RFID and NFC cards

Usually, but it is checked rather than assumed. The reader or lock model tells us the frequency and the chip family. System configuration sometimes needs a physical test, and we say so rather than guess.

Usually. We work from the card you use now, the reader or lock model, and any specification you were given at installation. Where that is not enough, we ask for a sample rather than a description.

Yes: UID reading, sectors and blocks where the chip allows it, and URLs or NDEF data on NFC chips. Every chip is read-tested before shipping. On encrypted systems we supply the correct chip and the key holder writes the credential.

Yes. Numbering, barcodes, QR codes and other variable data can change on every card, and the chip can be encoded individually. Send the data as a spreadsheet, one row per card.

Yes. Cards can be encoded at the plant for VingCard, SALTO, dormakaba, Onity and Saflok, depending on the chip and on the system's technical requirements, keys and authorisation. Send the lock system and version, and test a sample in your door.

Yes, and we recommend it. Ask for a free sample, sent by courier, and try the card in your reader before committing a run.

0.76 mm is the standard and the thickness most readers, printers and wallets expect. We run from 0.40 mm to 1.0 mm, and the technology inside changes what is possible, so tell us what the card has to do before you fix the number.

Offset lays four colours and handles photographs and gradients. Silkscreen lays one dense colour, which is how you get a true Pantone, a silver or a gold that offset cannot mix. A lot of cards use both on the same face.

Yes, on the same card. The stripe is applied to the PVC body and the chip sits inside it. Send us the encoder or the system that writes the stripe so we match the coercivity rather than assume it.

Same format, same thickness, same chip, same printing and the same finishes. The card has an eighty per cent recycled core, and the only visible difference is the shade: it sits close to virgin PVC with a faint warm cast to it. Under a full colour print you cannot see it. Ask for a sample in both if the white matters.

UV ink, microtext, holograms and optical variable ink, usually alongside a signature panel or a serial number. Tell us what the card is protecting against and we will say which combination is worth the cost.

Yes. Names, numbers, barcodes and QR codes can change on every card, and the chip can be encoded individually. Send the data as a spreadsheet, one row per card.

The card is printed in the same plant that makes it, so the colour you approve is the colour that ships. Send a Pantone reference for any brand colour. A screen is not a reliable way to agree one.

Usually. Send a physical card if you can, with the reader or lock model, the chip type if you know it and any specification you were given at installation. The card itself settles it.

Usually. It carries the same chip as a PVC card and reads the same way. What has to be checked is the slot rather than the chip, because a wood card is thicker than PVC. Test a sample in your door before a full run.

1.20 to 1.30 mm, against 0.76 mm for a PVC card. For properties using an energy-saving card slot, 1.10 mm can be produced on request, with a tolerance of plus or minus 0.1 mm.

Because they are wood. Colour and grain change from card to card even within one species, following the age of the tree, where it grew and the weather it grew in. It is the material behaving normally, not a fault in the batch.

Basswood, black walnut, cherry and bamboo. Each one takes engraving and printing differently, so tell us which finish matters most and we will say which species suits it. Bamboo is a grass rather than a timber, and it behaves a little differently under a laser.

No. A stripe needs the smooth continuous surface that wood does not give. Where a property needs a stripe the card has to be PVC. We make both, so a mixed order across the same property is not a problem.

Wooden cards are produced at an FSC certified facility (FSC-C195226), and the claim does not cover bamboo. Where an FSC claim applies to an order, it is stated on the sales and delivery documents for that order, so ask for it when you specify the card.

Yes. CMYK offset prints photographic artwork directly onto the wood and the grain stays visible underneath. Laser engraving and silkscreen are the other two finishes, and all three can be combined on one card.

Yes, and with wood we push for it. Ask for a free sample in the wood and chip you need, and test it in your door.

More than 180 outlines are already tooled, from key tags, discs and break-apart cards to hexagons, teardrops and custom outlines. The full shape library is available as a PDF on request. Anything outside it is quoted from your drawing: send a vector outline with the overall dimensions and we tell you what we can cut, what we would change and why.

Up to 200 mm on the longest edge. The shapes we already hold tooling for run to 150 mm, so a lot of outlines turn out to be something we have cut before. Send the drawing with the overall width and height and we confirm it against your shape.

Yes, the same chips as a standard card. The antenna has to sit inside your outline, so send the shape at the same time as the reader model rather than after it. A small shape can rule out a chip family, and it is better to find that out now.

On PVC only, and only where the outline leaves the stripe a straight run. Send the shape and we confirm it. Wood cannot carry a stripe at all, whatever the shape.

Yes, in basswood, black walnut, cherry and bamboo. Wood runs at 1.20 to 1.30 mm rather than 0.76 mm, it takes contactless chips only, and grain and colour vary from piece to piece even within one species.

Yes, 500 units, the same as a standard card, with standard production of 12 calendar days. Send the outline and the quantity you have in mind and the quote follows.

Yes. Ask for a free sample in the body and chip you need, and test the read on your system. A sample in your outline is a separate step, and we tell you what it involves when we quote.

Usually. Send the card itself if you can. A physical sample gives us the outline, the thickness and the chip in one go, which a drawing alone does not.

Yes. Send the number range or the data file, and each card is printed with a sequential number, barcode or QR that matches it.

Usually not. A barcode, QR or magnetic stripe works with most point of sale systems. An optional NFC chip is added when the card should also open a page on a phone tap.

Yes. The PIN or code is printed first and covered with a scratch panel on the same run, so it stays hidden until the buyer scratches it off.

Same format, same thickness, same printing and the same finishes. The card has an eighty per cent recycled core, and the only visible difference is the shade, which a full colour print hides. Ask for a sample in both if the white matters.

Yes. The stripe is applied to the PVC body, LoCo or HiCo. Send the encoder or the point of sale system that writes it, so the coercivity is matched rather than assumed.

Yes. Cards are placed in printed carriers or envelopes at the plant, and boxes carry the client logo printed in black, ready for the shop floor.

Yes. Artwork and colour references stay on file, and each reorder is checked against them, so cards from different batches look the same on the rack.

Yes. Ask for a free sample and test the barcode or stripe on the point of sale system first.

Yes. Names and numbers arrive in one data file and are printed in a single pass, so the cards leave the plant ready to hand to members, with nothing left to add.

It depends on the scanner in use. Barcode and QR suit tills and phone cameras, a stripe suits swipe readers, a chip suits gates and tap to app. Send the reader model for a written check.

At 13.56 MHz, MIFARE Classic EV1, MIFARE DESFire EV2 and EV3, and NTAG213, NTAG215 or NTAG216 for tap to app on a phone. EM4200 and T5577 at 125 kHz suit older gates.

Yes. Same chip, same member number and same design, quoted and encoded together, so every reader in the building sees one person.

Yes. Standard, premium, family or corporate cards share one design, colour coded per tier, and are made in one batch.

Standard production is 12 calendar days and the minimum order is 500 units. Allow time to approve the proof before production starts.

Yes. Every renewal and reorder is matched to the approved sample, so colours, finish and encoding stay consistent from one year to the next.

Yes. Ask for a free sample, encoded with the chosen chip, and test it on the live gates, tills and app first.

Yes. Send a spreadsheet with names, numbers, roles and expiry dates. Every card is printed from its row in the same pass as the artwork, then checked against the file and read-tested before shipping.

The one the reader expects. Send the reader model, or post a card in use today, and the chip is confirmed in writing before production: EM4200, T5577, MIFARE Classic EV1, DESFire EV2 or EV3, or UHF.

UV ink, microtext, guilloche, hologram, hot stamping, a signature panel and a magnetic stripe, all applied at the plant. They are combined per design and confirmed on the sample.

Yes, from the same order. Lanyards and card holders are quoted, produced and delivered with the ID cards, so the site receives one shipment.

Yes. The layout, colour references, chip and numbering sequence stay on file, so cards for new starters continue the series and read the same as the first batch.

Yes. Visitor and contractor cards can carry a different colour band and a separate numbering series, so a guard tells them apart at a glance. The chip is matched to the same reader.

Standard production is 12 calendar days and the minimum order is 500 units. Transit time to the delivery address comes on top, and the date is confirmed with the quote.

Yes. Ask for a free sample, printed with your layout and test data, and check the print, the data and the chip on your reader first.

Yes, with the right chip and data. NTAG213, NTAG215 and NTAG216 read on current Android phones and iPhone. Older iPhones need an app to read a tag, and we flag that before the order rather than after.

NTAG213 for one URL, NTAG215 when the link carries more data, NTAG216 for vCards or several records. MIFARE Ultralight EV1 suits very large runs that only need a short link.

Yes. Each chip can carry a unique URL or NDEF record from a spreadsheet, one row per card. The UID list is supplied with the order, so every card can be matched to a unit, a serial number or a buyer.

Both are 13.56 MHz chips that phones can read. NTAG comes in three memory sizes, up to 888 bytes, and is built around NDEF for phone taps. Ultralight EV1 has less memory and suits short links at very high volume.

Yes. URLs and NDEF data are written in-house, UIDs are read and listed, and every chip is read-tested one by one before shipping. A card that fails the read is pulled before packing.

Yes. Serial numbers, QR codes and barcodes can be printed per card and matched to the data in the chip. Send one spreadsheet with a row per card, and the print and the encoding follow it.

Standard production is 12 calendar days from approval, and the minimum order is 500 units, so a product launch and the reorders after it run on the same line.

Yes. Ask for a free sample, sent by courier with the chip, data and print specified, so the brand team can tap it on real phones before signing off a run.