should this go to the Collectors Support forum?

In the Moving items from Phonecards to Gift cards thread I have already suggested to create a new category to hold those cards that do not fit into any of the other card categories (phone, gift, hotel key, bank, casino cards). I have thought about how to organize this and now I want to present my proposal. I'm willing to be a coordinator for the new category, I hope there will be some collectors willing to share the burden and be coordinators as well.

In my opinion the main question is if the first level of sorting should be the type of the card (thus basically creating a sub-category per card type) or the country. To make a decision on that it would be very helpful to know if collectors of smart cards collect by issuing country/system or by card type. I have created a poll, please answer it.

My preference is collecting by issuer, so the suggestion below is based on that. However, the category should have a list of card types i the "catalog" drop-down, so browsing/filtering by card type shoud be possible.

Category "functional cards"

==> Country

==> ==> Issuer (company or system, like Payback or Miles and More)

==> ==> ==> card type (rewards, customer, access etc.)

==> ==> ==> ==> Series

==> ==> ==> ==> ==> individual item

Each card should have, in addition to the information above, these piees of information :

name (should be unique)

catalog codes

tags

issue date

expiry date

card system (a list to describe the card abilities, like chip, magnetic, RFID, visual)

card status (either "initial" or "permanent" to distinguish between start-up cards and their permanent replacements)

face value and currency (with "N/A" option for those cards where face value makes no sense)

print run

description

Many of these pieces of information need to be able to be added several times, because functional cards more and more serve more than just one purpose.

These items need to be able to be assigned several times for one item:

country

issuer

card type

series

catalog codes

card system

face value and currency

I know this is asking for a lot more flexibility than the existing categories have. As I've said before, in my opinion the oter categories need the same flexibility, but the functional cards category needs them most, because the diversity o items requires a very flexible structure. I hope this can be accomplished, and then it could be used as a test case for the flexible design, hopefully implemented in other categories as well after success.

So, please answer the poll and let me know your thoughts! Thank you very much!

[gazzaoz]

Thanks to get a start with this. I already had to reject a number of different cards in transportation tickets which did not fit in the category. As a collector of all sorts of cards I already created a small list of card types:

Admission cards

Charge cards

Club cards

Frequent Flyer cards

Loyalty cards

Membership cards

Movie cards

Promotional cards

Reward cards

[BrunosapiJens]

I read this forum thread and want to share my thoughts.

For the case, the suggested category should contain all cards which do not fit in any existing category, I do not agree to it.

As we explained already some cards are very related to other cards (gift cards and customer reward cards, gift cards and micropayment cards, but e.g. not gift cards and stamps)

So, either all cards should get a category of their own or they should all be put together in a the suggested category.

Both options have their advantages.

But not any mixture. ("Is this a gift card?" - "No". "Then let's put it to the other cards".) In that case the other cards (or funcional cards) section will become a mess. In addition, nobody could really identify with the category, then.

For the case, the suggested "Funcional cards", or maybe even just "cards" contains all cards which do not fit into any other category plus all related cards, it would be ok. That means the category should include gift cards as well as customer reward cards as well as (micro)payment cards. In addition, as there are cards issued by companies for paying, then other cards for paying should be considered, too and these are bank cards.

Cards which can be very clearly seperated (e.g. phonecards which have to be put into a phonebooth) from them could keep a category of their own then. However, I do not know how wide the expression "functional cards" aims to be.

There are many other functional cards (driver license cards, card of insurances,...) and if we put them all in that category, then all existing cards of Colnect have to be put into that category, too (including phonecards). Btw. when access cards for movies, etc. are added there, access cards for hotel rooms, casinos or trains must be added, too.

That will help with the question, how the level of sorting should be. If all cards belong to that category, a sorting by card type, then country definitely makes the most sense. If there are just a few card types I suggest country, then issuer.

Actually, I think there are not that much companies issuing different card types. But correct me if I am wrong.

However, I hope that the structure becomes more flexible, too and I am optimistic such sorting questions won't be relevant, then.

Btw. please not "smart cards", as most cards we here refer to aren't any smart cards.

Best Regards

[tcawe]

Thank you for this topic and I believe it's a long-standing issue on Colnect that is better finally resolved.

In theory, there should have been a single parent category "cards" with sub categories for phone cards, hotel key cards, gift cards and many others. This may actually happen in future BUT it can happen only AFTER we have a comfortable enough interface allowing people who are interested only in one category focus on it.

For now, what we can do to accommodate all cards that don't already have a category on Colnect is start a fresh category for them and call it either "cards", "plastic cards", "functional cards" or whichever you think is best. Each item in this category can have a field "Function" or "Use" or whichever that will determine whether it's a club card, promotional card and so on, there will probably eventually be dozens of "functions" to choose from.

Navigation:

country -> company -> series -> list

is how we do it with phone cards

and for this category we can also add

function -> country -> company -> series -> list

I don't like the option of

country -> company -> function -> series -> list

as it's much less frequent that the same company has many different functions

If this seems good enough a solution, it's really easy to take the phone cards NIF and make it ready for the new category. Once discussions are concluded and a coordinator emerges, it'll really be quick to add this category so please push it forward and I'll do my best to assist.

[maltapete50]

Hi All.

I put this in

https://colnect.com/forum/viewtopic!f=90&t=8182#p41379

by mistake

"I hope I am not complicating matters but I thnk that if there is to be a multi funtional card category that "FAKE" phonecards ought to be put there as they are certainly not phonecards.(Once they have being declared FAKE by a concensus of collectors/editors).

Plastic Cards seems an apt title for them."

[Dana-Levitas]

This idea could be a welcome change to Colnect, making card collecting on Colnect easier and clearer.

For now, the Idea of "Functional Cards", although a wide definition, could house many cards that do not seem to fit anywhere else on Colnect and should have a place of their own.

If some members are willing to submit some NIFs and Colnect could start working on the structure, it could be solved rather simply.

Any more collectors interested in seeing that happen?

[venezuelanphonecards]

I strongly recommend using this structure Function>Country>Company>Series>List, for a better navigation it is important to start from what´s most important, the function

Most remarkable applications/Functions of smart cards are:

Telecommunications: Payphones and Mobile Communications. Category: Phonecards and GSM Cards within it

Financial: Banking & Retail: Same thing, we have Bank Cards

Public transit: Category: Transportation Tickets, Parking, Toll...

ID Verification and Access Control: Hotel Key Cards and others

Satellite Communications: Mobile Communications, GPS, TV and Entertainment

Computer security

Schools

Healthcare

Most used systems are:

Chip

Magnetic Stripe

Inductive

Optic

Contactless

Remote Memory

Common materials used are:

Plastic PVC only, for most of the chip, optic and contactless cards

Plastic and Cardboard or Carton for most of the Magnetic Stripe cards and some remotes

[tcawe]

Please attach the draft NIF for this category (FC) when ready. You mentioned "materials" but I'm unsure as to whether it would be a good idea to add that as an additional column, as the system usually determines the material used. If it's not, it could be mentioned in the description field.

As we already have categories for phone cards, hotel key cards, bank card, transportation tickets, gift cards and casino cards, I wouldn't like to merge these categories into "Functional Cards" just yet. When the category is established, we can consider that again. We have established different fields and navigation in some of the categories (such as Bank Card Types ) and different names (casino cards relate to casino chains and not "companies") so it's justified that there are different.

We could, however, include links on "Functional Cards" main page that will lead to these cards in other categories such Cards used as Transportation Tickets or Related category: Bank Cards.

[venezuelanphonecards]

Yes of course, i will publish the NIF when it is ready

Although the system determines the material, in phonecards we can see variations of a single card issued in different types of plastics and cartons. I just did the comment, but it will be hard work to sort all phonecards by material

About merging all categories, it could be a good idea. In that case, as i recommend before, it will be better to split the category of Phonecards and take away GSM Cards, Internet Cards, Lottery and others as separate Categories within Functional Cards, because they all have different purposes from Phonecards and as we are going to work with "Functions" it will be more convenient to have it that way, that´s my opinion

[tcawe]

OK, so I guess we agree on most. I'll await the NIF. Material won't be a field and we'll consider moving other categories into "Functional cards" once it's up and running. I can make an automated script for GSM cards to be moved away from phone cards.

[venezuelanphonecards]

Amir,

I´m working on it. I started using all categories of Casino Cards, Gift Cards, Phone Cards ... ... as basic functions, so what do you think about a starting list like this? and we keep all categories already on Colnect for future use and i have added "Internet" and "Satellite" as new functions

FUNCTION

Unknown [0]

Bankcards [10]

Casino Cards [11]

Gift Cards [12]

GSM Cards [13]

Hotel Key Cards [14]

Internet Access Cards [15]

Phone Cards [16]

Satellite TV Cards [17]

Transportation Tickets [18]

CARD SYSTEM TYPE

Unknown [0]

Chip [4]

Magnetic [9]

Remote Memory [10]

COUNTRIES and CURRENCIES

All entries

CATALOGS

Unknown [0]

Colnect codes [313]

COMPANIES

a new separate list

[tcawe]

I would actually prefer not to include existing categories as "functions" yet. It will create immense confusion if some gift cards are at the gift card category and others go to "functional cards". Let's start with what we don't have in other categories and after some time, when we see how the category works out, we'll discuss merging the other categories. Meanwhile, we'll add links from functional cards to the other categories and vice versa.

[venezuelanphonecards]

I agree,

Very well then, my next message will include the new NIF

[venezuelanphonecards]

Amir and Dana,

here is the new NIF. Same structure as phonecards and little modifications:

Suggested version for a start: 0,10

PART I:

Countries: Same as Phonecards

Companies: Separate list

Catalogs: Same as Phonecards

Currency: Same as Phonecards

Entry for "Catalog Name 2" deleted

PART II:

New column for Functions.

New Function available for a start: Satellite TV Cards

Internet Access cards and GSM Cards already exist in Phonecards, so both types of cards can be moved apart from Phonecards and placed as the other two functions available

Anticipating upcoming contributions from Collectors related to Phonecards i decided to keep the entire list of Catalog Names and thinking about other types of cards, such as GSM, internet and others, maybe it would be a good idea to keep the entire List of Companies also to use the current IDs instead of making new ones

There is still more work to do and i´m willing to work on it

I hope you like it

[tcawe]

Thanks. The NIF looks good altogether. Minor technical issues there can be fixed after the category is launched.

Am I right in guessing https://colnect.com/en/phonecards/countries will all be moved away from "phone cards"?

Also see these cards: https://colnect.com/en/phonecards/list/ ... on/not%20a

Yes, reusing the company names list may save a bit of resources on Colnect but it isn't very important.

Catalogs - one thing we've done in phone cards and I consider a mistake is to allow too many "catalogs" rather than creating one standard "Colnect codes" catalog that would have the same logic in creating codes. This mistakes won't be easily rectified but with this fresh category it might be wiser to have a standard and use other catalogs only if these are really established ones.

My suggestion for a format (which you can totally change) is

country (3 letter ISO) - function (2 letters) - company (4 letters) - number