Wallet Memorial Cards – Complete Information, Pricing & Ordering

Last updated October 23rd, 2023

Multiple Wallet Memorial Cards, different designs.
Selection of our Wallet Memorial Cards designs.

If you are planning to order wallet memorial cards, you have come to the right place. This page contains everything you may want to know about this type of cards. When you are ready, you can also order your cards here.

If you have any questions (order-related, technical, delivery etc.) while reading this page, please use live chat for immediate response. We are here to help.

What are wallet memorial cards?

Wallet memorial card is created to commemorate someone who passed away. When carried in your wallet it prompts you to give your departed Loved One a thought. It acts as a “reminder to remember” of sorts. When someone leaves this world, often remembering is all we can do. As the time passes and busy lives take over our attention, wallet memorial card helps you to keep remembering.

Back of a wallet memorial card with "Our Fater" prayer on it. A rosary placed around the card.
Back of a wallet memorial card with “Our Father” prayer on it.

Wallet cards are given to people who are likely to keep them in their wallets. Relatives, close friends of the deceased, those who would like to have this sort of a personal keepsake with them at all times. Wallet cards are a very popular type of keepsake, almost as popular as standard memorial cards.

Video above shows our MPW-06 wallet memorial card – you can order it here.

Wallet cards have the same shape and size as standard credit card or business card. The exact dimensions are: 55x85mm or 2.16”x3.34”.

Standard wallet card dimensions in mm and inch
Standard wallet card dimensions in mm and inch

Small size makes them a perfect keepsake to be carried in a purse or wallet – because most wallets have slots for credit cards. The cards have rounded corners. It makes them less prone to damage.

Typical Wallet Memorial Card Design

Vast majority of wallet memorial cards have portrait orientation. You may encounter landscape-oriented ones but they are very rare and usually very old.

Front and back of a wallet memorial card, placed on a stone surface, outdoors, 3d render.
Standard wallet card design

Seems that portrait orientation allows for better utilization of the space. It is also a natural orientation for portrait photos. Most of wallet cards feature a photo.

Standard Wallet Memorial Card layout elements and wording, front and back.
Typical wallet memorial card layout and wording

Some designs however do not use a photo of the deceased at all. In such case the design consist of a cross or a religious image along with the name of the deceased on the front.

Video below shows a 360 degree view of a wallet memorial card as well as multiple background options:

The size and shape of the wallet card determines the design. As the space is limited, the design is usually pretty standard. From all memorial products only keyrings are smaller than wallet memorial cards.

Scenic wallet memorial card MPW-05
Scenic wallet memorial card MPW-05. Order here.

Both front and back can and usually do have a photo as the background. Scenic photos or places somehow related to the deceased are commonly used.

Some cards use religious imagery or a cross on the back.

Legibility can very easily become an issue, especially if the background is busy or if you are trying to fit too much text to the back. Our verses’ selection is already optimised for legibility and if we do a custom design we also consider the legibility issues. If you supply too much text, we’ll let you know.

Wallet memorial card, example back designs and poems.
Example back designs with verses – note that our designs ensure text legibility.

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Videos – Example Wallet Cards

The videos below show typical examples of wallet memorial card layout.

Above: MPW-01 wallet card, order here.

Above: MPW-03 card, order it here.

MPW-05 wallet card, order here.

MPW-06 – order here.

Wallet Memorial Cards – Photos

Photos show our popular prayer card designs. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.

More photos can be found here.

Standard wording and content of a wallet card

What photo should I use for the card?

The vast majority of photos we see on all our card types are photos from social occasions. Weddings, birthdays, pub outings, family events.

This makes sense as people tend to look their best during such events (or at least at the beginning of them, but let us better stop here).

MPW-06 wallet memorial card, held in hand.
MPW-06 wallet memorial card featuring large square photo on the front

We also see old black and white photos, these work well too.

If you have many photos to choose from, you are the best qualified person to select the best one. Select one that – in your opinion – best captures the personality of the deceased.

Wallet cards are not about showing people looking their best. They are about remembering who they were. Do not worry if the photo you have is not perfect. The emotional value is what matters.

What if you do not have a choice? Then simply use what you have. We’ll do our best to make the photo as good as it gets.

There are good news though: wallet cards are small and so are the photos on them. Unless you go for a full page photo, technical problems and other shortcomings are unlikely to show.

If you only have one poor quality photo (as it is often the case) or want to use a particular photo for emotional reasons, then wallet cards may be your best option and we would recommend you to choose it over other card types.

Card with O Lord support us prayer next to a small angel figure.
Wallet card’s back with a prayer.

Note: say you want to use a particular photo, but there are other people on it. We can try and remove the person/people to clean the photo up. This is not always possible, but as long as most of the face is visible, we can fix it.

Video – removing a person from photo

The video below shows example of such removal. It is a medium difficulty one. It should give you an idea what kind of fixes are possible and how good the outcome may be.

We will do this free of charge for you. Simply use the photo as is in our personalisation system and leave us a note in custom verse/message field on checkout.

Do not attempt tight cropping, crop just like you would like the photo to look with other people or distracting elements removed.

Correct cropping that allows us to fix your photo. Photo shows correct and incorrect cropping.
Our photo upload interface. Many clients try to fix problems by cropping the face on the photo very tight. We can try and do a better job.

Tell us what you need removed/cleaned up and email us the original photo if you can. Just reply to email you’ll receive after placing your order.

We will attempt the fix and send you final proof before printing.

We routinely remove people and distracting elements from the photos and are very good at it.

If you are not sure about quality, do not worry. Use the photo as is. We check quality of all photos, and if there is a problem, we will let you know.

MPW-01 wallet mortuary card with flowers on the front.
MPW-01 card design, available here.

Wording: front of the wallet memorial card

As the cards are small, wording is usually kept short.
The cards can have a heading – its wording is the same as on full-sized memorial cards.

Example headings

In Loving Memory Of
Remembering (Name)
Always in Our Hearts
In Memoriam
Forever in Our Hearts
In Remembrance Of
Precious Memories Of
Let Us Remember
Sadly Missed
Rest in Peace

Heading and other element location on a wallet memorial card.

A photo of the deceased is usually placed under or above the heading. The heading should not be very prominent, as it would compete with the name. The card is too small to have more than one important thing on it.

The photo is then followed by some variation of the below text:

In loving memory of
Name and Surname
Address Line 1
Address Line2
Who died on 12/01/2013
Aged (age) years
Rest in Peace

The video above shows example front layout/designs of wallet cards.

Wording: back of the card

The back of a wallet memorial card almost always consists just of a short prayer (thus their alternative name – Prayer Cards), verse, poem or other short text.

The space is limited so the text has to be selected carefully.

Back of the wallet card, multiple wording and verse examples
Back of the wallet card, multiple wording examples and background options.

Maximum amount of text that fits

Usually four 4-verse paragraphs is the maximum you can fit while keeping the text clear enough to read.

So if you need a solid value, a maximum of 100 words or 500 characters will usually be a safe amount of text for a poem.

Verse / Poem max word count.
Verse / Poem max safe word count.

If you are wondering how much of continuous text you can safely fit on the back – it is 1000 characters or 200 words. And we have to emphasize that at that point you are really stretching it a good bit.

We checked the longest verse we use (all verses are listed right below), “Footprints”.

Maximum continuous text amount.
Maximum continuous text amount.

“Footprints” is more like a story, there is a good degree of freedom in formatting it. You do not have such freedom with poems.

Video – example backs

Above you can see a selection of our background/verse options for the back of the card. If we printed all the possible combinations the stack would be 40cm / 16″ tall.

Verses and poems that will fit on the back

Below you can see the verses that are available to choose from in our online personalisation system. They were selected to fit on a wallet card.

Example verse (A Letter from Heaven) for the  back of the card.
Verse on the back of the card

We printed them many times, they are legible and work well. The verses below are pulled automatically from our system, so what you see is exactly the selection available when personalising any of our template designs.

Need a custom verse? No problem, we put it in for you at no extra charge.

Verse or poem for back of wallet card2 Verse or poem for back of wallet card3 Verse or poem for back of wallet card4 Verse or poem for back of wallet card5 Verse or poem for back of wallet card6 Verse or poem for back of wallet card7 Verse or poem for back of wallet card8 Verse or poem for back of wallet card9 Verse or poem for back of wallet card10 Verse or poem for back of wallet card11 Verse or poem for back of wallet card12 Verse or poem for back of wallet card13 Verse or poem for back of wallet card14 Verse or poem for back of wallet card15 Verse or poem for back of wallet card16 Verse or poem for back of wallet card17 Verse or poem for back of wallet card18 Verse or poem for back of wallet card19 Verse or poem for back of wallet card20 Verse or poem for back of wallet card21 Verse or poem for back of wallet card22 Verse or poem for back of wallet card23 Verse or poem for back of wallet card24 Verse or poem for back of wallet card25 Verse or poem for back of wallet card26 Verse or poem for back of wallet card27 Verse or poem for back of wallet card28 Verse or poem for back of wallet card29 Verse or poem for back of wallet card30 Verse or poem for back of wallet card31 Verse or poem for back of wallet card32 Verse or poem for back of wallet card33 Verse or poem for back of wallet card34 Verse or poem for back of wallet card35 Verse or poem for back of wallet card36 Verse or poem for back of wallet card37 Verse or poem for back of wallet card38 Verse or poem for back of wallet card39 Verse or poem for back of wallet card40 Verse or poem for back of wallet card41 Verse or poem for back of wallet card42 Verse or poem for back of wallet card43 Verse or poem for back of wallet card44 Verse or poem for back of wallet card45 Verse or poem for back of wallet card46 Verse or poem for back of wallet card47 Verse or poem for back of wallet card48 Verse or poem for back of wallet card49 Verse or poem for back of wallet card50

Prices

Quantity255075100150200300400500
Price €59 €95 €102 €128 €155 €174 €219 €255 €295

The above prices include delivery (Ireland, UK and mainland EU). Matching envelopes supplied free of charge on all orders.

Here you can view prices of our other products like acknowledgement cards, bookmarks and folding memorial cards.

MPW-07 card with full photo on the front
MPW-07 wallet card with full page photo on the front

Ordering wallet cards

If you are looking to order wallet memorial cards, please see some of our designs below. These cards can be personalised and ordered online. Our system will let you upload photos, add text, select verses etc.

Instant online proof is generated, so you can see right away how the card will look like.

We suggest that you try the online designs first. Vast majority of our clients is perfectly ok with them.

Ordering process is very simple and text suggestions are offered at every step. Should these suggestions fail, we are always there to help you through live chat as you are going through the personalisation process.

Photo shows how background change affects card layout. Multiple background variants shown.
Multiple backgrounds allow plenty of variation and choice.

Each template design has 400+ possible front and back background combinations. Add our standard verses to the mix and you end up with staggering 19600 possible layouts using just one template.

If you need us to make some minor changes (background, different verse, font change etc.) we do those free of charge. Simply list your changes in the “custom vese / message” field on checkout.

Above: MPW-03 card with full page photo one the front, order it here.

This way you can go beyond what our templates offer but use them as a base and save time.

We will do the changes and email you the final layout for approval.

Diagram showing proof iteration process.
Custom card design – unlimited proof iterations, we tweak until you are 100% happy.

If you feel that our template designs do not fulfill your needs, you can order a custom design. There is no design fee. The prices are the same as listed above.

Many of our clients start with our template designs online, and request changes to fulfill their own particular design goals. We have a special field on checkout where you can list your changes, enter custom verses etc.

Image shows location of "custom verse/message" field on checkout.
Custom verse / text field is located on the very bottom of our checkout page. Enter your changes there. Images (if required) can be emailed to memorialprinters@outlook.com

In case you use this facility, we will make the changes on our end and email you a proof for approval.

Turnaround time

We will deliver within 7 working days from your order or approval of final proof. If needed, this can be reliably cut down to 3 working days.

If we experience problems or delays, it will be shown on the top of each page. We update this information daily based on current workload:

Image shows where to find our current delivery times, updated daily.
Current turnaround time and issues (if any) are shown on top of each page.

Turnaround times shorter than 3 days cannot be guaranteed, but we can attempt them if you need us to.

Ordering two weeks before you need your cards is a very safe time margin.

How many cards do other people order?

Over 90% of our wallet card orders are between 25 (minimum quantity), 50 and 100 cards. Larger orders are rare, but they do happen.

Circular graph showing how many wallet cards our clients usually order.
Visual breakdown of order quantities (2019)

How popular are wallet cards?

Almost a third of our clients buy wallet memorial cards. We can say they are a very popular keepsake. It is worth mentioning that they are often ordered alongside other products.

Circular graph showing that almost a third of our clients (27%) order wallet memorial cards.
Almost a third of our clients (27%) order wallet memorial cards.

Wallet cards vs other products – price difference

The table below lets you quickly compare the prices of wallet cards vs other memorial products we offer.

Quantity 25 50 75 100 150 200 300 400 500
Folding Memorial Cards  €79  €89  €99  €109  €139  €169  €229  €279  €329
Acknowledgement Cards 2-sided  €37  €52  €64  €73  €90  €98  €119  €137  €159
Acknowledgement cards 4-page folding  €45  €57  €69  €79  €92  €105  €124  €142  €166
Wallet Memorial Cards  €59  €95  €102  €128  €155  €174  €219  €255  €295
Memorial Bookmarks  €79  €119  €159  €179  €219  €249  €279  €309  €384

Based on our sales data from years 2018 and 2019.

Durability

The cards will easily survive years in your wallet without any deterioration in their look. This is mainly due to lamination, but not only (although lamination does help a lot of course).

Wallet memorial card, front and back
Wallet memorial cards are made to last.

Nowadays, wallet cards (and in fact all our other products) are printed exclusively using digital printing presses. Those presses require special, heavy coated digital paper. Coating makes paper more durable and less likely to absorb moisture.

Digital print is the only economically viable option to print wallet cards, unless you need tens of thousands of them. All Irish suppliers, ourselves included, print those cards digitally.

Digital presses do not print with ink, but with toner. Toner consists of tiny particles of plastic that are melted and fused into paper. This results in very durable print. The print is more or less a layer of plastic.

Enlargement of a card showing raster. Technical or quality related detail.
Digital print has very high resolution. Raster (little dots making up the image) is not visible to the naked eye – you’ll need good magnification in order to see it.

Usually the cards have rounded corners but many companies still do them with ordinary square corners.  We would say that they are cutting corners by not rounding corners.

Rounding corners helps to prevent damage when inserting the cards into wallet – so it makes sense from both aesthetic and technical point of view.

Rosary around wallet card with a poem
Rosary and a poem on the back of a card.

Rounded corners also prevent delamination that would not only look bad, but also contribute to faster wear of the card.

All our wallet cards do have rounded corners. 

Generally speaking, you should not worry about the durability. It is unlikely to become an issue. Paper is surprisingly durable, laminated paper even more so.

Cards from the Victorian era are still around (not to mention the Gutenberg Bible, printed c. 1454). Cards we print today with modern technology can and will last much longer.

MPW-20 Wallet Memorial Card with dark background and decorative golden floral pattern. Outdoors, 3d render.
MPW-20 Wallet Memorial Card with dark background and decorative golden floral pattern

Pros and cons of wallet memorial cards

Pros

  • durable thanks to being printed on thick card and lamination
  • perfect size to be carried in a wallet – same size as ATM cards, every wallet has a dedicated space for them
  • high quality print
  • a photo of the Loved One can be used
  • intended to be a long-lasting personal token of remembrance
  • can be used instead of a standard memorial card

Cons

  • small size prevents more elaborate design
  • limited space for text
  • price similar to full sized in memoriam cards due to similar amount of finishing work
Multiple wallet memorial card designs arranged in rows.
Multiple wallet memorial card designs

Free downloadable wallet card designs – personalise online

If you cannot order from us, you can use one of our free downloadable designs. Just personalise your card, download it and print on your home printer. Then you can cut it to size – the downloaded design will have convenient crop marks to help you with this.

Also – we do not mind if you take the free design and get it printed it with your local printing company. Coming with print ready artwork you are bound to save some money.

Free Wallet Memorial Card Template in InDesign Format – Download

The template pack below is suitable for graphic designers, it is unlikely that you have the required software (Adobe Indesign) if you do not work as a designer.

Our free wallet memorial card template pack contains simple design for a standard 55x55mm (credit card size) wallet card. You can use it as is or create your own designs using our template as a base. Please note – you need Adobe InDesign in order to use this template.

You can download our template pack here:
Download Wallet Card template pack (2.2MB)

The template file has a layer where you can insert your background images so you can create a personalised card very quickly. It also contains a placeholder for the deceased person’s photo.

5 wallet memorial cards placed on a weathered wooden surface.
Multiple wallet memorial card designs

The template files were created using CS6 but we also included idml files that allow you to open the files with CS4 and upwards (meaning CC versions are also covered, but you do not need CC in order to use these files).

The content of the pack:

Files and folders included in template download pack
List of files included in template pack

This template pack also contains all (open/free) the fonts used – but you will probably want to use some other fonts of your choice.

The template pack also contains 10 most popular verses that can be used on the back. Just copy and paste the selected verse into your design and you are done.

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