Plastic card
Plastic cards usually serve as identity documents, thus providing authentication. In combination with other assets that complement the data stored on the card, like PIN numbers, they also serve authorization purposes, most often as bank cards for allowing their holders to do financial transactions. While early and simpler cards feature only hard-to-imitate integrated photographs, security holograms, guillochés, or a magnetic strip on which few bytes of personal data could be stored, smart cards, i.e. those equipped with an electronic chip (storage, or RFID), nowadays serve as high-security active electronic documents that allow their holder to qualify for driving cars (drivers license card), receive medical treatment  (health insurance cards), do banking  and more. Industry
In their January 2020 report, the  International Card Manufacturers Association's (ICMA) indicates a production increase to a record-high of 37.1 billion cards and $27 billion revenue in 2019. Forecasts predicted market growth at a rate of 8.2% from 2021 to 2028, which was counteracted by losses through the Covid pandemic. Production

Plastic cards (standard size ID-1) come in various colors and finishings. The laminated mixture of various dyes, paper and plastics (so far mainly PVC and PVCA) and the integration with electronics makes them hard to recycle. Classification

Type

Range
Contact cards (must be inserted into a suitable reading device, e.g. magnetic stripe cards)
Contactless cards (using Near-field communication or RFID)

Technology
Apart from "regular", i.e. non-electronic cards, there is considerable overlap between "chip-enabled", "digital" and "smart" cards, mostly for historical reasons in the development of the current fully equipped smart cards. Regular cards
Chip-enabled cards
Smart cards
Digital card
Magnetic stripe cards

Applications
Gift cards
Discount cards
Access cards
Payment cards
Credit cards
Debit cards
Telephone cards
Transportation cards
Government/Health, e.g. European Health Insurance Card,
Identity card,
Passport card
SIM cards (smaller size contact card only used within mobile phones)

Non-electronic security features
Plastic cards may be printed with the following security-relevant features, some of them also containing personal information, others only serving as anti-forgery devices: 
QR code and / or barcode
photograph
signature
security hologram
microprinting
guilloché patterns (similar to bank notes)

See also
Electronic banking
Plastic recycling
Plastic compounding

References

Identity documents
Smart cards
Payment cards