Materials · ABS
The material that shrugs off abuse
Every SIM card ever snapped from its holder was ABS. That same impact strength — plus a −30 °C to 90 °C service window — makes it the pick for fobs, staff credentials and rough duty.
ABS and its PVC-ABS composite sit at the toughness end of our range: the highest impact strength and softening points of any standard card substrate, with colour pigmented through the body so wear never shows white. Where a credential lives on a key ring instead of in a wallet, this is the material.
Highlights
Survives the key ring
Class-leading impact strength — the substrate behind billions of snap-out SIM holders.
−30 °C to 90 °C
Freezer rooms to boiler rooms: ABS keeps its shape where softer cards warp.
Colour through the body
Pigmented cores hide scratches — no white edges after seasons of hard use.
ABS & PVC-ABS composite — technical data
- Card body
- Pure ABS or PVC-ABS composite — the substrate family behind billions of SIM card holders, chosen for impact strength
- Sheet range
- PVC-ABS composite 100–820 μm; pure ABS 100–405 μm — the widest thickness window in our range, up to fob-grade bodies
- Heat stability
- Vicat softening 90–97 °C (composite) and 100–110 °C (pure ABS) — the highest of any standard card substrate
- Service window
- −30 °C to 90 °C continuous use: freezer rooms, saunas, plant rooms and parked cars are all inside spec
- Mechanical strength
- Tensile strength ≥ 42 MPa (composite) / ≥ 40 MPa (pure) with class-leading impact resistance — snap-resistant on key rings
- Surface
- Double-sided matte, Rz 4–10 μm; wetting tension ≥ 38 dyn/cm for silk-screen and pad print
- Colouring
- Pigments through the body — scuffs and edge wear never flash white on a coloured fob
- Chip compatibility
- All 125 kHz and 13.56 MHz chips in card, fob and tag formats
Inside an ABS credential
ABS builds are simpler and tougher than laminated print cards: two rigid colour-through shells around the inlay, welded or bonded at the edge. There is no printed face to wear off — branding is laser-marked or pad-printed into the shell — which is why fobs and staff credentials that live on key rings are almost always ABS.
≈ 0.8–1.6 mm finished depending on format — cards, fobs and tags
- ABS shell · 300–400 μm Colour-through pigmented body; laser or pad-printed branding
- RFID inlay Chip + antenna, protected by the stiffest shell in our range
- ABS shell · 300–400 μm Back shell, edge-bonded to the front for a sealed body
When ABS is the right call
- The credential lives on a key ring, lanyard or trolley: ABS shrugs off impacts that crack laminated print cards.
- Temperature extremes are routine — saunas, freezer rooms, boiler rooms, vehicles — and the −30–90 °C window matters.
- You want colour-through bodies for departments or floors: scratches never show white, so fobs look new for years.
ABS credential questions
Why are key fobs made of ABS instead of PVC?
Impact strength. ABS is the plastic behind billions of snap-out SIM card holders — it takes drops, twists and key-ring abuse that crack laminated PVC. It also pigments through the body, so a scuffed fob never shows a white scar the way a printed card does.
How much heat can ABS credentials take?
Pure ABS softens at 100–110 °C (Vicat A120) and the PVC-ABS composite at 90–97 °C, with a rated service window of −30 °C to 90 °C. That covers saunas, plant rooms, freezer stores and cars in summer — environments where standard PVC (80–86 °C) is at its limit.
Can ABS fobs carry the same chips as our guest cards?
Yes. Any 125 kHz or 13.56 MHz chip we put in a guest card can go in an ABS fob or tag, encoded identically. Many properties run PVC cards for guests and matching ABS fobs for staff and maintenance on the same lock system.
How is branding applied if ABS is not offset-printed?
Laser marking and pad printing are the standard routes, plus moulded-in logos for larger runs. The trade-off is deliberate: no printed laminate to peel means the credential keeps its look through years of hard duty.
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