Technical
Can a metal card have NFC?
Yes, but not the way most people assume. Metal blocks the field, so the answer is a hybrid construction — and it leaves a visible seam.
· 5 min
This is the most common question we get, and the honest answer has a caveat in it. A solid piece of metal and a working NFC antenna are close to mutually exclusive. Every metal NFC card on the market is a compromise around that fact.
Why metal is the problem
NFC works by inductive coupling at 13.56 MHz. The reader generates an alternating magnetic field; a coil in the card converts it into enough current to wake the chip. Put a continuous conductive sheet between the two and the field induces eddy currents in the sheet instead. The energy goes into warming the metal by an imperceptible amount, and the chip never wakes up.
This is not a quality problem that a better antenna solves. It is how conductors behave in a changing magnetic field.
What manufacturers actually do
The production answer is a hybrid card: a metal frame with a window or slot cut through it, and a booster antenna laminated into a non-metallic core. The window gives the field a path; the booster couples it to the chip module.
- The card is thicker than a plain metal card — typically 1.2 mm against 0.8 mm.
- There is a visible seam or slot where the metal is interrupted. It cannot be hidden, only designed around.
- Read range is shorter than a plastic card. Expect the card to need contact with the reader rather than a wave near it.
- The chip is usually an NXP NTAG in the 213 / 215 / 216 family, differing only in memory.
The seam is not a defect. It is the reason the card works at all.
What NFC on a business card is for
It carries a link. Tapped against a phone, the card opens a URL — a contact file, a profile page, a portfolio, a booking form. The chip stores a few hundred bytes, which is a web address and little else. Everything the recipient sees lives on the page you point at, so you can change it without reissuing the card.
QR as the quieter alternative
A QR mark engraved into the reverse does the same job with no electronics, no seam, no thickness penalty and no battery of caveats. It is less impressive in the moment and more reliable in practice. If the tap is not the point, engrave the code and keep the card solid.