Silver Nickel Material are used in more heavy-duty applications than fine silver and have relatively low contact resistance coupled with high resistance to arc erosion. Their resistance to welding is better than that of fine silver, although inferior to that of silver cadmium oxide. The materials are produced by powder metallurgical techniques because silver and nickel are essentially insoluble.

A major advantage of the lower nickel content alloys is that are ductile enough for fabrication of  contacts from wire by conventional coining techniques, and can also be direct welded.