Free NFC business card you can write yourself
Buy any blank NFC tag, hold it to your Android phone, and Altruistspace writes your tap-to-share business card onto it — then reads it back to prove it worked. One tap opens a native "Add to contacts" prompt or your profile. No app for either side.
What is an NFC business card?
An NFC business card is a card, sticker or keyfob with a near-field communication chip inside. The chip stores a few hundred bytes — your contact details as a vCard, or a link to your online profile. Tap it to the back of a phone and that payload transfers in under a second, with no pairing, no camera and no battery in the card.
It replaces the paper card that gets thrown away and the "let me type your number" moment that never happens. Altruistspace turns any blank tag into one, and pairs it with a QR code and a short link so you are covered on every phone in the room.
How NFC business cards work
The receiving phone's NFC antenna powers the chip, reads the record and decides what to do with it. That decision is driven by the record type you write — which is why Altruistspace lets you choose.
vCard record — instant contact save
Writing a text/vcard record makes the phone open its native "Add to contacts" screen, pre-filled with your name, designation and the fields you marked public. The person taps Save and you are in their phone book.
URL record — your full profile
Writing your short link opens your Altruistspace profile in the browser: photo, tagline, links, socials, and a Reveal contact button that unlocks your numbers once the viewer signs in — so you know who took them.
Write your own tag in 3 steps
- 1
Build your space
Add your name, designation, tagline, links, socials and contact numbers in the builder. Pick which fields go on the NFC vCard — name and designation are on by default, phone and email are opt-in.
- 2
Open the dashboard on Android Chrome
Choose vCard or profile link, press Write to NFC, and hold a blank NTAG tag flat against the back of the phone until the write completes.
- 3
Let it verify, then test the tap
Altruistspace immediately reads the tag back and compares the payload to what you asked for, so a half-written tag never leaves your desk. Tap it with a second phone to see the real experience.
NFC vs QR code vs paper cards
| NFC tap | QR code | Paper card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed to share | One tap, under a second | Open camera, aim, tap banner | Hand over, hope it survives |
| Works on every phone | Android + iPhone XS and newer | Any phone with a camera | Yes |
| Saves to contacts automatically | Yes, with a vCard record | Yes, via the profile | No, manual typing |
| Update details later | Rewrite the tag or edit the profile | Edit the profile, QR unchanged | Reprint everything |
| Cost per person met | One reusable tag | Free | Per card, forever |
Device support: Android and iPhone
Full support. Web NFC lets Altruistspace read, write, verify and erase tags directly from the dashboard — vCard or URL, your choice. Requires Chrome 89+ with NFC enabled in system settings.
Reading works out of the box on iPhone XS and newer — tapping a written tag shows the contact prompt or opens the link. Writing from Safari is not possible, so we hand you the vCard file and instructions for the free NFC Tools app.
What gets stored on the tag
You control the vCard field by field in the builder, so the tag only carries what you are happy to hand out silently. Anything you leave off stays behind the gated reveal on your profile.
Full name
On by default. Becomes the contact's name.
Designation
On by default. Maps to the job title field.
Company
Optional NFC-only field for your organisation.
Phone number
Opt-in. Off unless you switch it on.
Opt-in NFC-only field, separate from your profile.
Profile URL
Always included so they can see the rest.
Your phone and WhatsApp numbers stay gated on the profile page regardless of the NFC settings. A viewer signs in to reveal them, and the exchange is logged against your active event so you remember where you met.
Which NFC tags to buy
NTAG213 stickers
144 bytes — enough for a short link. Cheapest option, great for sticking on a phone case, laptop or menu.
NTAG215 PVC cards
504 bytes — fits a full vCard comfortably. The standard choice for a card you hand over at events.
NTAG216 tags
888 bytes — headroom for long vCards with photos of text-heavy fields. Overkill for most people.
Prefer something printed? Altruistspace exports your card at 300 DPI in Standard and PVC (85.6 × 53.98 mm, rounded corners) sizes, with cut guides — print it and stick an NTAG213 on the back for a card that works both ways.
Frequently asked questions
How do NFC business cards work?
An NFC business card holds a tiny chip storing a small payload — either a vCard with your contact details or a link to your profile. When another phone taps the card, the chip powers up from the phone's NFC field and hands over that payload. A vCard opens the phone's native "Add to contacts" screen; a link opens your Altruistspace profile in the browser. Neither side needs an app.
Are NFC business cards safe?
Yes. The tag is passive — it has no battery, no tracking and no way to run code on the other phone. It only hands over the few hundred bytes you wrote to it. You can lock a tag read-only once you are happy with it so nobody can overwrite it. On Altruistspace your phone and WhatsApp numbers stay gated behind sign-in on the profile page, so a tapped link never leaks them silently.
Do NFC business cards work on iPhone?
Reading works: every iPhone since the XS reads NFC tags in the background — tap the card to the top of the phone and a notification appears. Writing a tag from Safari is not supported, because Apple has not shipped Web NFC. On iPhone we give you the vCard file to download plus step-by-step instructions to write the tag with the free NFC Tools app. On Android Chrome you can write and verify the tag directly from your dashboard.
How do I make an NFC business card for free?
Create an Altruistspace space, fill in your name, designation and contact fields, then open the dashboard on an Android phone with Chrome and press Write to NFC. Hold a blank NTAG tag to the back of the phone. The only cost is the blank tag itself — usually well under a dollar. Your profile, QR code and printable card layouts are free while we are in beta.
Can I erase and rewrite an NFC card?
Yes, as long as the tag has not been locked read-only. The dashboard has an Erase option that writes an empty record over the tag, and writing a new URL or vCard simply replaces whatever was on it. NTAG tags survive tens of thousands of rewrites, so one card can follow you across job changes.
Are NFC business cards worth it compared to a QR code?
They complement each other. NFC is faster and feels better in person — one tap, no camera, no aiming — but it needs the other phone to have NFC turned on. A QR code works on any phone with a camera, prints on anything, and can be shared on a slide or a screenshot. Altruistspace gives you both from the same profile, so you never have to choose in the moment.
Ready to tap into it?
Set up your NFC business card in under 2 minutes. Free while in beta.
Create your NFC card