A transport mechanism for transporting cards (114) along a transport path (108) and method of operation thereof. A card transport mechanism (180) includes a pair of spaced apart channels (186, 188), each channel engaging a different one of a pair of opposed edges of the cards; a carriage (196) for holding the cards at a fixed position relative to the carriage during motion along the transport path, the carriage having first (198) and second (120) card contacting elements spaced apart at different positions along the transport path and projecting into the transport path for contacting and holding a card in the fixed position during motion along the transport.