What is a Blank NFC Card?
A blank Near Field Communication (NFC) card consists of an NFC chip and antenna embedded within a rigid card material without any printing. These cards are manufactured from durable, waterproof materials including Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), wood, or metal in standard CR80 (credit card) size. The NFC chip and antenna remain hidden inside the card structure.
Blank NFC cards serve applications not requiring printing or are purchased for later customization using direct-to-card printers or laser engraving machines. Common implementations include identification badges, access control systems, payment solutions, and data exchange applications.
How to Choose a Blank NFC Card
- Material: White PVC provides maximum design flexibility. Colored PVC shows scratches more visibly and has artwork restrictions. Metal NFC cards are not fully metal. They use composite construction (metal, ferrite, NFC inlay, adhesive, flexible PVC) and only scan from the non-metal side. Wood cards use various materials (bamboo, basswood, walnut) and scan from both sides.
- Availability: Blank white glossy PVC cards in CR80 size are maintained in stock in large volumes for immediate shipping. Hole-punchable cards are stocked with strategic antenna placement allowing hole-punching without damage. Colored PVC and non-standard shapes and sizes can be special ordered with a longer lead time and higher minimum order quantities. Creating entirely new card sizes requires a new mold fee.
- NFC Chip Type: NTAG213 suits most projects. Specialized chips include NTAG215/216 for increased storage, ICODE SLIX for extended range, and NTAG 424 DNA for authentication.
Customizing a Blank NFC Card
- Quick Printing: GoToTags uses in-stock blank white PVC cards for Direct-to-card printing of basic text, digits, barcodes, and color artwork with rapid turnaround but without premium quality or protective overlay.
- Premium Customization: See Custom NFC Cards for premium CMYK printing, silkscreen, engraving, and hot stamping. PMS color matching is available only with silkscreen printing and is limited to 1-2 colors.
- Encoding: GoToTags offers encoding services or customers can self-encode.
Recommendations
- Permanent markers work for quick identification on blank PVC cards.
- Purchase blank NFC cards to print or engrave later with compatible tools.
- Verify printers accommodate 0.8-0.9 mm card thickness, which exceeds standard ISO thickness (0.76 mm) due to embedded components.
- Print designs before punching holes to avoid printer damage.
- Be aware of antenna location when punching holes to maintain card functionality.
- Test cards after customization in your actual deployment environment with intended hardware to verify functionality.
