Glossary · updated October 29, 2026

Digital business card glossary.

Twelve terms you meet when you share a business card from a phone, each defined in one paragraph and then explained, with the standard or the platform’s own documentation as the source. Three side-by-side explainers cover the comparisons people search for.

Make your free cardA free Apple Wallet business card, in about a minute

A vCard inside the code
A link to a card
Names for the card

Names for the card.

The many words for one thing, and the two that mean something else.

The same thing

  • Digital
  • Virtual
  • Electronic
  • Contactless
  • Smart
  • E-business card

Close: the data

  • Digital contact card

Something else

  • vCard (the file)
  • NFC card (the key)
All ten: every name
TermVirtual business card

A business card that lives on screens; another name for a digital business card.

 TermElectronic business card

A business card shared digitally, and the name of Outlook’s .vcf contact card.

 TermDigital contact card

Your details in a form a phone saves in one step; on iPhone, your My Card.

 TermContactless business card

A card shared without handing anything over: scan, tap or link.

 TermNames for a digital business card

Every name the card goes by, and which ones mean something else.
Formats

Formats.

The files underneath: the contact a phone saves and the pass Wallet keeps.

vCard · their contacts

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
FN:Jordan Hale
TEL:+1 415 555 0134
END:VCARD

.pkpass · your Wallet

{
  "formatVersion": 1,
  "storeCard": { … },
  "barcodes": [ … ]
}
Example · the two files, opened
TermvCard (.vcf file)

The plain-text contact file phones import, defined by the IETF.

 TermWallet pass

A signed card kept in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

 Term.pkpass

The signed zip format of an Apple Wallet pass.
Ways to share

Ways to share.

What happens between your phone and theirs.

  1. QR code
    1. Their camera
    2. Your card
  2. NFC tag
    1. A tap on the chip
    2. Your card
  3. NameDrop
    1. iPhones held close
    2. No card page
Two of three open your card
TermNameDrop

Apple’s swap of contact cards between two iPhones held together.

 TermNFC tag

A battery-free chip a phone reads from about 2 cm; it stores a short message.
QR codes

QR codes.

What a code holds, and how it survives a scratch.

A vCard inside: 57×57
A link to a card: 29×29
Both drawn on this page by the encoder the passes use. What goes inside decides how dense the code is.
TermDynamic vs static QR code

Content stored in the code, or a redirect you can change.

 TermQR code error correction

The spare data that lets a damaged QR code scan: levels L, M, Q and H.
How they fit

Three layers, one exchange.

Most confusion comes from comparing words on different layers, such as a QR code with a digital business card. Each layer does one job.

Where each term sits when you share a card
LayerIts jobTerms
The card Shows who you are and lets them save you Virtual, electronic and contactless business card; digital contact card
The way in Gets their phone from your hand to your card QR code (dynamic or static, with error correction), NFC tag, NameDrop, a link
The file What is stored on a phone afterwards vCard in their contacts; Wallet pass (.pkpass) in yours
Versus

The comparisons people search for.

Each one puts two terms side by side and says where each wins.

The way in

Gets their phone from your hand to your card.

The card

Shows who you are, and lets them save you.

The file

What stays on a phone afterwards.

Side by side
Every term, by layer
ExplainerDigital business card vs vCard

The file they keep, and the card you share.

 ExplainerDigital business card vs QR code

A QR code is the way in. The card is what opens.

 ExplainerNFC vs digital business card

The chip that holds an address, and the page the address opens.

 ComparisonDigital vs paper (physical) business cards

Physical and traditional cards against digital ones, row by row.

 GuideNFC vs QR for business cards

What each one asks of the other person, and where each fails.

 GuideNameDrop vs a digital business card

When the iPhone swap is the right tool, and when a QR card wins.

Every layer, one free card

  • A page and a Wallet pass
  • Save hands over a vCard
Make your free card
Example card
Questions

About these definitions.

What is a digital business card?

A business card that lives on screens: a page, and often a Wallet pass, with your details and a Save button, shared by QR code, link or tap. The full answer is on what a digital business card is.

What is the difference between a vCard and a digital business card?

A vCard is the contact file a phone saves. A digital business card is the card you share, which hands over a vCard when someone taps Save. See digital business card vs vCard.

Where do the technical facts come from?

From the primary source for each: the IETF RFCs for vCard, Apple’s developer and support documentation for Wallet passes and NameDrop, the NFC Forum and NXP for NFC tags, and DENSO WAVE and ISO for QR codes. Each page lists its sources and the date they were read.

How often are these pages checked?

Each page shows the date it was last checked; this set was last checked on October 29, 2026.

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