MIFARE Stickers

Contactless

Convenient for quick and seamless interactions without the need for physical contact.

With adhesive layer

Can be conveniently sticked to targeted object.

Thin and flexible

Can be attached to flat or curved surface.

Customizability

Can be customized in terms of size, shape, and printed design to suit specific needs.

Thin MIFARE sticker

It is coated with Paper, PVC, PET, etc. It is very thin item.

Epoxy MIFARE sticker

Coated with software epoxy, which protects the RFID function unit from water, moisture, etc.

On-metal MIFARE sticker

Embedded with wave-absorbing layer, allowing the MIFARE sticker work well on metal surface.

Application

Access Control

Can be sticked to mobile phone to work as access control cards.

Inventory Tracking

Attach MIFARE stickers to assets for efficient management.

Public Transportation

Attach MIFARE stickers to mobile phone or other objects for public traffic application.

Event Management

Attach to Tyvek wristband or other object to enhance the event management.

What a MIFARE sticker is

A MIFARE sticker is a self-adhesive RFID label built around an NXP MIFARE chip. It works at 13.56 MHz under ISO/IEC 14443 Type A, the same air interface as a MIFARE card, so a reader, lock or terminal that accepts a MIFARE card of that family also reads the sticker. What changes is the package: instead of a 0.8 mm PVC card, the chip and antenna sit in a label a fraction of a millimetre thick that you stick to a phone case, a badge, a bin, a folder or a piece of equipment.

Specify the chip and credential format accepted by the system owner, and what, if anything, is to be encoded or printed. Reading an identifier does not prove access to protected card data.

Chip options

“MIFARE” is a family name, not one chip, and the reader decides which members of the family it accepts. Confirm this before choosing a sticker. The table lists the chips we build stickers around; NTAG is not sold under the MIFARE name but shares the ISO/IEC 14443 Type A interface, and many buyers who ask for a MIFARE sticker actually need a tag a phone can read.

A specification that names “MIFARE Classic 1K” or “S50” points to Classic. The Classic chip in our stickers is always genuine NXP EV1, never a “MIFARE-compatible” substitute, and we supply it in the 7-byte UID or 4-byte NUID version your system expects. A label that only says “13.56 MHz MIFARE” is insufficient to identify the chip. Systems configured for Plus SL3 or DESFire may not accept Classic credentials, even at the same frequency. Send the reader model and the system's card specification, or arrange an authorised sample check, before choosing the sticker.

UID length: 4-byte or 7-byte

Some systems enrol the identifier without reading application data. MIFARE Classic EV1 and MIFARE Plus EV2 have 4-byte non-unique identifier (NUID) and 7-byte UID ordering options; confirm the options for the exact Plus generation and part number. DESFire EV2/EV3 have a 7-byte factory UID and can be configured to present a random identifier during card selection. A random identifier is not a replacement for a fixed 4-byte NUID. Older controllers may truncate or reject a 7-byte UID, so specify the identifier format and validate a sample before ordering.

Sticker construction: thin, epoxy and on-metal

The three versions shown above share the same inlay and differ in what surrounds it.

• Thin label: a PET antenna carrier with the chip, an adhesive layer and a paper, PVC or PET face. The thinnest and lowest-cost version, it bends around curved surfaces such as a phone case or a bottle and suits indoor use.
• Epoxy sticker: the same inlay under a clear domed epoxy layer. It resists water and abrasion, keeps its printing legible, and can be punched for a key ring.
• On-metal sticker: a ferrite sheet sits between the antenna and the adhesive. A 13.56 MHz antenna placed directly on metal is detuned and stops reading; the ferrite layer isolates it so the sticker works on laptops, tool boxes, machinery and steel cabinets. It is thicker and reads at a shorter distance than a thin label.

All HF stickers read at short range, typically a few centimetres, and a sticker antenna is smaller than a card antenna, so expect less range than the card your system was designed for. Common formats are round labels of 25 to 30 mm and card-sized 86 × 54 mm labels; the smaller the label, the shorter the read distance. If the sticker will be read through a phone case or a wallet, test a sample on your own reader before the production run.

On-metal label or thin wet inlay?

The construction, not the chip, decides where a MIFARE sticker will read. Match it to the surface before you choose a size or artwork.

A 13.56 MHz antenna placed directly on metal is detuned and stops reading, so a thin wet inlay is not an on-metal label with the liner peeled off: it needs the ferrite construction. On-metal labels are thicker and read at a shorter distance than a thin inlay of the same size. If you are tagging metal assets across a site, the supply chain identification guide covers the reader side, and the full RFID labels range lists the other label formats.

Printing and encoding

Stickers ship blank white or printed in full colour on the face. Paper and PET faces accept thermal-transfer printing, so you can add serial numbers, QR codes or asset IDs in your own office. We can also print variable data, including the chip’s UID in human-readable and barcode form, so a barcode scanner and the RFID reader identify the same item. For labels we number, you get a file in Excel, CSV or XML listing each label’s UID next to the number printed on it.

Encoding depends on the chip: Classic or Plus sector data and keys, DESFire applications and files, or NDEF records such as a URL on NTAG. Send the encoding specification with your enquiry; what to include is set out under RFID encoding service. Each sticker is read back once it has been encoded, and a data report goes out with every encoded order. Key loading, DESFire application setup and key handling are agreed in the quotation before the labels are personalised.

Where MIFARE stickers are used

• Phone-case credential: a label can be attached to a case and enrolled as its own credential. Check the mounting surface, phone interaction and reading performance with the installed access reader.
• Asset and equipment tracking: on-metal labels on laptops, tools, gas cylinders and machinery let a handheld reader confirm an item without reading a serial number.
• Membership and loyalty: applied to an existing plastic card or badge, a sticker adds contactless identification without reissuing the card.
• Events: applied to a paper or Tyvek wristband for entry, cashless payment or session check-in when a full RFID wristband is not needed.
• Retrofitting: any object that has to be identified by an existing MIFARE reader, from a folder in an archive to a returnable container.

MIFARE sticker or NTAG sticker?

Buyers often ask for a "MIFARE sticker" when what they need is a label a phone can open. The two are chosen by one question: does a reader enrol the label as a credential, or does a phone read it to open a link? A MIFARE sticker is for the first case — an installed access, membership or transport reader that already accepts a specific MIFARE chip and credential format. An NTAG NFC sticker is for the second — a tap that opens a web page, a profile or a Wi-Fi record on the visitor's own phone.

The trap is MIFARE Classic in a phone-facing role: an iPhone does not read Classic sector data at all, and Android support for it is optional and hardware-dependent, so a Classic sticker that works on the office door will not reliably open a link for a customer. If the same object must do both — a reader credential and a phone tap — use two labels or a dual-chip construction, and confirm each on its own reader.

Using NFC stickers in a marketing campaign

A tap-to-URL campaign puts a label on a poster, a coaster, a shelf edge or packaging so a shopper can tap it and land on your page. For this the chip is NTAG, not MIFARE: NTAG stores a plain NDEF URL that any NFC phone opens, whereas a MIFARE Classic sticker is a reader credential the general public cannot tap. Compare the two label families on the NTAG NFC sticker page, and weigh the tap against a printed code on the RFID vs QR code guide before you commit a design.

Two rules keep a campaign both measurable and honest about privacy. First, the tag stores only a link — encode a short URL you control and route it through a redirect, so the destination can change for an A/B test, a new promotion or a different language without peeling and replacing a single sticker. Measurement then happens at the landing page: your web analytics record each visit, and a per-label identifier in the URL lets you tell one placement from another. Second, the tag itself holds no personal data and identifies no person; it is a printed link, not a tracker, and it learns nothing about who taps it.

• Placement and surface. Paper, card, plastic and glass take a thin label; a can, a bottle cap or any metal surface needs the on-metal (ferrite) construction or it will not read. Curved surfaces need a flexible label. Test the label in its final position, on the filled package.
• One URL, a dynamic destination. Keep the address on a page you control and swap the content server-side; do not bake a campaign-specific landing page directly onto the chip.
• No personal data on the tag. Store a link only. Attribution belongs in the landing page and its analytics, not on the sticker.
• Pair with a printed QR code. Some phones have no NFC and some hands never tap; a QR code beside the tag routed to the same URL captures the rest of the audience.
• Encoding at volume. For a run of individually serialised URLs, the RFID encoding service covers the data format and sample approval before the batch.

Before you order

1. The reader or lock model, or a working card, so we can confirm the chip family and UID length.
2. The surface: plastic, paper, glass or metal, flat or curved. Metal needs the on-metal version.
3. The environment: indoor, outdoor, wet or exposed to chemicals. Epoxy or a laminated PET face lasts longer than paper.
4. Size, shape and artwork, plus any variable data such as serial numbers or barcodes.
5. Encoding and numbering: none, a printed UID or number, sector or application data, or NDEF.
6. Quantity and delivery date. Samples are available for reader testing before a production run.

What Proud Tek produces

We print, encode and inspect MIFARE stickers in our Shenzhen factory, with quality control before dispatch. Enquire about the required sticker construction, chip, printing and encoding. Confirm these options and the sample terms in the quotation. If your readers take cards, compare MIFARE Classic, MIFARE Plus and MIFARE DESFire cards. For a phone-focused project, compare NTAG NFC stickers and test the intended devices; for a 125 kHz system, see 125 kHz RFID stickers. Application guidance is available for access control and supply chain identification.