The invention relates to a unit for processing chip and/or magnetic stripe cards--a so-called card personalization unit. Such a unit on the one hand records card-/user-specific data on a chip (semiconductor element) and/or the magnetic stripe, and, on the other hand, it applies card-/user-specific data onto the card body. To this end, a unit of this type comprises a processing station for chips and/or magnetic stripes, into which processing facilities for chips and, if applicable, magnetic stripes are integrated in a well-known manner, and a processing station for the card body. Whereas the data recorded on the chip or the magnetic stripe may, as a general rule, be modified, because the corresponding filing media are overwritable, the data applied onto the card body cannot be modified. The unmodifiable data are applied onto the card body by means of, for example, laser inscribing, thermotransfer imprinting or embossing. The format of these cards is standardized by international standards (refer to ISO 7810).
A unit of this kind is described DE 30 49 607. In this unit, the cards, taken from a card magazine containing the cards to be processed, in succession first run through a chip and/or magnetic stripe processing station, where the modifiable data are recorded, and after that through the card body processing station, where the unmodifiable, visible data (alphanumeric characters, bar code, photograph, letterset embossing) are applied. In the course of this process, and following recording of the modifiable data on the chip and/or magnetic stripe and before applying the unmodified data, a verification for proper recording is performed. This verification may take place in the chip and/or magnetic stripe processing stations or in a separate verification station. Cards exhibiting inaccurate modifiable data recordings on the chip and/or magnetic stripe are not forwarded to the card body processing station, where the unmodifiable data are applied. These cards are rejected. In this unit however, cards, on which the unmodifiable data to be applied in the card body processing station were recorded incorrectly or with defects, are not rejected. The consequence of this is, that in automatic packaging processes of cards for shipment to customers or card distributors, cards with incorrectly or defectively applied data are shipped as well.