Credit Card Rolls – Thermal vs. Regular

If you happen to purchase paper rolls quite frequently for your POS cash register or your credit card machine at your stores or establishments then you might often be in a dilemma when you have to choose between thermal and regular paper rolls. There are some key differences between both of them. Let’s try to identify when thermal rolls might benefit you and when regular bond paper rolls are beneficial. Read on to find out more about paper rolls and how to identify the key differences between them to help you understand which one to get when you make your next purchase.

Before buying a paper roll you need to know which type of credit card machine you own. If you own a thermal printer then you need to buy thermal paper. Thermal paper is very similar to normal bonded paper, but it is coated with an even mixture of dyes and chemicals. When the thermal printers heat the ink enough that it crosses their boiling point, it forms text on the paper. Generally these printers either use red or blue ink, but in cases you will also find paper that produces black as well. The text is very legible and it can last for months. You should always choose high quality credit card rolls if you want the text to be legible for long periods of time. Low quality paper rolls might fade out in a few days, so you should avoid them at all costs.

BPA free rolls – credit card rolls made of thermal paper contain three layers that are not visible to the naked eye. The first layer includes just the paper while the bottom layer has a binding element that keeps the ink inside intact. The active layer is the one that contains the ink and it gets activated with heat. There is also an additional layer in high quality papers that prevent the ink from fading too easily. Not all papers contain this layer so you should check the specifications of the paper when purchasing to see if the papers have the protective layer or not.

If you do not own thermal paper printers then it is most likely that you have bond paper rolls. This type or paper does not contain any kind of chemical layer and it is a lot like your normal copy paper which you find at photocopy stores. When you are purchasing paper for credit card machine you need to keep in mind the size of the paper you are getting. There are multiple sizes of paper rolls that you can get so you need to ensure you are getting the right sized paper. If you happen to own a credit card verification kit, you will need to buy not only bond paper rolls, a ribbon as well as a cleaning card. Whenever you get a new credit card printer, you need to identify if you have a thermal printer or not. It will help you get the right supplies for your printer. The manual for your printer is the best place to get this information.