Eight languages including Arabic: selling in the UAE, Europe and Africa from one card
A business card that only works in one language stops at the border. How Newbi shows one card in eight languages, with Arabic laid out right to left, and what it does and does not translate.
By Wesley Sing, Founder of Newbi5 min read
A consultant in Dubai hands a card to a client from Riyadh in the morning, a supplier from Mumbai at lunch and a partner from Lagos in the afternoon. A boutique in Johannesburg sells to tourists from Germany and traders from Nairobi. An architect in Accra bids for work in Abidjan. For a lot of businesses, "one market" was never true, and a card that reads correctly for only some of the people who open it is a quiet way of losing the rest.
Newbi was built for that from the start. Whether you are a boutique brand in Dubai, a consultant in London or an entrepreneur in Johannesburg, your card should look and feel as if it were built for exactly where you are.
Eight languages, with right-to-left done properly
A Newbi card can be shown in English, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian, with the whole layout right to left in Arabic. That last part matters more than it sounds. Plenty of tools translate their labels and call it done, then show an Arabic reader a page aligned the wrong way, with buttons in the wrong order. Right-to-left layout means the page itself flips, including the buttons, the booking steps and the forms, so the card reads naturally to an Arabic speaker.
For a business in the Gulf, that is the difference between a card that looks local and one that looks imported. For a South African, Kenyan or Nigerian business selling into the region, it is the difference between being taken seriously and being politely ignored.
What is translated, and what you write yourself
Be clear about one thing. Newbi translates the card's own words: the buttons, headings, booking steps and form labels. Your bio, your service names and your product descriptions appear exactly as you write them. If you want an Arabic speaker to read your bio in Arabic, write it in Arabic, or write the key line in both languages. For more on that, read bilingual business cards in the UAE.
Prices and payments by country
Newbi's own plans are priced in your local currency: in South Africa, Pro is R189 a month; in the UAE, AED 45; in the UK, £9. The prices on your card are shown in the currency you set for each product, formatted for the visitor's language. Newbi does not convert them.
Orders sent on WhatsApp carry no commission. For deposits, you can ask for one on any service and the card shows the client where to pay you, so you are never pushed into a payment method that does not exist in your country.
One card for every market
The practical shape of this is one link that behaves correctly for everyone who opens it:
- Your card, with your details, bio and socials, in one of 17 themes across four moods.
- A mini-store or services list with prices, so a customer in another country can see what you offer without asking.
- A booking button, so a client in another time zone books a call without an exchange of messages at awkward hours.
- A lead capture form, so the contact who is not ready to talk leaves their details, which land in your dashboard, or go to your CRM by webhook on the Professional plan.
- A WhatsApp button, because across the Gulf, Africa and much of Europe, WhatsApp is the first channel, not the last.
Nobody has to install anything. The card opens in the browser of whatever phone the visitor carries.
Sharing across borders
How the card is shared matters as much as what is on it, because you will not always be in the room:
- A QR code, which works on any phone with a camera, in any country, with no app.
- A direct link, for WhatsApp, email signatures and LinkedIn, where many cross-border introductions happen.
- An Apple or Google Wallet pass, so your card sits next to your boarding pass at a conference in Dubai or a trade fair in Frankfurt.
- An NFC card, on any plan, that opens your card with a tap on a phone, which at an exhibition with fifty other stands is the moment people remember.
- A custom domain, on the Professional plan, so an international client sees your name in the address, not a platform's.
Built for the way these businesses actually work
A card for a multi-market business is edited more often than most: a new office, a new price, a partner's name added, a service dropped. Newbi is edited from your phone or browser, with the Newbi app on iPhone and Android, and every link, QR code, wallet pass and NFC card already in circulation opens the new version. There is nothing to reprint and nothing to re-send.
Set-up is quick. Sign up with an email, with no password. Describe your business, or hand Naya, the AI built into Newbi, a photo of your paper card, and it fills in the details, writes the bio and picks a style. Check the live preview and publish.
Who this is for
- Consultants, agents and professionals in the UAE and the wider Gulf who meet clients from several countries every week.
- African businesses selling into the Middle East and Europe, and European businesses selling into Africa.
- Tourism, hospitality, property and trade businesses whose customers arrive from everywhere.
- Anyone who has ever watched a client squint at a card in the wrong language and decided not to mention it.
Pro is free for 14 days, with no payment details needed.