On a recent phone call with a major corporate prospect, I was asked a very simple question: “What makes InstantCard unique among the various online ID card services?”  This simple, straightforward question got me thinking that perhaps the unique services we offer and take for granted are not easily understood by a prospective client trying to find the best service to meet their needs.  I went to our competitors’ websites, and while it was obvious to me that our website stood head-and-shoulders above that of each competitor, I realized that it was perhaps not obvious what the clear differentiators were.

So I thought it would be useful to delineate below the major factors that I believe differentiate InstantCard from all of its competitors.

Experience

Founded in 2007, InstantCard was the first online ID card producer in United States.  Today, with the longest history, it is the largest SaaS (Software as a Service) service providing on-demand badging to the broadest array of government, non-profit, and business clients in the U.S.A.

It is also the only business in this space which provides clear information on who you will be dealing with. As seen on the About Us page, InstantCard presents the names and bios of every team member.  None of the other competitors present any of this information on their About Us pages, leaving the client in the dark about who is really behind the business.

Service

InstantCard is the only service in the industry with a same-day shipment guarantee for all orders.  Other companies promise “quick turnaround” or same-day handling, but no other company guarantees this in writing.

InstantCard is also the only service with no upcharge for single-card orders.  While other companies may try to appear attractive with low prices for large-volume orders, the real differentiator is the cost for one new card when a new employee is hired, because this is the most common use case day-in and day-out for ALL organizations.  InstantCard stands alone in this policy, and has since its founding 17 years ago.

As a further example of our unique service capability, InstantCard is the only service with an end-to-end white-label option to support a 100% customer-branded experience.

Automation

InstantCard is the only service offering a complete REST API for automated integration with HR and other online systems.  No other company makes mention on their website of an API to automate the transfer of employee data to and from other systems, to ensure data integrity.

Another differentiator is InstantCard’s technology giving authorized individuals the ability to order their own ID card, from a customer’s website.  This ICO (Individual Card Ordering) service can be configured and customized to meet many different requirements, and is yet another example of a service with no comparable facility available from any other online provider.

Large Corporate Support

Our extensive experience working with many Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 companies allowed us to develop systems able to seamlessly support clients with hundreds and even thousands of branch offices.  No other vendor can say the same.

As a further demonstration of this capability, InstantCard is the only service designed to allow large corporate organizations to structure their user access, and template designs, on a hierarchical basis at corporate-regional-local levels.  This requires very sophisticated data base management systems, which have been the object of years of investment by InstantCard.

While these capabilities are not needed by most of our small- and medium-sized clients, every client is comforted in knowing that as their needs expand, InstantCard will not be an impediment to their growth.

Security

InstantCard is proud to be the only online ID Card service with SOC2 Type 1 certification. This rigorous data security program, which requires a detailed audit by an independent specialized testing organization, is not easy to achieve, but gives all clients peace of mind that their PII (Personally Identified Information) data is secure with InstantCard.

Summary

I feel heartened in knowing that the years of investments that we have made in our systems are paying off, every day, for our customers.  Our ability to support just about any unique requirement within the framework of our existing technology, by simply parameterizing our cloud services to meet customer needs, puts us light years ahead of any competitor trying to play catch-up.  Don’t hesitate to ask for a demonstration of any or all of these unique capabilities, as you compare InstantCard with any other solution, on-line or in-house!