Custom Printed Membership Cards

We print custom membership cards for clubs, organisations, and businesses of all sizes — from small sports clubs ordering a few hundred cards to national organisations placing thousands. Every card is printed here in England to the highest quality, and every order includes a free photorealistic email proof before we go to print.

Below you'll find details of all the options and extras available for your membership cards.

See our membership card printing page for pricing, quantities, and how to place your order.

What makes a great membership card?

A high-quality plastic membership card does two things well: it looks the part, and it lasts. Paper-based cards go dog-eared within weeks and are easily discarded. A solid PVC plastic card feels substantial, looks professional, and tends to live in a wallet rather than the bin.

Unlike surface-printed cards, our membership cards have the print inside the plastic — so it can't be worn off through day-to-day use. They're waterproof, durable, and built to last the lifetime of a membership year and beyond.

Solid Plastic Construction

Our membership cards are solid PVC throughout — not laminated paper or card. We offer three thicknesses:

• 760 micron (0.76mm) — our most popular option, the same thickness as a standard bank card. Required if you're adding a magnetic strip.
• 680 micron (0.68mm) — a slightly thinner option, popular at higher volumes.
• 420 micron (0.42mm) — the thinnest option. Note: embossing is not possible on 420 micron cards.

Gloss or Matt Finish

Choose between a gloss finish for vibrant, high-impact colour, or a matt finish for a more understated premium look and feel. There's no price difference between the two — it's purely down to which suits your brand better.

Double-Sided Printing

We print in full colour on one or both sides for the same price. Many customers use the front for branding and the back for membership numbers, terms, or contact details — keeping the front clean and uncluttered.

Optional Extras

All of the following can be added to your membership cards at the time of order.

Signature Strips

Signature strips add a layer of security and individuality. A signed card can be verified against a specimen signature held by the club, and once signed, no two cards are identical. Many organisations use multiple signature strips to include additional information such as an expiry date or membership tier.

Sequential Numbering

Sequential numbering is one of the most popular extras. It's a simple and effective way to assign membership numbers — the next card in the box becomes the next membership number for a new member. Numbers can also be linked to your club's own database or software to record member details such as name, date of birth, and membership level.

Barcodes

Barcodes are quick to scan and rarely cause queues at the door. Many clubs link barcodes to a software system that displays a photo of the member for visual verification, records the visit, and can flag up peak vs off-peak members or alert staff if a member is attempting to enter outside their permitted access times.

QR Codes

QR codes can hold significantly more data than a standard barcode, though they work equally well for simple membership numbers. They can be scanned with a dedicated reader or a smartphone, making them a flexible option — particularly useful for events held away from your main premises where fixed scanners aren't available.

Magnetic Strips

An alternative to barcodes — magnetic strips are swiped rather than scanned and are popular with organisations that already have the necessary hardware in place. We offer both Hico and Loco magnetic strips and can encode data in whichever format your system requires. Note: cards with magnetic strips must be 760 microns thick.

Embossing

Embossing gives membership cards a premium, tactile feel. Numbers (sequential or random) or member names can be embossed. If you don't have all member names at the point of order, we can emboss known names on some cards and add membership numbers only to the remainder — an affordable way to make long-standing members feel recognised while keeping costs sensible. Note: embossing is not available on 420 micron cards.

Metallic Foiling

Foiling adds a premium finish that immediately sets a card apart. Gold or silver foil can be used to highlight a word, title, or membership tier — for example, printing "MEMBER" in standard ink for regular members, and "Gold Member" or "VIP" in gold foil for higher tiers. The contrast between tiers is immediately visible at a glance.

Metallic Base Cards

A metallic gold or silver base card is one of the most effective ways to distinguish VIP, life, or gold members from standard members at a glance. The metallic base does the heavy lifting — even a simple design looks exceptional on a metallic gold card. Metallic silver works particularly well in a matt finish for a platinum or premium tier.

Personalisation / Variable Data

Variable data printing allows each card to carry unique information — a member's name, their membership tier, and expiry date are the most common uses. Cards are supplied as a data-merged print run, each one individually printed with the correct details. Bear in mind that longer names or lengthy membership descriptions will need to fit within the available space on the card, so keep variable text fields concise.

Photo Seals

Photo seals allow a member's photograph to be applied to the card for quick visual identification. Particularly useful where more sophisticated access control software isn't available, or where physical identification is required at the door.

Hole or Slot Punching

Holes or slots allow cards to be attached to a lanyard, clipped to clothing, or hung on a hook. Popular with sports clubs and event organisers where members need their card visible and accessible throughout an activity.

Scratch-Off Panels

More commonly used on gift cards, scratch-off panels can also be applied to membership cards — for example, in situations where a card needs to be invalidated but the club wishes the member to retain it as a keepsake.

Proofing Process

Free Email Proof

Once you've placed your order and we have your artwork, we'll send a free photorealistic email proof for your approval. This lets you check the design, layout, colours, and all text before anything goes to print. Check it carefully — and ask a colleague to proofread it too.

Postal Proof

For full colour membership cards, once you've approved the email proof we print an actual plastic card — complete with any optional extras — and post it to you for final sign-off. This gives you the opportunity to check that colours are exactly right and that barcodes, magnetic strips, or encoded data scan correctly with your own hardware before your full order goes into production.

If any changes are needed at this stage, we'll make them. It's one of the reasons our customers keep coming back — you won't end up with hundreds or thousands of cards that aren't quite right.

Fast Turnaround

We dispatch printed membership cards within 5 working days of proof approval — including any optional extras such as magnetic strips, embossing, or signature strips. If you have an urgent requirement, contact us and we'll do what we can to help.

Why Colour Plastic Cards?

We've been printing membership cards for clubs, organisations, and businesses across the UK for over 30 years. The majority of our work is repeat business — customers who come back year after year, often with a small update to the design. That tells you more about what we do than any marketing copy could.

Printed in England

All our membership cards are designed and printed here in England. That means faster turnaround times, tighter quality control, and no worrying about cards shipped from overseas that don't match what you approved.

Design Service

Don't have artwork ready? Our in-house design team can create your membership card design from scratch for just £20 + VAT. If you have existing artwork that needs tweaking or preparing for print, we can handle that too. Find out more about our design service.

Membership Card Examples

We've printed membership cards for an enormous range of clubs and organisations over the years — sports clubs, social clubs, professional associations, leisure centres, night clubs, and more. Browse our membership card examples to see the variety of designs and finishes we produce.

Ready to order? Get a quote from our team — we typically respond within 10 minutes during working hours.