RFID Cards

High-security RFID cards for identification, cashless payments and access control. One card, a thousand possibilities.

The card that does it all

Your card does more than prove who you are: it opens buildings, pays for purchases and gives you access to every service.

SECANDA supports all major RFID technologies, supplies every card model including multi-technology cards, and guides you through the migration of your infrastructure.

Explore the SECANDA Secure module →

One card, many uses

Your RFID card is the key to your entire ecosystem

Identification

Visual & electronic ID

Payments

Cashless transactions

Access control

Doors & secure areas

Library

Book loans

Built around MIFARE DESFire

The technology we recommend for every new deployment, and what we do with the credentials already on your campus.

MIFARE DESFire EV2 / EV3

The benchmark for campus and corporate cards. DESFire delivers robust cryptography and clean isolation between applications, so identification, payment, access and library can safely share a single card.

AES 128-bit encryption
Multiple isolated applications per card
Secure messaging & mutual authentication
Transaction MAC for tamper-proof operations

The credentials you already have

Cards are already in circulation on your campus. Our readers identify the common 125 kHz and 13.56 MHz credentials, so the badges people carry keep working while you plan the move to DESFire.

Reads the credentials already in circulation
Old and new cards coexist during a migration
No forced switchover date
Hybrid cards bridge old and new readers

Also supported

Budget

MIFARE Ultralight

A low-cost chip for tickets and single-use or short-lived credentials, such as visitor or event badges.

Legacy

125 kHz proximity

The prox cards still in circulation on many campuses. We read them, so existing badges keep opening doors while new cards roll out.

Legacy

MIFARE Classic

A low-cost legacy option. A pragmatic choice when security is not a critical requirement.

Beyond the card

The same RFID chip can take whichever form suits your users best.

Card

The classic credit-card format, printable with photo and visual identity.

Wristband

Comfortable and water-resistant, perfect for sports, events or younger users.

Keyfob

Compact and sturdy, easy to attach to a keyring or lanyard.

Our RFID media catalog

Every card technology we supply and personalize. SECANDA-compatible or not, we can source it.

MIFARE DESFire

MIFARE DESFire EV3 2K / 4K / 8K
MIFARE DESFire EV2 4K / 8K
MIFARE DESFire DUOX 2K / 4K / 8K

MIFARE Classic & compatibles

MIFARE Classic EV1 1K / 4K Legacy
Microelectronics (Fudan) 1K (FM11RF08) / 4K (FM11RF32N) / 8K (FMDES8K)
MIFARE Plus S / X / EV1

Ultralight & NTAG

MIFARE Ultralight EV1 (48 B / 128 B) / C (144 B) / AES
NTAG 213 / 424 DNA

Low frequency & legacy

Hybrid cards (2 technologies)

MIFARE DESFire (EV1 / EV3) + Prox 125 kHz · EM4200 (EM4102) · EM4450 · ATA5577 · HITAG 1 Migration
MIFARE DESFire (EV1 / EV3) + MIFARE Classic (1K / 4K)
Other combinations on request

Visual card (no chip)

Plastic card without a chip, ideal for printing staff badges with a photo, a logo and, for example, a barcode.

Multi-technology & migration support

SECANDA supplies hybrid cards directly and supports smooth transitions between technologies.

Hybrid cards

Two technologies on one card: DESFire + 125 kHz prox, or DESFire + MIFARE Classic.

Migration path

Move step by step from a legacy system to a modern one, with no big-bang switchover.

Read & write

Our readers and the Suite handle either chip on a hybrid card equally well.

Multi-vendor

Several systems (access, catering, library, parking) coexist on the same card, even from different vendors.

Encoded to your requirements

With SECANDA Suite, we encode each card with the data structure that matches your processes: student number, access rights, sectors, payment scheme.

Custom data layout

Define your own files, applications and access rules on every card.

Secure key management

Customer-specific cryptographic keys, securely stored and rotated.

On-site re-encoding

Update existing cards when rules or rights change.

Learn more about SECANDA Suite →

And it all goes virtual

Everything an RFID card can do, the SECANDA App can do too. Your users carry identity, payment and access on their smartphone, synced and secure.

Visual, secure digital ID
Cashless payments via the app
Mobile access at supported sites
Card and app share the same account

Discover the SECANDA App →

30+ years of RFID expertise

SECANDA Group has been pioneering contactless technology since the early days of RFID.

30+

Years in RFID Technology

500+

Institutions Worldwide

Frequently asked questions about RFID cards

Answers to the most common questions about technologies, form factors and personalization.

How much does a card cost, and is there a minimum order quantity?

The unit price depends on the technology (DESFire, hybrid, legacy 125 kHz), the volume ordered and the personalization (photo printing, design, encoding). Ask us for a quote based on your profile: we supply anything from a few dozen cards for a small institution to tens of thousands per year for a large university, with no restrictive minimum order.

How long does an RFID card physically last?

In standard use (badge holder, wallet), a quality PVC card lasts 5 to 10 years. The RFID chip itself shows no memory wear in our use cases (millions of read cycles, hundreds of thousands of writes). The limiting factors are mainly mechanical wear (bending, punching) and visual ageing (print, photo). For demanding environments (sports, swimming pools, young children), we offer more durable wristbands and keyfobs.

What happens when a user loses their card or has it stolen?

The card is revoked instantly from SECANDA Suite, or directly by the user in the SECANDA App if you enable self-service blocking. Since nothing is stored on the card itself (balance, access rights and history all live online in SECANDA), all it takes is linking a new card to the same account: the user immediately gets back their balance, rights and history. The lost card stops working as soon as the block reaches the controllers.

What data is stored on the card, and what stays in the database?

The card holds the bare minimum: a unique identifier (UID), possibly a student or employee number, and cryptographic keys per application (payment, access…). No sensitive personal data (name, photo, actual balance, history) is stored on the chip: everything stays in the SECANDA database, under your control. An approach in line with FERPA and with the data minimization principle of the GDPR.

If our users have the SECANDA App, do we still need physical cards?

Not always, but often yes. The SECANDA App does everything a card does (identification, payment, access) on a smartphone, with the same account synchronized in real time. Physical cards remain useful for users without a smartphone, temporary visitors, environments where phones are not allowed (laboratories, hospitals) and legacy access systems that do not yet support mobile credentials. Most of our customers run a hybrid model: card or mobile, whichever the user prefers.

Need help choosing the right card?

Our experts will help you pick the RFID technology and form factor that fit your needs.