The 3 Different Types of NFC Cards

There are various types of NFC cards on the market, including in our online store. Too many options can often lead to decision fatigue and confusion. We’ve noticed this in practice as well, since we receive many questions about the different types of NFC cards. That’s why we thought it would be a good idea to dedicate a blog post to this topic. In this article, we’ll discuss the different types of NFC cards available and how they differ. 

What is an NFC card?

An NFC card is essentially a type of debit card, as it also contains an NFC chip. NFC cards are made of PVC—the material used to make almost all cards, such as your bank card or ID card. The card contains an NFC chip encased in a PVC shell, which hides the chip from view. This shell also provides excellent protection, ensuring the chip lasts for years. The cards are usually delivered blank but can also be printed on. For example, you can create an NFC digital business card. You can program your contact information onto the card. As soon as you hold the card up to a phone, your contact information immediately appears on the screen. You can then choose to save the contact information to the device. There are many other possible applications as well, such as an access pass. As soon as you hold the access pass up to a scanner, the gate will open. Thanks to the antenna in the chip, it can receive radio waves from another NFC chip. The transmitter ensures that the chip can also emit radio waves. This enables communication between the chips. Tasks can be transmitted in this way from the chip to a device. 

What types of NFC cards are there?

There are several types of NFC cards. The most commonly used variants are the NTAG213, NTAG215, and NTAG216. The difference between these variants lies in the chip, specifically the number of bytes (capacity). Otherwise, the chips are identical. Below, I’ll explain the different types of NFC cards. 

NTAG213

This variant is quite rare. This is because an NTAG213 chip has a capacity of only 144 bytes. For the applications that use NFC cards, this is often insufficient. More memory is usually required. That is why this product is in short supply.  

NTAG215

This variant has a memory capacity of 544 bytes. That’s about four times as much as the NTAG213. In most cases, this variant offers sufficient capacity. The NTAG215 is known as the Amiibo chip. This chip is perfect for programming Amiibo figures used in gaming. Program your favorite Amiibo onto the tag and then hold it up to your game console. The character will appear in your game immediately. 

NTAG216

If you don’t want to risk running out of storage capacity, we recommend purchasing the NTAG216. This chip has the largest storage capacity of the three. With a capacity of no less than 888 bytes, you can be sure you’ve got plenty of storage. This model is often used as a digital business card, since programming contact information takes up a lot of storage space.

Have you programmed the chip? If so, you can always erase it and reprogram it with a different task. This allows an NFC card to last for years and be reused. 

Other Variants of NFC

In this article, we’ve discussed NFC card types and how they differ from one another. Of course, there are several other types of NFC available. These include stickers that you can attach to just about anything, as well as keychains and coins.