A vendor uses codes from a chip manufacturer to ‘unlock’ chips and prepare them for...

According to the PCI Card Production and Provisioning Logical Security Requirements, pre-personalization is the process of unlocking the chip and loading the applications and keys onto the chip. This process is performed by the vendor using codes provided by the chip manufacturer. The codes are used to authenticate the vendor and enable the chip to accept the applications and keys. The pre-personalization process prepares the chip for the subsequent personalization process, where the chip is associated with a specific cardholder account andactivated. The pre-personalization process is different from data creation, data preparation, and manufacture, which are other processes involved in card production and provisioning. References: PCI Card Production and Provisioning Logical Security Requirements and Test Procedures v3.0, January 2022, pages 6-71