What an NFC card is and how it works in 5 seconds

NFC (Near Field Communication) is a technology you already have in your pocket - in your phone, your payment card, your transit ticket. At ElitesCards we use it for something far more interesting than contactless payment: to launch an entire business experience with a single tap.

How it works - step by step

Inside an ElitesCards card sits a small, passive chip. It has no battery. It draws energy from the phone's magnetic field the moment you bring it close.

1. You bring the card near the phone (up to 4 cm).
2. The chip activates and passes along an encoded address.
3. The phone opens the company profile - no app, no installation.

The whole process takes less time than pulling a paper business card out of your wallet.

NFC vs QR code

A QR code also leads to a profile, but it requires opening the camera, aiming and good lighting. NFC works in the dark, through a case and without aiming. That's why ElitesCards cards have both - NFC for convenience, QR as a universal plan B.

The best technology is invisible. The client doesn't think about NFC - they think about the fact that they just got everything they need in five seconds.

What happens after the tap

This is where the technology ends and business begins. Once the profile opens, the client can:

• save the contact to their phone with one tap,
• go to the offer, a booking or a payment,
• leave their details, which go straight into your CRM.

NFC is just the starting layer. The real value of ElitesCards begins in what the tap sets in motion - and we cover that in the next articles.