By the SightShield team · · 3 min read
Two ways to prove who you are
Card-based attendance identifies the card; biometric attendance identifies the person. That single difference explains most of the pros and cons.
Comparison
| RFID card | Biometric (face/fingerprint) | |
|---|---|---|
| Identifies | The card | The person |
| Proxy attendance | Easy — hand over the card | Very hard with liveness detection |
| Lost or forgotten | Common; cards need replacing | Not possible |
| Speed | Very fast | Fast (face is touch-free) |
| Hygiene | Touch-free tap | Face is touch-free; fingerprint is contact |
| Running cost | Card replacement | None after enrolment |
| Visitors and temporary staff | Easy to issue temporary cards | Need enrolment |
| Privacy | Less personal data | Biometric data needs protection |
Not all cards are the same
If you choose cards, avoid basic 125 kHz proximity cards for anything that matters: they can be copied in seconds. Encrypted 13.56 MHz cards such as DESFire are the current standard for new systems.
| Card or tag type | Frequency | Security | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| EM / proximity card | 125 kHz | Low — easily copied with cheap cloners | Older attendance and door systems |
| MIFARE Classic | 13.56 MHz | Medium — older encryption has known weaknesses | Offices, hotels, canteens |
| MIFARE DESFire | 13.56 MHz | High — modern encryption | New access control installations |
| UHF windscreen tag | 865–867 MHz in India | Medium — tag bound to the vehicle | Vehicle entry at boom barriers |
| Mobile credential (BLE / NFC / QR) | Phone | Medium to high, depending on the system | Offices, visitors, co-working |
When cards make sense
- Visitor and contractor passes for short periods.
- Access to car parks or lifts alongside biometric doors.
- Sites where biometrics are not acceptable to staff or clients.
When biometrics make sense
- Attendance that drives wages, overtime and contractor billing.
- Factories and sites with large workforces where proxies are common.
- Restricted rooms where you must know exactly who entered.
The real cost over five years
Card systems look cheaper because the readers cost less. Over a few years, the picture changes. Cards are lost, damaged, forgotten at home and replaced; each replacement costs money and HR time. Lost cards that are not cancelled promptly are a security gap. Buddy punching — one employee swiping a colleague’s card — inflates wages and overtime quietly every month.
Biometric terminals cost more upfront but have no consumables, cannot be lent, and remove the admin of issuing and cancelling cards. For a workforce of more than a few dozen people, where attendance drives wages, biometrics usually work out cheaper over the life of the system.
Attendance Reports That Matter →The best of both
Most modern terminals accept face, fingerprint and cards. A common setup is face recognition for employees, cards for visitors and temporary staff, and two-factor (face plus card) for high-security rooms.
Attendance and access systems →Migrating from cards to biometrics
- Choose terminals that read your existing cards as well as faces, so both work during the changeover.
- Enrol staff department by department; keep cards active until everyone is enrolled.
- Run both methods in parallel for a payroll cycle and compare reports.
- Switch employee attendance to face or fingerprint; keep cards for visitors, contractors and parking.
- Retire and cancel old employee cards so they cannot be misused.
Quick answers
Can RFID card attendance be misused?+
Yes — cards can be handed to colleagues for proxy attendance. Biometrics prevent this.
Can one terminal support cards and face recognition?+
Yes. Many terminals support face, fingerprint, card and PIN together.
Are RFID cards cheaper than biometric attendance?+
The readers can be cheaper, but lost cards and proxy attendance add hidden costs over time.
Can RFID cards be copied?+
Basic 125 kHz proximity cards can be copied easily with cheap devices. Encrypted 13.56 MHz cards such as MIFARE DESFire are much harder to copy.
What should we do when an employee loses a card?+
Cancel it in the software immediately and issue a new one. With biometrics, there is nothing to lose.