LEGIC Card

What is a LEGIC card?

A LEGIC card is a 13.56 MHz contactless card, key fob or tag built around a smartcard chip from LEGIC Identsystems AG of Wetzikon, Switzerland. LEGIC is used widely for employee access control, time and attendance, canteen and vending payment, lockers and hotel locks, above all in German-speaking Europe. The selection rule is simple: order the exact LEGIC chip that your readers and system owner specify, not just "a LEGIC card", because LEGIC advant, CTC and legacy LEGIC prime chips are not interchangeable.

Proud Tek produces the physical credential in its Shenzhen factory: the specified chip built into the card body, printing and visible numbering, with quality control before dispatch. Its chip supply channels cover current LEGIC parts and legacy parts where still available, and the quotation prices the exact chip, format and quantity for your project at a competitive project price. Initialising the card requires your system owner's authorisation (their master token, a delegated sub-master token, or the LEGIC Key Service where used); Proud Tek supplies cards uninitialised unless otherwise agreed in the quotation. Proud Tek is an independent card manufacturer.

LEGIC advant vs LEGIC prime: which generation do you need?

Read ranges are LEGIC's maximum figures for the chip. The range you see depends on the reader and on the antenna that fits the format, so a key fob or small tag reads at a shorter distance than an ID-1 card with the same chip.

Which LEGIC chips can you order?

Chip figures are taken from LEGIC's smartcard IC comparison. LEGIC publishes further variants, and availability of legacy parts changes over time, so the quotation names the exact part offered and its availability for your quantity. If your integrator names a chip that is not in this table, send the full designation and it is checked before any sample is made.

How does LEGIC security work, and can a LEGIC card be copied?

LEGIC controls who may write to a card through Master-Token System-Control (MTSC). Administrative rights are tied to physical master-token cards held by the system owner rather than to passwords or keys typed into software. The master token governs how the card is structured into segments (prime) or applications (advant), and which readers and encoding stations may create, read or change each one. The same hierarchy lets a canteen operator or locker supplier manage its own application on the staff badge without any access to the door application.

• Blank LEGIC cards are initialised under the system owner's authorisation, on an encoding station authorised with their master token or a delegated sub-master token, or through the LEGIC Key Service on chips that support it, such as ATC4096-MP313.
• Proud Tek does not copy working credentials. A replacement or additional card is a new blank card of the same chip type, enrolled through your system with its own chip serial number. On LEGIC advant, applications are protected with MTSC-managed authorisation and AES or 3DES, and LEGIC designs the system so that a card is not duplicated by reading and rewriting it. The proprietary security of legacy LEGIC prime was publicly shown to have weaknesses in 2009, which is one reason LEGIC recommends migrating to advant.
• A card supplier cannot load your access application without the system owner's authorisation, and Proud Tek does not offer to do so.
• What the supplier is responsible for: the correct chip, the card body, the print and visible numbering, each confirmed in the quotation. For enrolment, we list each numbered card's chip serial number (UID) next to the number printed on it, in an Excel, CSV or XML file.

This is different from MIFARE systems, where keys are typically loaded into readers or a SAM and a supplier can pre-encode cards when the key holder shares the keys. For the chip families that Proud Tek pre-encodes before shipping, see the RFID encoding service.

How do you migrate from LEGIC prime or to MIFARE DESFire?

Three common migration situations each have a different card answer. Agree the target system and the migration order with your integrator first, then order the card that bridges the old and new readers.

• LEGIC prime to LEGIC advant: CTC chips such as CTC4096-MM410 answer to prime and advant readers, so readers can be replaced area by area instead of all at once. LEGIC's CTC4096 flyer states that, once migration is complete, the LEGIC RF interface can be permanently disconnected if the system owner chooses to.
• LEGIC alongside or towards MIFARE DESFire: ATC4096-MP313 carries a LEGIC advant area and a DESFire EV3 area on one chip. If the target system will run on DESFire alone, compare MIFARE DESFire cards for the new credential.
• LEGIC plus a 125 kHz proximity credential: where older LF readers remain in service, a combi card with two separate chips in one card body is an option. Confirm the chip combination and how both readers behave with the combi card before ordering.

Many current LEGIC reader modules are multi-technology and can also be configured to read ISO/IEC 14443 A credentials such as MIFARE DESFire. Whether yours do depends on the reader model, firmware and system configuration, so confirm it with your system provider.

Which formats and materials are available for LEGIC chips?

Availability of each format for the exact LEGIC chip is confirmed in the quotation. Because smaller formats carry smaller antennas, test samples of the final format on your installed readers before approving a batch.

What printing and personalisation can LEGIC cards have?

The options below are available on standard card bodies; which of them apply to your LEGIC chip, format and body material is confirmed in the quotation.

• Full-colour print on one or both sides, in gloss, matt or frosted finish, with your artwork and colour references.
• Visible numbering printed or engraved on the card.
• Magnetic stripe, signature panel and slot punch for lanyards or badge reels.
• Blank white cards for in-house photo printing on a direct-to-card or retransfer printer; state the printer model so the card surface can be matched.
• Wooden cards in cherry, sapele, bamboo, beech, birch, black walnut, basswood or maple, personalised by laser engraving, UV printing, hollow carving (see-through cut-outs) or die-cutting to a shape, with an epoxy covering for water resistance.

Which hotel locks use LEGIC key cards?

Some hotel lock systems offer LEGIC reader heads, particularly on installations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The RFID hotel key card guide maps the main lock brands to the card technologies they accept, including Häfele Dialock, whose terminals can be ordered with LEGIC (advant or prime) reader heads as an option alongside MIFARE; confirm the reader head and approved chip with your lock supplier. The lock decides the chip: check whether each door, furniture and locker terminal has a LEGIC or a MIFARE head, and which LEGIC chip the lock supplier approves, before ordering card stock.

Wooden LEGIC cards can be encoded for hotel locking systems whose locks accept the chip; encoding is done at the hotel's front-desk encoder under the lock system's authorisation. For MIFARE-based locks, see hotel key cards.

How do you check LEGIC compatibility before ordering?

1. Get the exact chip designation from your integrator or the reader configuration sheet, for example ATC4096-MP311 rather than "LEGIC 4K".
2. Check the reader generation and interface. Prime-only readers need prime or CTC chips. MP chips (ISO 14443 A) and MV chips (ISO 15693) are both advant, but a reader or site configuration may accept only one of them, so order the one your system is set up for.
3. Confirm who holds the master token and who will initialise the cards, and that their encoding station is ready for the delivery date.
4. Check the memory against the application plan, so that access, time recording, a canteen purse and locker applications all fit on the chosen chip.
5. Test samples in the final format on the installed readers, particularly for key fobs, tags and wristbands.

What should you send for a LEGIC card quotation?

Proud Tek replies within one business day and sends a quotation within one business day of a workable inquiry. MOQ, unit price and freight are confirmed in the quotation for your quantity and destination. Send the details through the contact page.

Samples, lead time and ordering

Standard product samples are free. Customised samples, such as your artwork or a special shape, carry a setup fee that is confirmed in the quotation. To evaluate card bodies, finishes and formats, request the sample pack. Standard products generally have a lead time of 2–3 weeks; for LEGIC cards the availability of the specified chip is confirmed in the quotation, and large orders are scheduled individually.

Our ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certificates are shown on the manufacturer page.

LEGIC, LEGIC prime and LEGIC advant are trademarks of LEGIC Identsystems AG. MIFARE and MIFARE DESFire are trademarks of NXP B.V. Häfele and Dialock are trademarks of their respective owners. Proud Tek is an independent card manufacturer and is not affiliated with or authorised by LEGIC or NXP.