A business card that’s never out of date.
The QR code on your card opens a clean mobile page with your details and a one-tap Save contact button. New number, new job, new photo? Edit it once. Every card you’ve ever handed out is already current.
Maya Fernandes
Head baker · Olive & Oak Bakery
Sourdough every morning from 7. Ask about wedding cakes.
What is a vCard QR code?
A vCard QR code is a QR code that shares your contact details. Scan it and your phone offers to save the person as a new contact, with no typing. Most vCard codes store the whole contact card inside the pattern, which makes them dense, photo-free and impossible to update once printed. A BuildYourQR vCard code works differently: it holds a short link to a mobile contact page with your photo, numbers, email, address and social profiles, and a Save contact button that hands the phone a standard vCard file. Because the details live on the page rather than in the pattern, you can change them whenever you like and every printed card stays correct. The code also stays small and easy to scan. There’s no app for the other person to install, and it works the same on iPhone and Android.
What goes on it
What can a vCard QR code hold?
You see a live preview on a phone while you type, so there are no surprises when someone scans it.
Name, photo, job title and company
The top of the card, with your photo or initials.
Up to five phone numbers
Mobile, work, home or fax. Each one is tap-to-call.
Up to five email addresses
Tap to start an email.
Website and address
The address opens in maps for directions.
Up to eight social profiles
LinkedIn, Instagram, X, YouTube, WhatsApp and more.
A short bio and your colours
A few lines about you, in your brand colours.
Static vs dynamic
Why not store the vCard in the code itself?
vCard stored in the code
- Gets denser with every field you add
- No photo
- Fixed forever once printed
- No idea if anyone scanned it
BuildYourQR contact card
- Small, simple code: it only holds a short link
- Photo, colours and social profiles
- Edit your details any time
- Scan counts by day, device and city
Where to put it
Where should you put a vCard QR code?
- The back of your business card. About 2.5 cm across is plenty for a card held in the hand.
- Name badges at events. People can save you in the time it takes to shake hands. See QR codes for events.
- Your last presentation slide. Leave it up during questions and let the room scan.
- A sign on the counter or the For Sale board. Useful for shop owners and estate agents.
Questions
About vCard QR codes.
A vCard is the standard file format phones and email apps use for contacts. It’s the same thing your phone creates when you “share contact”. When someone taps Save contact on your BuildYourQR page, their phone receives a vCard file with your details, photo included, and offers to add it to their contacts. No app needed.
Yes. The button downloads a standard .vcf file, which iPhones open straight into Contacts and Android phones open in their contacts app. On a desktop it downloads a file that Outlook, Apple Contacts and Google Contacts can import.
Edit the card in your dashboard and save. The QR code on every business card you’ve handed out now opens the updated page, with your new number, new job title or new photo. People who already saved you keep their old copy until they save again, the same as with any contact.
Anyone who scans the code or has the link. That’s the point of a business card. The page tells search engines not to list it, so it won’t turn up in Google results for your name. You can pause the code at any time and the page stops showing your details.
You can, but the code has to hold every character of your details, so it becomes dense and hard to scan, it can’t carry a photo, and it can never be changed. A dynamic vCard code stays small and simple because it only holds a short link, and the details behind it can be updated at any time.