It was an actual statement of “I belong”. I’ve joined the team.

You probably couldn’t wait to share one.

How about when you snagged the business card of someone with status?

That genuine connection was a status tag for you too.

Sadly, managers today issue fewer paper business cards to their teams. Paper moves slow and is costly to produce and modify. Paper cards don’t say much. And they don’t support ESG commitments.

For team building, status tagging and brand building, digital contact cards tick every box.

Here’s how to get them right.

With the right approach, digital business cards have a lot to offer – and it goes way beyond never running out of cards and never forgetting them (unless you forget your phone)

Build team spirit, build brand, build connections  

Team building – Issuing digital contact cards during your onboarding process signals acceptance and belonging.

Brand building – A well-designed card can showcase your team and organisation with on-brand clarity and consistency. Plus you can include links to all your online resources.

Status tagging – Leaders, celebrities and stars can elevate any real-life encounter a notch above a selfie with an official digital contact card, and give the receiver bragging rights.

Sustainability positive – Digital cards are much greener than carbon-loaded paper cards and they show you care.

Multiple identities – Some digital team-based contact systems let users create cards with different data sets. It’s great for people with many roles, multiple brands or who belong to many teams.

Straight to Contacts – Getting data from paper cards means fumbling and fiddling and high error rate. Digital cards funnel contact data to where it belongs, in Contacts.

We researched, developed and launched a business card solution designed for teams 

We developed Lite.cards because we couldn’t find a name card solution that ticked all these boxes:

• Web-based so there was no need to download an app
• Cost effective (up to 80% cheaper than traditional cards) 
• Easy-to-use, easy to administer, easy to change
• Multilingual, multi-region and able to support multiple identities and brands
• Customisable to present your team and organisation in a way that’s on-brand
• Friendly for sustainability reporting
• Tight on security  

We started with sustainability

Digital cards help reduce deforestation and waste. 

People who support sustainability find this aspect particularly appealing.

In fact the sustainability factor was a prime driver for Lite.cards development. That’s why we added a counter so users can see how many paper cards they and their organisations are saving together, as a team.

Simple, effective, no app needed  

Digital business cards can be shared with anyone, anywhere, at any time, simply point, click or wave your mobile device.

When scanned, Lite.cards initially appear in your contacts’ phone web browser and not their Contacts app (where it has a high chance of being forgotten).

Card recipients can choose to save your details to Contacts with a click. Or easily share your contact info with someone else.

Administrative updates to card contact details, such as roles and job titles occur in real-time (but are not shared with existing recipients).

Name card information is always current – and you never have to apologise for forgetting your cards or waiting for the printer.

Brand-focused  

As a design-led branding firm we naturally wanted to create a digital business card solution that would make our team look great.

Effective brand building means creating a consistent look and messages at every stakeholder touch point.  

Most app-based digital business card solutions we looked at lacked a range of design options. 

Lite.cards includes flexible design templates to showcase your team’s unique identity, including customising colour palettes and typography.

What we’ve learned

Useful for all – Whether leader or team member, everyone can enjoy their own personal digital contact card.

People like them – More and more people are happy with digital card exchanges over paper. The most enthusiastic early adopters tend to be younger and tech-curious. Some people aren’t initially comfortable with digital cards. But almost everyone knows how to capture them and will gladly accept them nowadays.

Potential bottlenecks – Exchanging cards digitally can take a few seconds longer than exchanging paper cards when there are many people in a room swapping cards. In these scenarios, it's helpful to remember that there’s no limit to how many people can scan your QR code simultaneously.

Who’s who? – Unlike paper name cards, it’s not possible to lay digital cards out to remind you who is around the table. However, Lite.cards simulates that experience when viewed on a phone web browser tab. The card owner's portrait photo can be easily included, which helps people to remember you and your team.

Ultimately, digital contact cards are on track to replace paper cards. The benefits over traditional cards are just too numerous to ignore. And that is good news for team building, brand building and sustainability.

Check out Lite.cards or arrange a demo