HID 81750 UltraCard 30 Mil PVC Cards LoCo Mag Stripe
The HID 81750 is a 30 mil PVC card stock designed for organizations deploying magnetic stripe-based access control and employee identification systems. Low coercivity (LoCo) magnetic stripe technology encodes facility access data, cardholder credentials, and basic authentication tokens reliably across read cycles. 30 mil thickness—standard for professional ID badges—resists bending, creasing, and physical wear in high-turnover badge environments where cards are issued, replaced, and recycled frequently. This product is purpose-built for integrators and end-user security teams issuing 100+ badges annually with HID desktop or industrial card printers.
Key Features
- 30 Mil PVC Material: Exceeds standard ID card thickness (typically 20 mil). Provides durability and resists mechanical stress from wallet wear, badge readers, and repeated physical handling.
- Low Coercivity (LoCo) Magnetic Stripe: 300 oersted encoding standard. Encodes access control data reliably without saturation; compatible with legacy magnetic stripe readers in existing access control systems.
- HID Printer Compatibility: Works with all HID desktop (e.g. Fargo DTC series) and industrial card printers. No calibration or stripe adjustment required—print-and-encode workflow is plug-and-play.
- Professional Finish: Smooth surface accepts full-color lithography, photographic images, and barcode printing. No coating layer required for standard badge applications.
- Cost-Effective per Card: Bulk packaging reduces per-unit material cost compared to premium smart card alternatives. Ideal for temporary staff, contractor, or high-churn badge programs.
- Consistent Data Integrity: LoCo stripe maintains encoder-to-reader fidelity across 500+ card swipes per badge lifecycle. Reduces reader decode errors and re-encoding overhead.
Low coercivity magnetic stripes are the de facto standard in North American access control. Unlike high coercivity (HiCo) stripes, LoCo cards work reliably with older magnetic readers still in service across legacy facilities. This backward compatibility is critical for phased badge system upgrades where new cards must coexist with existing infrastructure for 12-24 months. The 30 mil substrate provides a tactile, professional feel that reinforces credential legitimacy to employees and visitors—a psychological factor that drives adoption in security-sensitive environments.
Integration with HID card printer software (e.g. HID Fargo DTC Workstation Suite) means your badge design, employee photo, and access control encoding happen in one workflow. No separate mag stripe encoding step; no external equipment. On-site printing reduces lead time from design approval to badge issuance from 5-7 days (off-site vendor) to same-day. For facilities with 500+ employees or seasonal hiring cycles, this operational efficiency translates to lower administrative overhead and faster employee onboarding.
RoHS compliance and US country-of-origin manufacturing ensure supply chain transparency and regulatory alignment for federal contracting, healthcare, and financial services sectors. FIPS-201 Transparent FASC-N Reader certification indicates compatibility with federal identity standards, a requirement for defense contractor badge programs. Stock this card in bulk (reels or cartons) to avoid supply chain delays; consumable inventory turns quarterly in most deployments.
Marty AllisonPerspective based on aggregated and affiliated engineering team experience.
We've deployed HID magnetic stripe card systems across retail, education, manufacturing, and corporate campuses for 15+ years. The 81750 is the workhorse consumable in that stack—unsexy, but foundational. The appeal is simplicity: a 30 mil PVC blank with LoCo stripe that pairs perfectly with HID printer hardware and doesn't require smart card middleware, RFID radio interference troubleshooting, or certificate management. For a 200-person office building or a manufacturing facility with transient contractor access, magnetic stripe is still the lowest-TCO path. LoCo encoding never fails due to RF interference, battery drain, or firmware incompatibility. That reliability buys you years of operation with zero reader replacement cycles. The 30 mil thickness is the honest choice here—it's durable enough to survive wallet abuse and re-issuance cycles without curling, delaminating, or becoming brittle. We've seen thinner (20 mil) cards shed their mag stripe adhesive after 12-18 months of heavy handling; 30 mil cards routinely hit 3-4 years even in rough environments.
Technical Highlights:
- Low Coercivity (300 Oe) Encoding Standard: LoCo stripes are designed for low-powered magnetic readers (common in older access control systems). No decoder saturation, no read-error cascades. Every HID printer comes factory-tuned to LoCo encoding; you don't need to adjust encoder power or recalibrate the system.
- 30 Mil Thickness: Standard for professional ID badges. Survives pocket/wallet wear, repeated badge reader contact, and laminator pressure (if your workflow includes card lamination for tamper resistance). Thinner stock (<20 mil) is cheaper per unit but fails prematurely in high-traffic environments.
- Printer-Direct Compatibility: No separate mag stripe encoder required. HID printers (Fargo, Secura, DTC) encode the stripe during the print pass. Eliminates equipment cost, setup time, and a potential failure point in your badge production workflow.
- RoHS + FIPS-201 Certification: Required for federal contractor and healthcare facility badge programs. Ensures material and manufacturing compliance; reduces audit burden when credentials are issued to government or regulated-sector staff.
- Consumable Inventory Model: Order in bulk (typically 500-card reels or carton quantities). Cost per card drops 15-20% at volume, but supply consistency matters more than unit discount—stock this material and never let printer downtime happen due to card stockout.
Deployment Considerations:
- LoCo stripes are one-way backward compatible with legacy readers. Newer smart card readers (RFID, contact-based) will not recognize LoCo data; if your roadmap includes a technology migration (mag stripe → smart card), plan a phased badge re-issuance schedule over 12-24 months rather than a big-bang cutover.
- Magnetic stripe encoding quality depends on print-head alignment and firmware version in your HID printer. Before bulk ordering, validate one test batch through your printer. If stripe read-failure rate exceeds 2-3%, your printer encoder may need calibration or firmware update.
- PVC cards are susceptible to lamination delamination in high-humidity environments (>80% RH). If your facility plans to laminate cards for tamper resistance, ensure the laminator uses heat settings appropriate for PVC (typically 150-160°C); over-temperature can warp the card and corrupt the mag stripe.
- LoCo stripe data is unencrypted plain-text ASCII. Encode only non-sensitive data (facility code, badge number) on the stripe; never place PII, Social Security numbers, or biometric references on the magnetic track. Pair mag stripe with additional security methods (hologram, UV features, barcode) for high-security facilities.
- Shelf life for PVC cards is typically 3-5 years in cool, dry storage. Do not over-purchase beyond annual consumption unless your facility has extremely stable badge operations. Expired PVC can become brittle and fail in card readers.
The HID 81750 is the right choice for organizations with established HID printer infrastructure and access control systems that still rely on magnetic stripe. If your facility is exploring smart cards, biometric readers, or cloud-based credential management, plan a technology evaluation alongside your next badge order—but don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Magnetic stripe badges are still the most cost-effective, maintenance-free access control medium for most commercial facilities. Explore the full HID catalog for compatible printers, encoders, and smart card alternatives.
