In Today's Economic Times, Why it's Important to Have ID Cards.

As unemployment rates climb past 8%, we know from history that crime increases along side of unemployment. Because of this, organizations and businesses need to protect their reputation along with their doors. A simple addition to discourage crime and enhance a company’s perception to their customers is through the use of ID cards while employees are on the job.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports show that in the US from 1970 to 1993 crime rose with the unemployment rate. Later the same report shows that from 1992 to 1996 as the employment rate rose again there was a dramatic drop in crime particularly in poverty areas. There are different reports that show that a 2% drop in unemployment would be equivalent to a 30% drop in assaults, 14% drop in rape and robbery and a 9% decline in burglary. With these statistics all based on a drop of unemployment, one can only assume the reverse is true as well. Since we have had a nearly 3% increase in unemployment in the past twelve months that would indicate based on these statistics a 13.5% increase in burglaries alone just in the past year.

The United States Insolvency Service stated that there was a 56% increase in insolvent businesses in the first quarter of this year over the first quarter of 2008. That’s nearly 5,000 companies that have become illiquid in just the first quarter of 2009. Adding to this there were over 120,000 personal and corporate bankruptcies filed last month (May 2009). Needless to say there are a lot of newly unemployed and desperate individuals in every community.

With statistics like these it should be clear that organizations need to protect their reputation and their property. Adding ID cards to your employees or members is a simple and effective way to enhance your security with identification. Identification cards also add to the perception of customers when employees are out of the office and add a sense of comfort to your customers and especially your prospective customers who are new to your business.

Barcodes, biometric scanners, RFID chips and many other security features can be added to enhance the security of your ID card solution. Technologies like these are continually becoming more affordable thanks to mass production and today’s speed of technology. Even without these more costly solutions, simply by requiring employees and visitors to wear ID cards in your place of business can greatly add to your company’s security. Today, thanks to the Internet, there are solutions available for both small and large companies through online security services that offer ID cards as their primary business. Companies like FullIdentity.com have also integrated services like background checks, RFID, holograms and whatever type of technology you want to implement into the security of your identification card solution.

As consumers are spending less and watching for opportunities to save every dollar they can, business has been difficult in this economy. Organizations need to be sure to take the best care of each customer as the search for new and repeat business becomes more difficult. Protecting a business’s reputation by not allowing individuals to infiltrate your organization or impersonate your employee’s is critical. ID cards can be an easy to implement and a huge factor in the verification of who someone says they are and add to a company’s credibility.