BIG SALE (Scratch card)

The scratchcard itself is made of paper-based card, or plastic, with hidden information such as PIN or HRN (Hidden Recharge Number) printed on it, covered by an opaque substance (usually latex). The original cards were covered with an environmentally unsafe solvent based coating. In the late 1980s, adhesive specialist Jerome Greenfield invented a safe water-based coating still used in scratchers today that can be scratched off relatively easily, while resistant to normal abrasion. Other types of scratch panel are scratch labels, hot stamp foil or 'sandwich' label which are technologies that is easy to produce for manufacturers without specialised equipment for applying latex panels. Unlike silkscreen latex panels that bond with the card body, labels are distinctly separate to the card body and applied by adhesion which makes them prone to sophisticated and fraudulent manipulation.