Card Technology

Your student ID card is fitted with a contactless Mifare technology chip. A connection between the chip card and the chip card reader can be established via radio signals at a maximum distance of 10 cm. Mifare DESFire EV1 8K chips fall into the RFID systems category. For the purpose card activation, the card supplier InterCard stores the following details on the card in code:

Card serial number (unique chip card ID)
Unique installation number
Card type
Card build

As part of the university’s personalisation service, the following card holder details are stored on chip:

Student registration number
Card sequence number
Library user number
“Student” profile key
The University of Bamberg’s university ID
Current electronic purse balance
Validity period
The number 51 ("company": University of Bamberg)
Access number (student registration number + card sequence number)

The card also contains further data not used by the university.

TRW Strip

On the front of the chip card, at the bottom, there is a TRW strip (Thermo-ReWrite) on which data can be reprinted. It is possible to print the validity date on the TRW strip. At the validation station, old data can be erased and new data can be rewritten onto the strip.

TRW technology uses rewritable thermal recording material similar to adhesive tape. Data can be printed and erased many times using heat application.