PADI E-Cards

[FishgutsB]

Funny that the thread name is Padi e card and most of the people that offer comments don't have one. Some even offer great ideas and insight. Here is a long winded 100 percent personal experience . Not a bash just our experience . Yes prob could have done something different but really tried to do the best we could at the time with the information we had to get the results we desired.
To me the E card seemed like a great idea and even better convience. Seeing that my spouse could not locate her card from 17 years ago to make a copy. Did not remember her instructors name from 17 years ago . Physically stood at a computer terminal at a PADI 5 star facility with a very knowgleable instructor who was unable for whatever data base issue retrieve her cert number, contacting the facility owner for further assistance and verify is was PADI data base issue. Not to mention facing a firm time line to provide her cert number to continue processing her NItrox certification with NASE (thanks again really awesome!!!!)and needing the number to complete releases and other trip related paper work. Also it was a weekend so a phone call to PADI was not an option. Her instructor offered to do what was ever needed and make all calls on Monday but we figured how hard could it be to just get the E Card?????? E card would be simple and it would solve all our issues and not require anybody else to go out of their way. Well true story and not a bash........ my opinion of the PADI site and navigating it are it sucks. I have that opinion of the site because I was on it and had to navigate it. I am not commenting on PADI over all . Just my experience on the site. Also at no time did I see a price ........ maybe it's posted all over but for what ever reason I did not see one until I was "checking out" . Leaving out some details of the "navigating" stuff. After checkout never did figure out how or where the Ecard went or is at lol. I sure it's somewhere lol . Hey maybe it's just me and not being computer savvy or something but my personal experience with logging on and getting a PADI E card for 45 bucks was not a very pleasurable experience . Good news was the real physical card showed up a week early (yea PADI one in the win colum) and this story has a happy ending!!!!!!!

 

[stever2002]

I have photos of my cert cards on my phone. I also posted them to my dropbox along with the latest PADI Med Form that my doctor signed. Before I left, I sent a link to the dropbox folder to the dive operators I was planning to dive.

In case I were to loose my phone, I should still be able to get access to my credentials from most corners of the planet, as long as I can beg/cheat/borrow/steal internet access.

-PH

 

[drrich2]

Paying for the e-card version might be compelling if they made it useful, above & beyond a cutesy gimmick. If people can photograph it with & keep it on their phones, a physical card covers the bases.

Imagine if PADI rolled out a new program, where for a flat fee you got an e-card version of your OW, and for a small added fee each additional cert. (say, the $45 for OW, $5/additional cert.), that also established an account. Whenever you pre-booked dives with dive op.s that's a 'PADI 5 Star Dive Centers' (or just plain PADI), add a special e-mail address for that shop to your phone's PADI app. & it shoots that shop a list of your cert.s electronically, in advance.

When I show up at a new dive shop, I have to put in my cert., with who, cert. #, approximate # of dives...perhaps the PADI account could hold that info., transmit it, and cut down on paperwork to fill out at the shop? The e-card fee would in effect buy real convenience. Not everyone would go for it.

Richard.

 

[ReefHound]

Nothing beats the physical card, in practice. E-cards and photos of cards are just as good, in theory. But when you dive often in places all over, you encounter a wide range of dive ops. They all take a physical card with no questions asked but some give you problems over electronic cards. Some are modern and progressive, some are stuck in the past. Some are in the middle of it all and some are rather remote. Some may have the means to look it up but just don't want to. It takes longer and there might be a line of 10 people waiting to show cards and turn in waivers.

I've had ops look at me like I have three eyes when I show a photo of my card on my phone. One problem is that PADI puts all the info on one side, except what it is for (i.e. Nitrox). That is on the other side with a PADI or ProjectAware logo/pic. Some ops don't trust two photos that they do not know for sure go together. I know, someone could photoshop up an e-card as easily as pics of a physical card but some people are not easily convinced. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if their doubt is unfounded and silly because if you cannot erase it you aren't going diving with them.

 

[Steve_C]

Ask yourself the question. How often have you gone to pay for something and been told the computer/internet/card reader is down. With a physical card you can still pay.

 

[azstinger11]

So my local dive shop had some coupons/giveaways for PADI e-cards so I have two of them now. A few points, they lock you into an OS, so if you first use them on your iPad your android phone can't access them. However if you have it on iPhone your iPad can still see them, its just an OS lock not a device lock. They can be accessed without internet connection provided you downloaded them beforehand. I do kind of like the the "official" nature of the PADI app but you can easily get a non-official work around.

That being said, I have high resolution scanned copies on multiple cloud backups as well as saved locally on my phone.

From those high res scans, I have made a few laminated copies of the cards (stuffed in various dive items), my real cards stay home I never travel with them, as they are the only thing that actually costs money to replace.

One dive charter only very begrudgingly accepted my e-card (my motivation to make my laminated cards actually) as they used the c-cards as their diver accountability system (driver's license was my stand in).

All in, I'm not sure I'd pay for a PADI e-card but they are convenient.

 

[Schwob]

I find the card per certification scheme begrudingly gauging. I'd like it much better if all my previous certs were listed on any new cert card I obtain ... at least for that agency ... or at least those that matter, e.g if tech 50 is listed tech 40 doesnt have to be or if AOW is listed OW doesnt have to be ...
at the very least for a replacement card... ok, charge that fee, but then reference all my certs on that card... you even get to skip the pretty picture on the front side for more data real estate...

 

[northernone]

I have e-cards and carry a few physical cards as well. Only a couple times have I ever had to show ANY cert card. But when I'm in a shop I ask about the e-cards.

Here's a general summarization on what I've noticed from talking to around 100 dive shop employees. A few like and encourage them , a few never heard of it, a some won't accept them (too slow, no access or authenticity concerns) and most dislike the hassle of dealing with them. Overall it's not rolled out globally consistently for me to trust it to do what a physical card does quickly, cheaply and reliably at this time.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[Attonine]

I think some people here aren't completely aware of how the PADI Ecards work. The ecards download to the PADI app on your phone or tablet. They can be viewed offline, no need to connect to the internet once the ecard has been downloaded (it's a tiny file). Going diving, no problem, just flash the card from the app to the dive centre, simple. Never had anyone not know what it is. The PADI app is ok, a bit clunky in places, and they use it for marketing a bit too much, but you can log your dives too. I can't see how authenticity of the ecard can be questioned. I'm sure it's possible to make a fake ecard, but the effort needed.........making a fake physical card is way easier.

It's a good system, the cards are great, don't get lost and never need replacing. Now, here's the snag......when you get a new cert, you've paid up for everything, PADI send you your physical card. They also email you to tell you, hey you can download the ecard for free.......for 30 days (could be 90, can't remember exactly). To keep the ecard permanently, just pay £30. Personally, I would much prefer to be given the option of choosing whether I want ecard or physical card. I can agree to a small charge should I want both types of cards, but £30 is waaaaaay too much for a card, of any description. In this day and age, I would expect the default card to be the ecard and the physical card to be charged.

 

[HantsDiver]

I find the card per certification scheme begrudingly gauging. I'd like it much better if all my previous certs were listed on any new cert card I obtain ... at least for that agency ... or at least those that matter, e.g if tech 50 is listed tech 40 doesnt have to be or if AOW is listed OW doesnt have to be ...
at the very least for a replacement card... ok, charge that fee, but then reference all my certs on that card... you even get to skip the pretty picture on the front side for more data real estate...

I think and I want to emphasise that as I haven't checked - that there is a service where you pay a relatively small fee per month and you get access to all your e-cards as long as a host of other benefits. If these benefits are useful or not will depend on you as a person. And I'll let someone who is more active with padi say what they are and if it's even online yet.

I'd also point out - that you don't need all your cards. When I was working in a nice tropical location I didn't really care about seeing your open water card if you had AOW. If you have a tech50 card that will cover absolutely everything apart from self-reliant. So just take the tech50 (or have e-card version) and don't worry about the rest.