Polymeric adhesive materials used in anisotropic conducting films (ACFs) are thermally the weakest link in them; they have to be able to withstand the temperature resulting from the current flow in them for reliable operation of devices using ACFs. The current carrying capacity of an ACE is, thus, limited by the thermomechanical performance of the polymer material used. A simple thermal model is presented to estimate the operating temperature of anisotropic conducting adhesive films in terms of current, conducting particle density, particle size and resistance of the ACE The model can be used to predict the current carrying capacity of electrically conductive adhesives if the thermal performance of polymeric resin is known. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008.