Virtual Skill Cards

Virtual Skill Cards

Our virtual Skill Cards are smartcards stored in an app on your smartphone or tablet instead of being issued as a physical card. You can apply to have a physical Skill Card, virtual Skill Card, or both.  Your TICA or ACAD virtual Skill Card is designed to work with an app called Vircarda.

Accessing and using your virtual Skill Card

If you have chosen a virtual Skill Card, you need to install Vircarda on your device to be able to download the card.

Vircarda is available FREE from:

Google Play

Windows Store

The 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.

Your Virtual Skill Card has the following information shown on the exterior, and stored electronically on your device:

Photo
Name
Registration Number
Date of Issue
Date of Expiry
Health and Safety Test Results
Qualifications and Occupations
Industry Endorsements
Type of Card

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. We may also cancel your card and remove it from Vircarda.

Checking your virtual Skill Card

Your virtual Skill Card can be checked using software called Go Smart which is available for the following platforms:

• PCs and laptops running Windows – the PC/laptop needs to have a camera or QR reader connected to it. This version of Go Smart is available as a free download
• Android devices. This is available as a free app from Google Play
• Windows smartphones. This is available as a free app in the Windows store
• iPhones (iPhone 5 onwards). This is available as a free app from the App Store

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

Go Smart can check cards both offline and online.

When your card is checked online, Go Smart will connect to our database and download your card data, before displaying your details on screen. When your card is checked offline, Go Smart 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, Go Smart 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 Reference Point Ltd, 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 Go Smart 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.

Go Smart 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.