CardsSafe works with galleries & museums

CardsSafe has been a successful deterrent in preventing the loss or damage of high-value audio equipment at The National Portrait Gallery.

The internationally renowned gallery houses portraits of notable British men and women. It opened its doors in 1856 and welcomes over one million visitors each year.

The CardsSafe system was first installed at The National Portrait Gallery in 2011 to assist with the security of their audio hire system and has been an asset ever since. The gallery offers many self-guided tours of its extensive and evolving portrait collections. CardsSafe has been a successful deterrent in preventing the loss or damage of their high-value audio equipment while their visitors have the freedom to roam.


Andrea, Manager TNPG, said, “The National Portrait Gallery has used CardsSafe for the security of its audio guide hire system to guarantee these consumer-grade, high-value IT items against loss or theft. It has always been a successful deterrent, and it has been a pleasure to work with the helpful and efficient team in the Cardssafe administration centre on supply and billing.”

Galleries, museums and audio guides

There are over 2,500 museums in the UK, ranging from your typical village museum to the vast British Museum and V&A in London. The UK is also home to many well-respected and world-famous art galleries, which welcome thousands of visitors annually. Many medium to large museums and galleries offer an audio guide service, which is loaned out for a small fee or sometimes free of charge. This provides a more engaging experience for the visitor, but it means increased costs and liability as some visitors may like the audio guide so much they decide to keep it as a souvenir!

How to stop your audio guides from being stolen

As technology has advanced, it’s become common to see costly devices used as audio guides. Many of these devices are smartphone-based solutions that are used as they offer good quality displays, battery life, and the ability to run complex applications that allow visitors to navigate around the museum or gallery. The only problem is that some visitors may keep the guide instead of returning it at the end! The CardsSafe solution has been used by Hampton Court Palace, Bletchley Park, The National Portrait Gallery and other businesses to mitigate this risk. When using CardsSafe, you retain a customer debit or credit card as a deposit and exchange it for a unique key, which the user will use to collect their card when they leave. It’s simple, cost-effective, PCI-compliant and never captures data, so it is GDPR-compliant. 

Find out more about CardsSafe Limited on their member profile page here

Member-created content 6 months ago | From members

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