Phone card sales are approaching $2 billion. Nearly 30% - soon to be 50% - of Americans use them. Retail sales and innovative marketing programs are driving their growth. Plastic pre-paid phone cards have become a lucrative, point-of-purchase, retail profit center - and an extremely effective premium for marketing professionals. They're so popular, similar plastic cards are now issued for prepaid cellular, fax, and Internet services. As a marketing tool, phone cards are valued and perceived as cash in your pocket. They're used as incentives, fund-raisers, thank-you's, gifts with purchase, business cards, recruitment tools, business referrals, traffic builders at trade shows and grand openings, and courtesy cards at political conventions or professional conferences. Prepaid phone cards also generate incredible response rates - as high as 50% - when used as market research tools. Cardholders get free long-distance minutes in exchange for taking an automated telephone survey during card activation. Whether purchased at retail or received as a premium, every plastic phone card creates a tangible connection between a business and a consumer. Each time it's used, a brand is seen, an image is projected. And through recorded messages before each call, card issuers get a one-on-one opportunity to promote goodwill. Choose a phone card program that fits your style and budget. Card thickness ranges from .012" to .030". Shapes can be rectangular or practically any imaginative die cut. Up to six colors can be specified for both sides. Metallic inks, foil imprints, holograms, and signature panels are options. Magnetic stripe encoding, high-resolution bar coding, PIN numbering, and security scratch-off panels are available. Finishes include high-gloss film lamination and liquid coating. Each phone card can be individually packaged for activation at point-of-sale. Another option: Arthur Blank's patented RAC® Card, a non-packaged, .030", point-of-sale phone card. The RAC® Card is a hanging, snap-apart, plastic card with a multipurpose "delta" hole that fits most retail peg systems. Hanging on a rack at point-of-sale, the top half displays promotional copy and the bottom half features an ISO/ANSI laminated magnetic stripe and scratch-off label for a PIN number. The card is activated by swiping it through a reader at the check-out terminal. Arthur Blank & Company also offers comprehensive card personalization and mailing services to ensure seamless, fast, and accurate delivery of phone cards.