Finite ring characteristic divides cardinality ($\mathrm{char}R\mid |R|$)

In a finite unital ring $R$, some positive multiple of $1$ is zero, because two of the finitely many successive multiples coincide. If $n=\mathrm{char}R$, the permutation $r\mapsto r+1$ has every cycle of a permutation of length exactly $n$: returning to $r$ after $k$ steps means $k1=0$, whose least positive solution is $n$. These disjoint cycles partition the finite set $R$, so $n$ divides its cardinality. The zero ring has cardinality and characteristic both one.