RFID hotel key cards

How to confirm what your locks actually need

Card dimensions tell you nothing about compatibility. The most common mistake we see in enquiries is ordering by frequency alone: two properties can both run 13.56 MHz locks and still need different cards, because the locks read different chip generations, different memory layouts, or only the card’s serial number. There are three layers to confirm, in order.

1. Frequency. Older installed bases in the Caribbean often run 125 kHz low-frequency locks; most systems installed in the last decade read 13.56 MHz high-frequency cards under ISO/IEC 14443. A card on the wrong frequency is not "less compatible". It is invisible to the reader. If you are unsure which you have, the lock’s install date is a rough guide and a sample card is a definitive one.

2. Chip tier. Within 13.56 MHz there are entry-level chips, standard chips with writable memory sectors, and high-security tiers with AES encryption. Some properties genuinely need the AES tier because the lock system authenticates against protected keys. Others pay for security their locks never use. We select the tier from the confirmed system requirement, not from a default, which is why the specification table above lists tiers rather than a single chip.

3. Encoding method. Some access systems write room and validity data to the card’s memory sectors at the front desk. Others, including several cloud-based platforms, enrol cards by their fixed serial number only and store everything else server-side. The difference decides whether cards can ship pre-encoded, whether your front desk needs an encoder, and which memory configuration the chip must have. Our key-card encoding guide covers the workflows in detail.

The fastest route through all three layers is physical: courier us two working cards from your current stock. We identify the frequency, chip family and memory layout from the samples and return a written specification for your lock vendor to confirm. Where no sample exists, the system make and model plus a photo of the lock and front-desk encoder usually gets there. The full process is described in our compatibility confirmation guide.

One distinction worth stating because it comes up in real enquiries: your guest-room management system is not your credential. A GRMS controls lighting, climate and presence detection inside the room. The key card talks to the lock. They are supplied by different vendors more often than not, and naming the GRMS in an enquiry tells us nothing about which card your doors read. The lock system name is the one we need.

Recycled PVC, wood and paper fibre compared

All three card bodies carry the same credential options and the same CR80 format. They differ in feel, print behaviour, service life and the documentation behind their sustainability claims.

A note on how to read that table. The sustainability rows say "per specification" because we treat environmental claims as document-dependent. Recycled content, wood species, fibre certification and end-of-life statements are only worth what the supplier documentation behind them supports, and we put that documentation in front of you during specification rather than printing a leaf icon and hoping. If your brand team needs a specific claim on the card or in guest communication, tell us the claim first and we confirm whether the material’s paperwork carries it.

The practical selection logic is shorter than the table. If cards live at a swim-up bar, choose recycled PVC. If the card is part of the arrival experience at a property that leads with design or environmental positioning, wood earns its premium; several of the Caribbean properties we work with treat the key as the first physical object a guest keeps. If cards are issued for days rather than seasons, paper fibre retires cleanly. And where the property runs ticketed pool parties or festival-style programming alongside rooms, the card usually pairs with event and festival wristbands rather than stretching to cover both jobs.

What the Caribbean does to a key card

Cards in this region work harder than the same cards in a city hotel. Four conditions shape the specification.

Salt air. Coastal humidity carries salt, which does nothing to the chip but degrades cheap surface finishes and any exposed metallic print over a season. We specify finishes rated for coastal exposure on properties within sight of the water, which in this region is most of them.

Humidity. Sustained 80 percent humidity is normal across the islands. It is irrelevant to PVC, managed by surface treatment on wood, and the reason paper-fibre cards belong in air-conditioned issue cycles rather than week-long beach stays. Store card stock in the same air-conditioned space as your other consumables; a carton left in a beach-side storeroom through the wet season will show it.

Pool and sea water. The credential survives a swim. Guests take cards into the pool daily and the chips are unaffected by water; what fails first is print on unsealed edges. Edge-sealed lamination is standard on our PVC cards for exactly this reason.

UV. Direct sun fades dye-based print over months. Cards spend most of their life in pockets and wallets, so this matters less for guest keys than for staff cards worn on lanyards outdoors, where we recommend pigment-based print and a matte overlaminate.

None of this requires exotic materials. It requires the producer to know where the cards are going, which is why our brief starts with the property and destination rather than the artwork.

Ordering for an island property

Logistics are part of the specification when the delivery address is an island. Four things to plan around, from experience shipping into the region.

Production time is 14 to 21 days after artwork approval. The clock starts at approval, not at enquiry. Artwork rounds are the usual source of delay, so brands with sign-off processes should start the card project four to six weeks before the stock is needed.

Freight is a real decision, not a checkout option. Air freight reaches most Caribbean hubs in days; sea freight costs meaningfully less per carton and takes weeks. For a first order or a season opening, air is usually right. For a scheduled annual reorder, sea is worth pricing. We quote both where the timeline allows.

Customs and duty vary by island. Import treatment for printed plastic cards differs across the region’s customs territories, and a broker on the receiving end shortens clearance. Where we have shipped into your destination before, we tell you what to expect at specification stage rather than leaving it to arrive as a surprise line item.

Hurricane season is a planning input. From June through November, freight into the region carries schedule risk that no carrier will absorb for you. Properties that reorder in April and May go into the season with stock; the reorder enquiries we receive in September are the urgent ones.

On quantities: most properties issue two cards per occupied room, and a share of every issue walks off in a wallet at checkout. As a working baseline we suggest a first order of three to four cards per room and a reorder trigger when a third of stock remains. Your loss rate will teach you the real number within a season; the baseline exists so the first stock-out never happens.

Before you order, confirm these ten things

1. Lock system make and model. Or two sample cards from current stock if the system is undocumented.
2. Frequency. 125 kHz or 13.56 MHz, confirmed, not assumed from the install date.
3. Chip tier. Matched to what the locks authenticate against, selected with us from the system requirement.
4. Encoding workflow. Pre-encoded at production, or encoded at your front desk, and by which device.
5. Numbering and variable data. Sequential numbers, barcodes or none, and where they print.
6. Card body material. Chosen against the environment and issue cycle, not the mood board alone.
7. Artwork in final form. Approved internally before it reaches us, since approval starts the production clock.
8. Quantity and spares. Three to four cards per room on a first order is our baseline.
9. Delivery path. Air or sea, the customs broker at destination, and the date the stock is genuinely needed by.
10. The proof. A product-specific proof approved before production, not a screen mock-up. We do not release without it.

A property that arrives with items 1 and 2 answered is days ahead. The rest we resolve together during specification.

What moves the price

We quote per project rather than publishing a price list, because four inputs move the number more than quantity alone: chip tier, card body material, print and finish complexity, and delivery scope. The direction of each is predictable: AES-tier chips cost more than entry HF, wood costs more than PVC, and air freight costs more than sea. The key card cost guide walks through each driver so a budget can be framed before the first conversation.