Moo to Offer NFC Business Cards

Mike Rankin

Your business cards speak to potential clients and customers, reminding them of who you are and what you do when you’re not around. But what if those cards could also speak directly to cellphones and other electronics? That would open up all kinds of possibilities for creative communication and commerce. And that’s the thinking behind a plan by Moo.com to offer NFC-enabled business cards.

NFC stands for Near Field Communication, which is mobile technology that lets two electronic devices exchange information when they’re in close proximity to each other (typically 4 cm or less). It’s the kind of thing that lets cellphone users tap their phones to check in at locations, get coupons, make payments, exchange contact info, install apps, etc. Well, some cellphone users. While NFC works on Android and other mobile platforms, Apple has held back and not allowed iPhone users to join the party yet.

But Apple or no Apple, Moo is excited about the technology and moving ahead with plans to embed microchips inside otherwise normal-looking business cards.

They call it the "third side" of the card. Anyone who taps your NFC card could download your portfolio, see a video, be directed to your website, and so on.

And if you change your mind later on, you won’t need to get new cards. You’ll be able to update the cards’ behavior, so tapping them would do something else.

NFC cards aren’t for sale from Moo just yet. They are expected in "early 2013." In the meantime, Moo has announced they’re giving away 150,000 NFC cards by including one free in each order of regular business cards. They also plan to release an app for Android in the near future which will allow users to update what those free cards will do, so you can try out the technology and come up with your own ideas for how to use it.