Member Cards
A member can open a session by tapping a card at the station instead of typing a username and password.
Nothing is written to the card. The reader types out the card's own factory serial number, which HandyCafe links to a member record. That is why a lost card is cancelled with one click while the member keeps their balance and history.
What You Need
The reader
A USB reader in keyboard emulation mode, also sold as HID keyboard wedge or keyboard-out. Tapping a card types the serial number and presses Enter, exactly as if someone typed it. There is no driver to install and no port to configure.
Readers that speak PC/SC are not supported. These need a driver and an application that talks to the card. The ACR122U in its default mode is the one people most often buy by mistake. Some PC/SC readers ship with a utility that switches them into keyboard mode, in which case they work.
One test settles it: open Notepad and tap a card. If a number appears, HandyCafe will see it. If nothing appears, no setting inside HandyCafe will help.
The frequency
Reader and card have to be on the same band. A 125 kHz reader cannot read a 13.56 MHz card. The reverse is also true. Dual-band readers exist and cover both.
| Band | Common cards |
|---|---|
| 125 kHz | EM4100, EM4102, T5577, HID Prox. The cheap white cards and keyfobs sold in bulk |
| 13.56 MHz | MIFARE Classic 1K and 4K, MIFARE Ultralight, NTAG213, NTAG215, NTAG216, MIFARE DESFire, ISO 15693 / ICODE |
Both bands work. Which one you buy is a price and availability question, not a HandyCafe one.
The cards
Any card or keyfob whose factory serial number the reader can read. After punctuation is stripped, the number has to be between 8 and 32 characters, which every card above satisfies.
Blank cards are fine. Nothing is written to them. There is no encoding step and no programming device to buy. Printed and branded cards work the same way.
Phones do not work. Android and iOS hand out a fresh random serial number on every tap. A phone tapped twice therefore looks like two different cards.
Reader settings
Most readers arrive ready to use. Where they are configurable, these are the settings that matter:
| Setting | What to use |
|---|---|
| Output format | Hex or decimal, both are accepted |
| Suffix | Enter or Tab. Without a suffix the read is never submitted |
| Separators | Colons, dashes and spaces between bytes are stripped automatically. You do not need to turn them off |
| Reader keyboard layout | Leave it at US or QWERTY |
That last one is worth a sentence. The Windows keyboard layout on your PC does not matter. HandyCafe reads physical key positions. A Turkish F, AZERTY or QWERTZ machine therefore reads cards correctly with no change. What matters is the layout setting stored inside the reader itself. A reader switched to German QWERTZ sends Y where it means Z. The same card then produces a different number.
Use one reader model everywhere
Two reader models can report the same card differently. One sends hex where the other sends decimal. Another reverses the byte order. A card registered at the counter on one model may then not be recognised at a station running another. Buy the same model for every machine that reads cards.
Turning Card Login On
Open Settings, then Clients. Find the NFC card login block.
Switch on Allow members to sign in with a card, then choose a mode:
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Any card | Bind any card you are holding to a member at the counter. Nothing has to be prepared in advance |
| Only my own cards | Cards must be registered into stock first. A card that is not in stock cannot be given to a member |
Only my own cards exists to stop a customer's own transit or building card from becoming their login credential. Choose it when you buy and hand out your own cards.
Card Stock
Card stock is the list of cards you own. It is reached with Card stock from the settings block or from the Members page.
To register cards, select Card stock and start tapping. Each card read is added to stock immediately. A whole pile can be registered in one pass. The running count is shown while you work. A batch note can be typed in before scanning to label the group.
Each card in stock has a status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| In stock | Registered and available to hand out |
| With a member | Assigned to a member and able to open sessions |
| Lost | Reported lost. It stops working immediately |
| Withdrawn | Taken out of service, for example because it is damaged |
The list shows the card number, status, member, note, registration date and last use. It is capped at the most recent cards. Use search to reach older ones.
Giving a Card to a Member
Open the member on the Members page and select Assign a card. Tap the card on the reader. The card is linked the moment it is read.
A member can hold more than one card. The cards a member holds are listed on their panel with the date each was issued.
If card login is switched off, the assignment still works. A warning explains that the card will not open a session until the feature is enabled.
Taking a Card Back
Three actions are available on an assigned card:
- Return to stock -- the card goes back into stock and stops opening sessions. The member keeps their balance and history.
- Report lost -- the card stops working immediately. Hand the member a new one when they are ready.
- Withdraw -- the card stops opening sessions and leaves service. Use this for a damaged card.
A withdrawn or lost card can be put back into stock with Put the card back in stock. Only do this when the card is physically back in your hands.
A card can be deleted only if it was never handed out. A card that has been in circulation must be withdrawn instead.
Permissions
Issuing, returning and cancelling a card requires the Change member password permission. Handing someone a card that opens their account carries the same weight as resetting their password.
The default cashier role does not include that permission. On an existing installation, cashiers cannot issue cards until you grant it. See Cashier Roles and Permissions.
How Card Login Behaves at the Station
A card login passes through exactly the same checks as a password login: anti-cheat status, device lock, whether the member is active, whether the member has balance and the single seat rule. A card cannot open a session that a password could not.
The card path has its own rate limit of 12 failed reads per minute per station. Card rejections do not count towards the password attempt counter, because a handful of bad taps used to lock the station for everyone.
Common Messages
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| This card already belongs to a member | Return it to stock before assigning it to someone else |
| This card is not in your stock | You are in "Only my own cards" mode. Register the card under Card stock first |
| This card was reported lost | The card is cancelled. Issue a new one |
| This card was withdrawn from service | Put it back in stock if the card is in your hands |
| The reader sent an unreadable card number | The reader is typing something that is not a card serial number. Check its own keyboard layout setting and its output format |
| Nothing read yet | The reader is not plugged in or is not in keyboard emulation mode. Tap a card into Notepad to confirm |
| The same card is not recognised at another station | That station has a different reader model. Readers do not all report a card the same way |
| This card was handed out before, so it cannot be deleted | Withdraw it instead |