Digital business cards for Apple and Google Wallet: how they work

A digital business card is a card that lives on your phone instead of in your pocket. The wallet version is the simplest kind: it sits in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet alongside your boarding passes and loyalty cards, so it is two taps away and never runs out. You show it, the other person points their camera at the QR code, and your details save straight into their contacts. No app for you, no app for them.

What is actually in the QR code

This is the part most people get wrong. A good digital business card does not put a link to a website in the QR code. It puts your contact card itself, in a format called vCard that every phone has understood for twenty years. Name, company, title, mobile, email, website. When a camera reads a vCard QR, the phone does not open a browser. It opens a new contact, pre-filled, with a Save button. That is the whole trick: one scan, one tap, and you are in their phone under your own name.

A QR that links to a web page adds steps. The page has to load, they have to find the download button, the file has to open. On a slow connection at a trade show, a lot of people give up halfway. Keep the QR pointed at the contact card.

Apple Wallet and Google Wallet: what is the difference?

For the person scanning you: nothing. Any phone camera reads the QR, iPhone or Android, whether or not they have a wallet app. The wallet only matters for your phone, because that is where your card is stored.

• Apple Wallet is built into every iPhone. A wallet card is a "pass": a small signed file that Apple verifies before adding. Once added, you open Wallet, tap the card, and the QR is on screen. It also works from the lock screen with a double-click of the side button.
• Google Wallet does the same job on Android. The card is a "generic pass" saved to your Google account, so it follows you if you change phones.

Good Shout cards are built for both at once. You add yours to whichever wallet your phone has. If you switch from Android to iPhone next year, you sign in and add the same card to the other wallet.

What happens when your number changes

With paper, a new number means a new print run and a drawer of cards you cannot hand out. With a wallet card, you edit the details in your workspace and add the card to your wallet again. The version on your phone refreshes. Everyone you meet from then on gets the new number. People who already scanned you keep the contact they saved, so it is worth sending them a WhatsApp if the number changes, exactly as you would have anyway.

What it costs

A Good Shout digital business card is free. The free card uses the Columns template and carries a small "Made with Good Shout" line at the bottom. Pro is R149 once-off per card: the footer goes, every template and custom colour unlocks, and it stays yours with no monthly fee. Compare that with a box of 250 decent paper cards at around R400 to R600, reprinted every time a detail changes, and the maths is short.

How to make one in two minutes

1. Go to Digital cards and sign in with Google or an email address.
2. Type your name, title, company, mobile, email and website. Upload your logo and pick your colours. The preview on the right is exactly what lands in the wallet.
3. Tap Add to Apple Wallet or Add to Google Wallet. On an iPhone the Wallet sheet opens over the page; tap Add. On Android, Google Wallet opens; tap Add.
4. Test it: ask a colleague to point their camera at your card. Their phone should offer to save a new contact with your details.

When paper still makes sense

Some rooms still expect a card in the hand: formal meetings, older clients, a board of trustees. If that is your world, carry a few paper cards and put the same QR on the back of them. The paper does the ceremony and the QR does the saving. Our guide on QR code business cards covers how to do that well.

Frequently asked questions

Does the other person need an app to scan my card?

No. The built-in camera on any modern iPhone or Android reads the QR and offers to save the contact.

Can I have cards for my whole team?

Yes. Each person gets their own card under one account. Pro is per card, because a Pro card is tied to one person's name.

Does the card work offline?

Yes. The QR contains the contact details themselves, so it works in a basement, on a farm, or on a plane.

What if I change phones?

Sign in on the new phone and add the card to its wallet. Google Wallet cards also move with your Google account automatically.