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 & LEGIC Advant
Our two recommended technologies for new deployments: secure, multi-application, future-proof.
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
LEGIC Advant
The Swiss benchmark for high-security credentials. LEGIC Advant offers robust encryption and multi-application support: the natural choice when your infrastructure already runs on LEGIC.
- AES & 3DES encryption
- Multiple isolated applications per card
- Mutual authentication
- Ideal for existing LEGIC infrastructures
Also 100% compatible with
MIFARE Ultralight
A low-cost chip for tickets and single-use or short-lived credentials, such as visitor or event badges.
LEGIC Prime
An older LEGIC generation. We support it for coexistence and step-by-step migration to Advant or DESFire.
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 produce and personalize. SECANDA-compatible or not, we can supply it.
MIFARE DESFire
- MIFARE DESFire EV3 2K / 4K / 8K
- MIFARE DESFire EV2 4K / 8K
- MIFARE DESFire DUOX 2K / 4K / 8K
LEGIC
- LEGIC Advant ATC 1024 (ISO 15693) / ATC 4096 (ISO 14443)
- LEGIC Prime MIM 256 / MIM 1024 Legacy
- LEGIC CTC 4096 (MP410 / MM410) Dual-technology LEGIC + MIFARE
MIFARE Classic & compatibles
- MIFARE Classic EV1 1K / 4K
- 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
- EM4200 (EM4102)
- HITAG 1 / 2 / S
- Prox 125 kHz
- Atmel / Temic ATA5577 / Q5
- NXP I-Code SLIX2
- Texas Tag-it Plus 2048 bit
Hybrid cards (2 technologies)
- LEGIC Prime (MIM 1024) + LEGIC Advant · MIFARE DESFire · MIFARE Classic (1K / 4K) · HITAG 1/2 · EM4200 (EM4102) · EM4450 · ATA5577 · Inductive
- MIFARE DESFire (EV1 / EV3) + MIFARE Classic · HITAG 1 · EM4200 (EM4102) · EM4450 · ATA5577 · Inductive
- LEGIC Advant (ATC 1024 / ATC 4096) 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 + LEGIC, or LEGIC Prime + Advant.
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.
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
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, LEGIC, hybrid), 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 the data minimization principle of the Swiss nFADP and 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.