How Much Does a Plastic Card Weigh?
A standard plastic card — the same size as a bank card or credit card — weighs approximately 5 grams (0.18 oz).
That is the short answer. But card weight varies depending on thickness, material, and any extras like finishes or magnetic strips. Here is everything you need to know.
Standard CR80 card weight
The industry standard plastic card is the CR80 format — 86mm x 54mm, and 0.76mm thick. In plain PVC, this weighs around 5g per card.
For reference, here is how weight varies by thickness and material:
- Standard PVC card (0.76mm) — approximately 5g
- Thin PVC card (0.50mm) — approximately 3.5g
- Thick PVC card (1.0mm) — approximately 6.5g
- Composite PVC/PET card — approximately 5-5.5g
- Frosted or matt PVC card — approximately 5g
- Satin black or metallic card — approximately 5-5.5g
For bulk orders, multiply up: 1,000 standard cards weigh roughly 5kg.
Why does card weight matter?
Most people asking this are trying to figure out one of three things:
Postage costs — if you are mailing loyalty cards, membership cards, or gift cards to customers, card weight directly affects Royal Mail postage. A single card in an envelope typically stays within letter rate. Pack of 5 or more? You are likely into large letter territory.
Display stand load limits — card dispensers and display racks have weight tolerances. If you are loading 500 cards into a countertop holder, that is roughly 2.5kg.
Event and delegate packs — event lanyards, delegate packs, and conference badge holders all add up when you are distributing thousands.
Does card finish affect weight?
Barely. A gloss or matt finish on a printed card adds less than 0.1g. Embossing, signature panels, and magnetic stripes add negligible weight.
The exception is metal cards — those can weigh 10-30g depending on thickness and whether they are solid metal or metal-clad PVC.
Bulk weight for shipping calculations
- 100 standard cards — approximately 500g
- 250 cards — approximately 1.25kg
- 500 cards — approximately 2.5kg
- 1,000 cards — approximately 5kg
Add packaging (box, bubble wrap, foam inserts) and you are typically looking at an extra 200-500g depending on how the order is packed.
Free CR80 artwork templates
Set your card up on one of our free templates. The PDF, Photoshop and SVG files are 92 x 60mm: the 86 x 54mm card plus 3mm of bleed on every side, with the trim line and a 3mm safe area marked. Run your background to the outer edge, keep wording and logos inside the blue line, then hide or delete the template lines before you save.
The SVG opens in Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity Designer and Figma, with the guides on their own layer. Canva works at the card’s own size, 86 x 54mm, and adds the bleed itself, so the Canva guide marks only the safe area: upload it, stretch it over your design, and delete it before you download. Our Canva guide has the steps, and the artwork setup guide covers bleed, resolution and colour. Templates for key tags, event passes, combo cards and hot foil cards are on our artwork guides page.
Need plastic cards printed in the UK?
CP Cards supplies plastic cards made in England: loyalty cards, membership cards, hotel key cards, gift cards and more. All printed to CR80 standard, in quantities from small runs upwards.
View our plastic card printing options or get in touch with your requirements.