Card embossing is the process of pressing raised characters into a plastic payment card so that the card number, the cardholder's name and the expiry date stand out from the surface. It is carried out during card personalization, usually with the tops of the characters coloured in silver or gold foil.
Embossing had a practical origin. Before electronic terminals, a merchant placed the card in a manual imprinter and pulled a roller across a carbon paper slip, which transferred the raised details to the sales voucher. The magnetic stripe and later the EMV chip made imprinting unnecessary, and card networks now permit unembossed cards. Most new cards are flat, with details printed or laser-engraved, often on the back, and some carry no number at all, showing it only in the issuer's app. Flat cards are cheaper and faster to produce and allow freer design. Embossing survives mainly in markets where imprinters remain a fallback.