Since their introduction in the early 2000s, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) key cards have become the industry-standard access control system in hotels and guest houses around the world. Whilst the coming decades are likely to bring with them more cardless and mobile-driven key technologies, for the time being at least, key cards are here to stay. And, as your guests’ first tactile interaction with your brand, you want to make sure they’re housed in holders that reflect the quality of your establishment.
At JMF Group, we understand that first impressions count. That’s why we offer a range of high-quality key card holders, perfect for displaying your brand in the best possible light. From full-colour printed wallets to elegant foil-stamped booklet holders, we have the widest selection of high-quality options at price points to suit all budgets.
Ready to get started? Contact our sales team today! Alternatively, keep reading for our comprehensive guide to key card holder printing.
Key Card Holders: Why They Matter
As your guests’ first physical interaction with your brand, key card holders are often instrumental in how they come to perceive its quality. Far too often overlooked, printed key card holders can be a high-impact, low-price tool to promote your hotel and the additional services you offer.
Take a look below at why you should consider devoting a portion of your marketing spend to key card holders:
Brand Recognition
Whether you’re a B&B, a guest house, or a multi-national hotel chain, your brand is important. Your visitors need to be able to recognise your brand, and key card holders are one way to make that happen.
A well-designed key card holder featuring your logo and branding colours will help your guests remember who you are long after they’ve checked out.
Protection
The installation of card access systems is expensive, as is replacing cards with damaged or worn data chips.
A key card holder offers an elegant, cost-effective way to protect your cards and extend their lifespan.
Organisation
Gone are the days of metal hotel room keys and wall-mounted key racks. For the modern hotel (and the modern visitor), keeping track of cards can be a challenge.
A key card holder is an easy way for your guests to keep track of their keys, and ensure they won’t accidentally leave them behind when they check out.
Not Just for the Hotel: Key Card Holders in the Wild
Keycard holders offer a range of potential utilities, both inside and outside the hotel environment.
Keycard holders can be used for conferences and special events, for spa and room service access; even for adding account credits and perks for customers—the opportunities are endless!
The Types of Key Card Holder
At JMF Group, we stock several variants for keycard holders, all of which can use an array of printing techniques. Take a look below for some of the most popular:
Wallet-Style Key Card Holders
A simple but high-quality format, the wallet-style keycard holder is cut to the perfect size, giving a cost-effective, no-frills solution.
Wallet-style keycard holders can be single- or double-side printed, with a range of paper and colour styles available.
Flap-Style Key Card Holders
A step up from the wallet keycard holder, flap-style keycard holders offer a little extra protection for your cards, as well as some extra room to print artwork or brand materials.
With four panels on which to print your artwork, flap-style key card holders can also allow your front-of-house staff to manually write relevant information, including room number, floor number, or checkout time.
Slit-Style Key Card Holders
The slit-style keycard holder is perfect for those who want a little more sophistication from their keycard holder.
Employing a foldable front cover with sturdy grooves for key card storage, slit-style keycard holders offer great value for hotels that want their visitors to feel that they’re in a high-quality establishment.
Die-Cut Key Card Holders
Whilst slightly more expensive than the standard style options above, die-cut keycard holders are the ultimate option for those wishing to create a high-impact first impression.
Die-cut keycard holders can be fabricated to your specifications, meaning there is no limit to the styles you can choose. Want to house your hotel key card in a holder shaped like your logo? Die-cutting is for you!
Materials: Housing Your Key Cards in Style!
When it comes to keycard holder design, JMF supply several material and finishing options that will make your card holders stand out from the competition:
Paper and Lamination
We offer a range of paper stock and lamination options to suit all budgets and print requirements.
Paper stock:
- Silk Paper: available in 200gsm, 250gsm, 300gsm, 350gsm, and 400gsm
- Gloss Paper: available in 200gsm, 250gsm, 300gsm, 350gsm, and 400gsm
- Uncoated Paper: available in 250gsm, 300gsm, 350gsm, and 400gsm
- Recycled Paper: available in 200gsm, 250gsm, 300gsm, and 350gsm
Lamination:
- Matt Laminate
- Gloss Laminate
- Silk Laminate
- Soft-Touch Matt Laminate
Our lamination options can be applied to the front of your wallets, the back, or both. Our design and production teams can advise on which will be best suited for your business.
Foiling
One of our most popular optional extras, foiling can be extremely effective at making your visitors take note.
Available with cold foil or hot stamped foil printing our luxurious metallic foils come in a range of foil colours, including gold, silver, copper, rose gold, and holographic.
Spot UV
Spot UV is ideal for those who want to add a little extra interest to their keycard holders
A process that involves the application of a clear UV varnish to specific areas of your card holder design, spot UV can really make your artwork shine.
Available in gloss spot UV and matt spot UV.
Embossing and Debossing
For the ultimate in luxury keycard holders, we offer embossing and debossing on all our keycard holder products.
By pressing your design into paper stock, embossing can be combined with hot-foil or cold-foil printing for added visual interest.
Debossing is the opposite of embossing: instead of pressing a design into the paper, a design is pressed out of the paper, resulting in a sunken effect.
Key Card Holder Design Services
At JMF Group, our in-house design team are on-hand to help you create hotel key card holders which will really blow your customers away. We will work closely with you to ensure that your key card holders perfectly reflect your brand identity.
Take a look below for some of our creative considerations:
Colour
Your keycard holders are an extension of your brand, so it’s important that they reflect your hotel’s colour scheme.
Often, less is more when it comes to colour; just because you can print in full colour doesn’t necessarily mean you should.
Our design team will work with you to ensure that your keycard holders are printed in the perfect colours for your business.
Artwork
Many clients assume that, due to their small size, hotel key card holders are unsuitable for displaying artwork. However, with creative use of space, it’s often possible to use your business’ artwork in a way that is at the same time tasteful and effective.
We will discuss with you which artwork is likely to suit your brand as well as the format you’ve chosen for your key card wallet.
If you already have your artwork ready to go, great! We will just need it in the correct format before we can get started on your keycard holders. If you need help creating artwork for your keycard holders, our team of experienced designers will be more than happy to help.
QR Code
Including a QR code on your keycard holder can be an excellent way of delivering a high-quality experience. With a QR code, you can:
- Direct customers to your website;
- Direct them to TripAdvisor (or similar reviews website), and encourage them to write a review of their stay.
- Link to a web address with hotel information;
- Link to an address that promotes optional extras: sign up for spa treatments, book dry cleaning, or reserve a table in the restaurant.
- Link directly to room service or the front desk.
Local Information
If you prefer to take a more traditional approach, details such as those above can be printed directly onto the holders themselves.
Include information such as hotel address, restaurant opening times, taxi numbers, or some choice local amenities. The options for advertising and marketing are extensive.
JMF Group: The Key to All Your Hotel Printing
Your search for a new hotel and hospitality printer is over: when it comes to key card holder printing, JMF are the complete package!
Our comprehensive service covers everything, from consultation and design to printing and delivery. We will work with you every step of the way to ensure you are happy with your order, and we pride ourselves on our customer service and unbeatable quality.
All our key card holders are supplied flat, with fast delivery available across the UK. We stock more styles, more finishes, and more print options than any of our competitors, so you can be assured your printed products will blow your visitors away.
To request a free sample pack, contact us today.
