Shielded badge holders are just what the name suggests – they “shield” your ID cards from damages. However, as all badge holders are basically designed to protect the ID cards in some way, you may wonder what makes a shielded badge holder different. To answer that, let us look into how shielded badge holders work to provide robust protection to your ID cards and badges.

What is a Shielded Badge Holder?

Shielded badge holders usually feature a thin layer of metal, but they may also come with a variety of different materials to make the card holder flexible or rigid as per the applications of the card. They are generally used for carrying smart cards and ID badges, including iCLASS cards, MIFARE cards, and other US government ID credentials such as CACs, TWICs, FRACs, and PIV cards. Shielded badge holders are not used for proximity cards though. Browse Bodno’s selection of blank ID cards to see a wide variety of secure cards.

The metal insert in the card holder protects the smart card from being read or scanned by nearby card readers. It blocks the radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip to transmit data embedded in it so that the card reader scanning antenna cannot collect and translate the data without the knowledge of the user. This can help to prevent data theft by hackers, which can be especially beneficial if the ID cards are also used in payment systems, access control, or have sensitive information. Some printers, like the Magicard 600, come standard with security features like Holokote watermarks to further protect your cards.

While using a shielded badge holder may seem somewhat counterintuitive and inconvenient because you will have to take out the card from the badge holder for its intended use. Yet again, contactless RFID cards can be an easy target of hackers, particularly contactless payment with credit cards, using a shielded badge holder comes as a practical solution for the growing identity thefts and other forms of ID card counterfeiting.

As the extent of the damage due to data theft cannot be determined, many banking institutions have taken steps to authenticate their credit cards using one-time PINs or CVVs to make the transaction. While this is a good way of thwarting data theft and credit card skimming, using a shielded badge holder can be a simpler option to protect the data and information on your smart cards at your end.

Shielded badge holders can be a convenient solution for government offices and business corporations that use RFID-based smart cards for secure area access and on-site payments. As they do not use any two-factor authentication for their issued cards, using a shielded badge holder can help to steer clear of any data vulnerabilities in high-security organizations dealing with classified information.

Browse Bodno’s selection of secure ID cards here: Bodno Blank ID Cards

See the Magicard 600, that comes standard with Holokote watermark security here: Magicard 600 ID Card Printer