Proximity cards come in a wide variety of styles, from standard PVC cards to thick clamshell cards and key tags. Prox cards are used in access control systems to control entry into secured buildings, making them popular with businesses, schools, gyms, and more.

And new on AlphaCard, we now offer AlphaPass premium prox cards! AlphaPass cards are available in many prox card styles with a shorter lead time and lower cost than the namebrand HID cards.

Prox Cards
Standard prox cards are made from either PVC or a composite material and are the same size as a standard CR80 card – but they have embedded technology in them that uses wireless communication to unlock doors in access control systems.

Clamshell Cards
Clamshell cards are thicker than a normal card and are made from two rigid pieces of plastic that encase the prox card technology.

Please note that you cannot print on a clamshell card using an ID card printer; instead, you need to print on an adhesive-backed CR79 card and then apply that card to the clamshell prox card.

Magnetic Stripe Cards
Proximity cards with magnetic stripes (called Duo Prox by HID) have a HiCo magnetic stripe in addition to the prox card technology. This allows you to store more data on your cards for use in multifunctional systems.

Printable Cards
You can print on prox cards in-house with your ID card printer, making a simple access control card into an employee ID card, visitor pass, or membership card. Not every prox card can be printed on, however – HID calls printable cards ISOProx, and other manufactures will call out printable cards too.

Please note – you should only print on prox cards with reverse transfer printers to prevent damage to the printhead.

Adhesive Tags
Adhesive tags are small round adhesive prox cards which are stuck to another object, turning it into a prox card – the most common use is to convert an existing card into a prox card instead of ordering a new card.

Card Fobs
Card fobs are small prox cards that look like key chains – they have a slot built into the card design to slide onto a key ring.

Want to learn more about prox cards? Check out the resources at ProxSource.