Virtual Skill Cards

Vircarda Virtual Skill Cards

We use an app called Vircarda which allows you to store a virtual copy of your TICA or ACAD Skill Card on your smartphone or tablet. You can apply to have either a physical Skill Card (which comes with a virtual Skill Card free) or a virtual Skill Card only. 

Accessing and using your Virtual Skill Card 

If you have a virtual Skill Card, you need to install Vircarda on your device to be able to download the card. The Vircarda app is available for the following platforms as a free app: 

• Android devices which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store
• iPhones (iPhone 5 onwards) which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store

Once Vircarda is installed you can download your virtual Skill Card using the registration code and PIN that is emailed or texted to you when your card is issued. 

About your Virtual Skill Card 

Your Virtual Skill Card has all the same information shown on the exterior as a physical copy of the card, but it is stored electronically on your device. These details may be updated or removed and further information about qualifications you hold may be electronically added to your card after your card has been issued at our discretion.

If your Skill Card is cancelled or removed it will also be removed from Vircarda. 

Checking your Virtual Skill Card 

To enable someone to check your card using Smart Check, all you need to do is touch the Read Card option in Vircarda.  This will generate a secure QR code for Smart Check to read. 

Smart Check can check cards both offline and online. 

When your card is checked online, Smart Check will connect to our database and download your card data, before displaying your details on screen. When your card is checked offline, Smart Check will confirm that your card is genuine and the person checking your card will then carry out a visual check of the card on your device. When online connectivity becomes available, Smart Check will connect to our database and download your card data. 

Provided you have not switched off notifications on your smartphone or tablet, you will receive a notification confirming your card has been read. From time to time, you may receive other notifications from us as well – to warn you that your card is about to expire for example. 

We keep a log of all online card checks and any changes made to your card. This log is used for support and security purposes, for helping us understand how cards are being used and for producing statistics about card use. The log file is maintained by Causeway, the provider of our smartcard ecosystem, acting as a data processor on our behalf. 

When your card is read electronically, a copy is recorded by Smart Check along with the time and location, where available. This provides a log of the cards that have been checked for the person checking your card. 

Smart Check enables the person who has checked your card to forward a copy of your data to someone else – someone at head-office for example. Before doing this, the card checker must inform you who the data will be sent to and what it will be used for. 

Your card can also be checked electronically by some other software systems. Data protection laws require that, before reading your card, the users of these systems must tell you if they are going to keep a copy of your data and what it will be used for.