A keycard lock is a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

operated by a keycard, a flat, rectangular plastic card. The card typically, but not always, has identical dimensions to that of a

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

or American and EU

driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...

. The card stores a physical or digital pattern that the door mechanism accepts before disengaging the lock. There are several common types of keycards in use, including the mechanical holecard,

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...

magnetic stripe The term digital card can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera, or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as a virtual card or cloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share ...

, Wiegand wire embedded cards, smart card (embedded with a read/write electronic microchip), RFID, and NFC proximity cards. Keycards are frequently used in

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s as an alternative to mechanical keys. The first commercial use of key cards was to raise and lower the gate at automated parking lots where users paid a monthly fee.

Overview

Keycard systems operate by physically moving detainers in the locking mechanism with the insertion of the card, by shining

LEDs A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...

through a pattern of holes in the card and detecting the result, by swiping or inserting a magnetic stripe card, or in the case of RFID or NFC cards, merely being brought into close proximity to a sensor. Keycards may also serve as ID cards, or as part of an NFC system, have the code transmitted to a

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

to be placed into a

digital wallet A digital wallet, also known as an e-wallet, is an electronic device, online service, or software program that allows one party to make electronic transactions with another party bartering digital currency units for goods and services. This can ...

system such as

Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a cred ...

or Google Pay, negating the need for a physical keycard. Many electronic access control locks use a

Wiegand interface The Wiegand interface is a de facto wiring standard which arose from the popularity of Wiegand effect card readers in the 1980s. It is commonly used to connect a card swipe mechanism to the rest of an access control system. The sensor in such a ...

to connect the card swipe mechanism to the rest of the electronic entry system. Newer keycard systems use radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology such as the TLJ infinity.

Types of card readers

Mechanical

Mechanical keycard locks employ detainers which must be arranged in pre-selected positions by the key before the bolt will move. This was a mechanical type of lock operated by a plastic key card with a pattern of holes. There were 32 positions for possible hole locations, giving approximately 4.3 billion different keys. The key could easily be changed for each new guest by inserting a new key template in the lock that matched the new key. In the early 1980s, the key card lock was electrified with LEDs that detected the holes. Magnetic stripe card - hotel key card

Wiegand cards

Since the keycode is permanently set into the card at manufacture by the positions of magnetic wires, Wiegand cards can't be erased by magnetic fields or reprogrammed as magnetic stripe cards can. Many electronic access control locks use a

to connect the card swipe mechanism to the rest of the electronic entry system.

Magnetic stripe

Magnetic stripe (sometimes "strip") based keycard locks function by running the magnetic stripe over a sensor that reads the contents of the stripe. The stripe's contents are compared to those either stored locally in the lock or those of a central system. Some centralized systems operate using hardwired connections to central controllers while others use various frequencies of radio waves to communicate with the central controllers. Some have the feature of a mechanical (traditional key) bypass in case of loss of power.

Passive RFID

RFID cards contain a small chip and induction loop which the transmitter on the keycard reader can access. The main advantages with RFID cards is that they do not need to be removed from the wallet or pass holder - as the keycard reader can usually read them from a few inches away.

Access control

In the case of the hotel room lock, there is no central system; the keycard and the lock function in the same tradition as a standard key and lock. However, if the card readers communicate with a central system, it is the system that unlocks the door, not the card reader alone. This allows for more control over the locks; for example, a specific card card may only work on certain days of the week or time of day. Which locks can be opened by a card can be changed at any time. Logs are often kept of which cards unlocked doors at what times.

Privacy

Computerized authentication systems, such as key cards, raise privacy concerns, since they enable computer surveillance of each entry. RFID cards and key fobs are becoming increasingly popular due to their ease of use. Many modern households have installed digital locks that make use of key cards, in combination with

biometric Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify in ...

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

and keypad PIN options. Offices have also slowly installed digital locks that integrate with key cards and biometric technology.

Gallery

File:HK Chai Wan Open Day 青年廣場 Youth Square Y-Loft 旅舍 Hotel room card.JPG, A hotel entry card used to enable a light switch File:OhanaKeycard.jpg, Illustrated instructions for use of mag stripe key card File:Rumsdörr, Rica Talk Hotel.jpg, Access control utilizing magnetic strip technology

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keycard Lock Locksmithing Locks (security device) Doors