electronic business

A vCard is an electronic business (or personal) card and also the name of an industry specification for the kind of communication exchange that is done on business or personal cards. You may have seen a vCard attached to an e-mail note someone has sent you.

What is a vCard used for?

A vCard enables you to send contact information in a format that can be easily read in other e-mail programs. A vCard is saved as a .vcf file, which is the Internet standard for sharing contact information. When you send a vCard, its .vcf file is sent with the message as an attachment.

While you may not see the term “vCard” that much, the .vcf file format is very much alive. If you don’t believe me, go to a contact record in your mobile phone’s address book. Most systems, whether Android or iOS, have an option to “share” the contact. If you select to share using email, your phone will convert the contact record to a virtual contact file (.VCF file).

The easiest way to think of a vCard is as a “virtual” profile. According to the RFC spec, “the profile is defined for representing and exchanging a variety of information about an individual (e.g., formatted and structured name and delivery addresses, email address, multiple telephone numbers, photograph, logo, audio clips, etc.).“

A vCard, or virtual card, is a type of file that functions as an electronic business card. They contain identifying information about a person, such as name, birthday, company, and job title, as well as contact information like phone number, email address, business URL, mailing address, and social media profiles. vCards may also contain media like photos, audio clips, and videos.

vCards have become synonymous with Virtual Card Format (VCF) files since their genesis in 1996. Although they were not universally supported at first, the Internet Mail Consortium developed and promoted vCards to become an integral part of online communications. They are predominantly stored as records in a device’s contact list and are sometimes sent as email attachments, text messages, or QR codes.