NFC Business Cards vs. Paper Business Cards: The Ultimate Comparison Guide

Paper business cards have been an unchallenged staple of business and networking for decades, but their effect on the environment is now gaining more attention as we enter an increasingly Eco-conscious digital Era, in which sustainability matters (there’s even a trending hashtag for it #sustainabilitymatters).

The environmental ramifications of traditional paper business cards cannot be ignored any longer. This probably explains why, in the past two years, we saw a rise in NFC (Near Field Communication) business cards, which appeared as a logical technology alternative to paper business cards and a viable transition into a smarter and more sustainable way to exchange digital information when we meet new people.

The Ultimate Pros & Cons Comparison

We will first look at the environmental consequences of paper business cards with very concerning statistics, and then we will explore the pros and cons of using NFC business cards instead, taking into consideration sustainability, convenience, cost, cultural influence, and technological aspects.

So far this year, at the time of writing, 339,837,506 (and counting…) tons of paper have been produced in the world.

Logically, before talking about a solution, we must first look the damage caused by traditional paper business cards.

THE PROBLEM

We have identified 4 main problems in the production of paper in general, and therefore in the making of paper business cards as well:

• Deforestation
• Water Usage
• Wastewater & Pollution
• Energy Consumption

Deforestation

Paper is one of the most important invention, but its production comes at a heavy cost. In the process of making paper, trees are the most critical raw materials and it is estimated that 24 trees are needed to make 1 ton of standard office paper. That’s over 1.4 billion trees felled for paper production each year.

The widespread and systemic usage of paper business cards, sadly contributes highly to these numbers, and as a result to the deforestation and environmental degradation.

Water Usage

Making paper consumes considerable amounts of water. In order to produce a single sheet of paper, 10 liters of water are required. The pulp and paper industry is the single largest industrial consumer of water in Western countries.

Wastewater & Pollution

The paper industry is facing a social and environmental challenge for wastewater. Various materials are generated in pulp and paper mills, such as ash, dregs, grits, lime mud and pulp mill sludge, which all typically end up in landfills or incinerated, but wastewater also contains very complex gaseous, organic and inorganic pollutants. The pollutants discharged during paper manufacturing include a VERY LONG list, so buckle up…

hydrogen sulfides, sodium sulfide, methyl mercaptan, sulfur, and chlorine dioxide, ferrous, copper, zinc, nickel, and magnesium, hexadecanoic acids, octacosane, β-sitosterol trimethylsilyl ether, 1-tetradecane, 2-methoxy phenol, trichlorocatechol, tetrachlorocatechol, chlorophenols, chloroguaiacols, chlorosyringols, chlorocatechols, terpenes, methanol, phenol, alkylated phenols, decalone, benzoic acid, abietic acid, and dehydroabietic acid

…just to name a few.

The scale of the wastewater problem becomes even clearer when we consider that in the US alone, water use within pulp and paper mills for 1 ton of paper is approximately 64000 liters (or 17,000 gallons), with the most efficient mills still using approximately a third of that.

Energy Consumption

The paper manufacturing process consumes considerable amounts of energy, further exacerbating environmental degradation. The paper industry stands as the third-largest consumer of energy on a global scale. British Thermal Unit (BTU) is a measure of the heat content of fuels or energy sources. According to the Environmental Paper Network's Paper Calculator, it takes about 32 million BTU of energy to produce 1 ton of virgin paper fiber, and about 22 million BTU to produce 1 ton of recycled paper.

THE SOLUTION

NFC digital business cards appeared as a sustainable alternative to minimize environmental impact and reduce reliance on paper. The benefits of using only one NFC digital business card instead of hundreds of paper business cards is obvious when it comes to paper production, but let’s compare NFC Business cards vs. Paper business cards from 5 main aspects:

BENEFITS

• Sustainability
• Convenience
• Cost-efficiency

CHALLENGES

• Cultural norms & influence
• Technology adoption

BENEFITS of NFC business cards vs. paper business cards

1. Sustainability

A. NFC Business Cards

• One NFC Business card is all you need.
• It's an Eco-friendly and sustainable way to present yourself and your business.
• NFC cards exist in bamboo or in wood such as basswood (Tilia americana), which is widely recognized as one of the most sustainable choices for products due to its renewable nature, responsible forestry practices, low environmental impact, and its ability to sequester carbon.

B. Traditional Paper Business Cards

• Printing and reprinting paper business cards is done in batches of 200 and more, each time. That’s 27 million business cards printed daily in the USA alone.?
• All the above mentioned deforestation, water and energy consumption, and wastewater pollution.
• In short, millions of trees are cut each year, billions of paper cards are printed, and for what? For 88% of cards being thrown away within a week and ending in landfills.
• Paper business cards are usually printed on 14-point cardstock (thick), 16-point cardstock (thicker), and 100 lb. gloss cover (thin). But, there are more paper weight options available and choices of recycled paper for the more Eco-conscious people.

2. Convenience

A. NFC Business Cards

• It’s always on you, so you never run out of business cards.
• Ideal for entrepreneurs and people working for many companies
• NFC cards are dynamic and their content can be written and rewritten as often as you want, so 1 NFC business card can be used to share a Whatsapp number, or a website, or a contact vCard or a Youtube video or channel. And that information can change and be different from one recipient to another depending on the context of the meeting encounter.
• Instant upload of information on the phone in just a tap.
• New staff can start networking immediately.
• Stand out and make a memorable first impression while networking, pitching, selling and socializing.
• New title or address? No problem! Just update your information.

B. Traditional Paper Business Cards

• Ever heard or said…“Sorry, I ran out of business cards”? Of course you have, everybody has.
• Anyone working for multiple companies usually needs one business card for each of their companies. That's 200 x the number of companies.
• The information printed on the card is static and cannot be changed, so 1 business card will always only give only 1 set of information.
• Information on the card needs to be typed in or scanned or photographed. 88% of paper business cards are discarded within a week to end up in the trash/landfills.
• New staff usually needs to wait (sometimes weeks) for new business cards to be ready
• 99% of paper business cards are simply boring, relying on a legacy template design that has remained unchallenged for decades.
• New title or address means reprinting a new batch of business cards (usually 200 cards).

3. Cost-Efficiency

A. NFC Business Cards

• Cost effective. One-off purchase. No extra costs.
• Simple customization with a logo or a name is enough to impress with this new and trendy technology. The Instant upload of information on the phone is also extremely impressive and sure to make a memorable first impression and spark a conversation.
• Sending a simple logo is all that is needed for customizing an NFC card.

Traditional Paper Business Cards

• Printing and reprinting business cards by batches of 200+ quickly gets expensive.
• The quality of business cards influences people's perception of a company or individual's professionalism, so many try to be creative with their design and usually increase the quality of the paper used for their business cards, but at a very high cost.
• Someone needs to design the business card. There are tools and programs and freelancers available, but some sort of cost is likely involved.

CHALLENGES of NFC business cards vs. paper business cards

1. Cultural Norms & Influence

A. NFC Business Cards

• The interlocutor does not keep the business card.
• NFC business cards will not replace entirely paper business cards just yet, but their usage will significantly reduce the need for paper business cards production and decrease the frequency of printing and reprinting. One NFC card at a time, the overall impact will be felt as the market gets more educated leading to a wider cultural acceptance of contactless information exchange.

B. Traditional Paper Business Cards

• Paper business cards have been around for so long that it seems intuitive to receive a business card and keep it.
• In some cultures, especially in Asia, the exchange of business cards and associated protocols are very formal. For example, in China, a business card is handed over by holding it with both hands and with the information oriented to face the interlocutor.
• Handing out paper business cards is still a necessity in many cases and cannot be fully replaced by a digital alternative.

2. Technology acceptance

A. NFC Business Cards

• NFC business cards need to be programmed using free mobile apps. Here are two apps that are part of the NFC Forum and are very easy to use such as BLK CARDS https://blk.cards/pages/install-blk-cards-app and NFC Tools https://www.wakdev.com/en/
• The recipient phone must have NFC enabled.
• NFC phone penetration is high (72% of smartphones worldwide are equipped with NFC technology) and is constantly increasing as each new phone model released inherently has the NFC capability. You may still encounter people with phones that are not compatible. On iPhone, typically iPhone XS and above can read NFC cards natively without the need to have any NFC reader app. Android phones are mostly all NFC enabled but NFC must be turned on (switch in settings).
• The NFC chip is in different places on iPhone and Android.On the iPhone, it is at the top, where the camera is, and the NFC card can be tapped either on the front at the camera level, or on the back of the phone at that top center point.On Android, the NFC chip is at the back and often in the middle area of the phone or the top area.
• QR code fallback. Most NFC cards rely on a QR code fallback for when NFC is unavailable or cannot be read for whatever reason (the BLK CARDS mobile App has automatic QR codes options for each link and contact created in the App).

B. Traditional Paper Business Cards

• There are many tools and programs to design business cards such as Canva, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and more.
• No technology is needed to read the information. However, if the recipient wants to input the information in their phone, then they have to manually type it, or scan the card with an App, or take a photo of the card.
• While no technology is needed to read the business card, we have all encountered poorly designed business cards that required a pair of glasses because the ridiculous font types, sizes or colors used.
• Some business cards use QR codes printed on the business card to facilitate the input of the information to the recipient’s phone. However, the QR is static and cannot be changed. So 1 business card will always only give 1 set of information only.

Conclusion

We can see that paper business cards have a significant environmental impact, contribute to deforestation, water usage and pollution, and have a high energy consumption. NFC digital business cards, on the other hand, provide a sustainable alternative, reducing reliance on paper and minimizing environmental consequences.

While paper business cards offer a tangible and personal touch, their significant enviromental impact during production, and their contribution to waste generation cannot be ignored. NFC digital business cards leave a significantly smaller footprint, offer convenience, versatility, and last but not least, are cheaper.

So it s fair to say that NFC is a very good alternative, but it may not be a complete replacement just yet, but rather a great complement. When deciding between classic paper business cards and NFC digital business cards, consider your own individual preferences, the cultural norms in the markets where you operate, and some technological factors as the market is not very mature yet when it comes to NFC and needs to be educated more.

For more information about NFC business cards, visit the BLKcards.com website for examples of usage, tutorial videos, and a wide range of NFC business cards models to choose from, at a very competitive price.