Financial transaction card with non-embossed, raised indicia

A financial transaction card comprising:

• a thin, planar body having a first major surface and a second major surface on an opposite side of the planar body from the first major surface;
• a first set of raised indicia, with each indicium denoting an alphabetic letter or a number and projecting outwardly away from the first major surface;
• and
• a second set of raised indicia, with each indicium denoting an alphabetic letter or a number and projecting outwardly away from the second major surface, wherein:
• at least one said indicium of the second set of raised indicia is directly contralateral with at least one said indicium of the first set of raised indicia;
• the first and second set of raised indicia are produced by one of machining the body, etching the body, and abrading the body;
• the first major surface is devoid of any indication of the second set of raised indicia;
• the second major surface is devoid of any indication of the first set of raised indicia;
• and
• at least one of the first set of raised indicia and the second set of raised indicia comprises Braille characters.

A financial transaction card comprising opposing first and second planar surfaces including:

• a height in a range from about 53.92 millimeters to about 54.18 millimeters;
• a width in a range from about 85.47 millimeters to about 85.90 millimeters, wherein:
• a first edge and a second edge extend between the first and second planar surfaces;
• and
• each of the first and the second planar surfaces has a respective data region:
• in a range from about 6.05 mm to about 79.85 mm from the first edge;
• and
• in a range from about 2.54 mm to about 17.07 mm from the second edge;
• codes, numeric and alphabetic, embossed therein to form raised indicia on the first planar surface with corresponding subsurface indicia on the second planar surface, wherein the codes are selected from the group consisting of:
• an account number issued by an issuer;
• a name of an entity holding an account of the account number and to whom the issuer issued the account;
• an expiration date;
• and
• a combination of the forgoing;
• and
• Braille characters projecting from each of the respective data regions of the first and second planar surfaces and corresponding to one or more of the codes, wherein a first portion of the Braille characters on the first planar surface is abraded to be directly contralateral to a second portion of the Braille characters on the second planar surface.

A method of making a financial transaction card, the method comprising:

• forming a laminate having opposing first and second planar surfaces each having:
• a height in a range from about 53.92 millimeters to about 54.18 millimeters;
• and
• a width in a range from about 85.47 millimeters to about 85.90 millimeters,
• wherein:
• a first and a second edge extend between the opposing first and second planar surfaces;
• and
• each of the opposing first and the second planar surfaces has a respective Braille region:
• in a range from about 6.05 mm to about 79.85 mm from the first edge;
• in a range from about 2.54 mm to about 17.07 mm from the second edge;
• and
• not more than 0.26 mm from the corresponding said planar surface;
• forming Braille characters:
• projecting from each of the opposing first and second planar surfaces;
• within each of the respective Braille regions;
• and
• corresponding to one or more of codes selected from the group consisting of:
• an account number issued by an issuer;
• a name of an entity holding an account of the account number and to whom the issuer issued the account;
• an expiration date;
• and
• a combination of the forgoing, wherein at least a first portion of one said Braille character on the first planar surface is directly contralateral with at least a second portion of a second said Braille character on the second planar surface;
• and
• forming the laminate to have a machine readable region suitable for encoding data corresponding to the one or more codes.