How to make a digital business card on your iPhone and add it to Apple Wallet

Your iPhone can already share your contact details without any extra app. For some people that is all they need. For anyone who meets clients, sells something, or deals with people who do not use iPhones, it runs out quickly. This guide walks through what your iPhone can do on its own, where it falls short, and how to put a proper business card in Apple Wallet so it is always two seconds away.

What your iPhone can do on its own

Your contact card

Open the Contacts app and tap your own name at the top: that is your contact card. Fill in your name, work number, email, company and job title, and add a photo. From there you can tap Share Contact and send it as a contact file in Messages, WhatsApp or email. The person receiving it can add you to their contacts in a tap.

NameDrop

On recent iPhones, you can swap contact details by holding two iPhones close together. Each person chooses which number or email to share, and you both get each other's details. Apple's documentation lists iOS 17.1 or later on both iPhones as the requirement, and it also works with some Apple Watch models.

Where these fall short

• NameDrop only works between iPhones. It needs Apple's software on both devices, so anyone with an Android phone is left out, and in South Africa that is most people.
• A contact file is a snapshot. Once you have sent it, it cannot change. If you move numbers, everyone you shared it with keeps the old one.
• It only introduces you. A contact file cannot show your services, prices, work or reviews, and it cannot take a booking or an order.
• You get nothing back. You do not know who saved you, and there is nowhere for them to leave their details for you.

A digital business card works for everyone

A digital business card is a page about you and your business with a short link. Anyone can open it on any phone, Android or iPhone, without installing anything, and you can share it by link, QR code or a tap of an NFC card. Because it is a page rather than a file, you can change it any time and everyone sees the latest version.

The best of both is to use them together: a digital card as the thing you share, with a Save contact button on it that adds you to their phone properly, photo and all.

Why put it in Apple Wallet

The most common moment you need your card is standing in front of someone, and hunting through apps and bookmarks is awkward. Apple Wallet solves that. Once your card is a pass in your Wallet, it sits next to your bank cards and loyalty cards:

1. Double-click the side button of your iPhone to open Wallet, if you have that turned on under Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay.
2. Tap your business card pass.
3. Show the QR code. They scan it with their camera and your card opens on their phone.

It works the same way whatever phone the other person has, because all they are doing is scanning a QR code.

How to do it with Newbi

1. Create your card. On your iPhone, go to newbi.app and tap Build Now. You can start from a photo of an old paper business card or by describing your business in a sentence, and the details are filled in for you to check and edit.
2. Add the essentials. Your photo, WhatsApp number, email and website at minimum. Add your services and prices if you sell anything.
3. Add it to Apple Wallet. Open your card and tap Add to Apple Wallet. The pass shows your name, your role and a QR code to your card, in your card's colours. Android users can do the same with Add to Google Wallet.
4. Keep it current. When you change your card, your Wallet pass updates to match, so you never have to add it again.

Wallet passes are on the Pro plan, and you can try it free for 14 days.

A few extra tips

• Add your card to your home screen. Open it in Safari, tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. It becomes an icon like any app.
• Put the link in your email signature and WhatsApp Business profile, so people can find it after you have met.
• Test it on someone else's phone before you rely on it, ideally an Android one.

Quick answers

Is the Contacts app enough on its own? If you only ever share details with other iPhone users and never change your number, it can be. Most businesses need something that works for everyone and keeps up with changes.

Can Android users add my card? Yes. They scan your QR code or open your link, and can save your details from there. Newbi cards can also be added to Google Wallet on Android.

Does the Wallet pass need an internet connection to show? No. The pass and its QR code are stored on your phone. The person scanning it needs a connection to open your card.