Two Greater Manchester entrepreneurs have created a virtual business card they hope will replace its paper counterpart forever.
Keith Robinson and Paul Smith have launched a card which is securely stored in the cloud and is zapped between smart phones at meetings and networking events.
It means a business person will always have their card with them as long as they have their mobile phone.
As well as working on Zoom, the virtual and contactless card can also be shared via email, tablets and laptops and social media.
The Bury-based entrepreneurs said Mr Smith came up with the idea when he attended a networking event before the lockdown.
Seeing people giving out physical cards and then having to type the information into their phones, he thought there must be a simpler and more convenient way to swap business cards.
Don't miss a thing - sign up for your free North West newsletter - and follow us on LinkedIn
Email newsletters
BusinessLive is your home for business news from around the North West- and you can stay in touch with all the latest news from Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria through our email alerts.
You can sign up to receive daily morning news bulletins from every region we cover and to weekly email bulletins covering key economic sectors from manufacturing to technology and enterprise. And we'll send out breaking news alerts for any stories we think you can't miss.
Visit our email preference centre to sign up to all the latest news from BusinessLive.
For all the latest stories, views, polls and more - and the news as it breaks - .
Mr Smith managing director of Electric Penguin, a web applications and software development business whose clients include Caffé Nero and American Golf, teamed up with Mr Robinson, managing director of business consultancy Griffin Partners, to develop the virtual card, which the Bury-based duo have launched under the brand name Zappify.
Most Read
It works by registering on the Zappify website and entering contact details, basic business information and a photo or company logo.
This then becomes a tile on the cardholder’s smart phone, which displays a QR code containing the data.
To receive the business card, a person just needs to take a photo of the QR code on their phone and save the details into their list of contacts.
Mr Robinson said: “The beauty of the virtual business card is its simplicity.
“A business person will always have their card with them, and the recipient can simply add the contact details into their phone with one click, eliminating the laborious process of having to enter all the information manually.
“The zapping from phone to phone works equally well over Zoom and other video conferencing technology.
“Updating contact details can be done instantly and for free on the smart phone. In this way, it eliminates the waste of obsolete cards and the need to have new ones printed.”