Atteny

NFC tags

Register a tag for a location, program it from the phone, and optionally require a tap to clock in.

For admins
Updated July 26, 2026

An NFC tag is a sticker or card you leave by the door or the till. An employee holds a phone against it and Atteny opens on their check-in with the location already picked — their side of it is NFC tap to clock in. Tags belong to a location, so you register each one there.

Only administrators can add, edit or delete tags, or change the switches below. Managers assigned to a location can see its tags but not change them — a tag's UID is treated as a secret, so nobody else sees it at all. (If your company has turned on the setting that lets location managers view all timesheets, that also widens which locations' tags a manager can see.)
  1. 1

    Open the location's Check-in tab

    Go to Locations, open the location, then select Check-in. Registered tags sit in the NFC Check-in card with their Label, NFC Tag UID and Status.

    The NFC Check-in card on a location's Check-in tab with the Add NFC Tag button and the list of registered tags
  2. 2

    Add a tag

    Select Add NFC Tag, name it after the entrance it covers (for example Front Door), enter the NFC Tag UID and save. Add as many as the site needs — every active tag works for that location.

    The Add NFC Tag dialog with the Label, NFC Tag UID and Secure key fields
  3. 3

    Decide whether tapping is required

    As soon as one tag exists, an NFC Enforcement card appears with Require NFC for clock-in. It starts on: people must tap, and the button in the app is blocked. Turn it off to allow both, then select Save at the top of the page.

  4. 4

    Retire a tag

    Use the pencil icon to rename a tag or set it to Inactive — kept on the list but no longer accepted — or the bin icon to delete it. Every change is recorded in the audit log.

Programming a tag from the phone

Admins get More → Manage NFC Tags in the app. Pick the location, tap +, then choose:

  • Standard — Scan card writes this location's check-in link onto a blank tag and reads its UID in the same tap. Then Save.
  • Secure — Program card (NTAG 424) sets up a blank NTAG 424 DNA card end to end: key, link and signing in one tap.

On Android, switch NFC on first if the screen shows NFC Is Turned Off.

Standard or secure

Standard tagSecure tag (NTAG 424 DNA)
What proves the tapThe tag's UIDA signature the card makes fresh on every tap, plus a tap counter
A copied tagWould pass — anyone who taps can read the UIDRejected, and a re-used tap is refused too
GPSStill applies if the location requires itNot required — a verified tap is proof enough
You needAny writable NFC tagA blank NTAG 424 DNA card and its secure key

Secure tags are switched on per location: on the same Check-in tab, turn on Require secure NFC tap (NTAG 424 DNA). Atteny won't let you until a secure tag is registered, because in that mode nothing else is accepted. To register a card programmed elsewhere, enter its UID and paste the Secure key (optional), or use Generate a key for me — the key and the Card URL to program are shown once, so save them there and then.

Try one card with one real tap before you move a whole site to secure mode, and keep a second registered tag as a spare.
The GPS check is a separate setting on the same tab — see GPS location checks. And if a location has no tag yet and an administrator taps an unknown one, Atteny registers it for you as Primary Tag.

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