Switching from paper to digital might seem like a small change, but when you look at the numbers, it’s a smart investment with long-term value.

Whether you’re a freelancer or managing a team of 50, digital business cards offer significant cost savings, operational advantages, and marketing benefits. Here’s how.

Paper Business Cards vs Virtual Business Cards (3-Year Outlook)

Item Compared	Paper Business Cards	Virtual Business Cards
Total cost (3 years)	€7,500	€3,750
Contacts served	52,500 (after 30% waste)	90,000
Cost per contact	€0.14	€0.04
Waste	Yes (reprints, unused cards)	None
Updates	Paid / requires reprinting	Free and instant
Shipping / delivery	Yes	No
Always up to date	No	Yes

The assumptions are:

Example based on 50 employees.
Each employee generates an average of 600 contacts per year.
Period considered: 3 years → 90,000 potential contacts.
Paper cards: 1 pack of 500 cards per year, costing €50 per pack, with 30% of cards wasted (role changes, updated contact info, design updates…).
Virtual cards: €25 per employee per year, with no setup fee.
Figures are illustrative and designed to highlight the cost difference under a comparable volume.

1. Say Goodbye to Printing Costs

Let’s start with the obvious: traditional paper cards require ongoing printing and reprinting.

New job title? Reprint.
New email? Reprint.
Changed logo? Reprint again.

Each reprint costs money, takes time, and creates waste.

With digital cards, updates are instant.

2. One Card, Unlimited Use

A digital card is not only reusable, it’s limitless:

Share it with 10,000 people or just one
No physical delivery, shipping, or reordering
Always in your pocket via smartphone or wallet app

One-time setup. Unlimited reach.

3. Lower Cost per Contact

Let’s say you print 500 cards for CHF 60.
If you give out 100, that’s CHF 0.60 per contact.
If the rest end up unused or outdated, that cost balloons.

With a digital card, every view, scan, or click is trackable, and you never waste unused cards.

The more you use it, the lower your cost per contact becomes.

4. No Hidden Costs

Digital cards eliminate:

Reprints
Design fees for minor updates
Distribution costs

And with a solution like CARTLY, there are no extra charges for changing your profile or updating your logo.

What you see is what you get, fully editable and brandable.

5. Team & Enterprise Savings

For businesses, the savings scale fast:

Instantly create and assign cards to new employees
Avoid onboarding delays or printing batches
Standardize branding across the company

Teams of all sizes save time, reduce admin, and streamline contact management.

6. Extra Value Built In

With platforms like CARTLY, your card isn’t just a contact tool, it’s also:

A mini-landing page
A lead-generation form
A tracking tool

That means you get marketing functionality bundled in, without additional software.

Wrap Up

So, are digital business cards cost effective ? Yes, they are absolutely cost-effective. They save you money, time, and resources while offering better flexibility, scalability, and value.

It’s not just about saving on paper, it’s about upgrading your entire networking strategy.

Try CARTLY for free and see how much you can save with your first digital card.

Are Digital Business Cards Cost-Effective?