How many times have you attended a prolific conference with your networking pants on, looking around to scout out potential contacts to benefit your business? Suddenly, you notice a prospective client hanging around the bar, just ripe for the picking! You accost them and break the ice by introducing yourself and going into all the juicy details about what you do. At any time if you feel like you have piqued their interest, you will need to exchange contact information. This is where a business card makes you look professional saves you plenty of time.

Imagine the impression you will make if you are caught dead fumbling around with a pen, scrambling to scribble down your number and email ID hastily on a piece of cocktail napkin.

Business cards are still indispensable in this highly digital age because they put a face to businesses. When you meet someone new, you hand over your business card to make sure that your business impinges on their mind. Even though they might not need your services or products right away, they may come in need of them one day, which is when they will simply pull out your business card and ring you in, instead of racking their brains out, trying to reminisce the name of that company they heard of a few weeks back.

However, imagine if your online business has to deal with a prospective customer online and they ask for your business card. How can you fulfill their request? This is where a business card scanner app comes into play. These business card scanner apps let you convert your contacts into their digital equivalents, making it easier for you to share them online. Although there are many business card apps that afford you the liberty of scanning your business card, choosing the best one might not be that easy.

To ease the life of business owners, here are five business card scanner apps that you should be using right now.

1.     CamCard

You have a business card that you are proud of, and you do not want to lose its essence request to digitalize your contacts. If this is what you are apprehensive about, CamCard is your go-to app. Fire up the app and input all your details to create a digital version of your business card. This makes sharing extremely convenient. Add to that the QR code feature and sharing your business card with anyone is no longer a problem, thanks to the CamCardbusiness card app.

Moreover, you can also scan business cards by opening the camera app. Once it identifies your business card, it will scan automatically. What makes CamCard stand in a different league as compared to its contenders its batch-processing feature, which lets users scan multiple business cards at the same time. All these cards are stored in the app.

2.     FullContact

If you have ever wished that all your existing contacts could become integrated, the FullContactbusiness card scanner app is the right app for you. The app gives you an option to choose a contact platform. Additionally, users can snap a picture of business cards and add it to an existing contact or create a new contact.

What makes FullContact stand out from other similar apps is its method of pulling information. Instead of taking the run-of-the-mill route of jumping on the text recognition technology, FullContact sends your business card and a team member will enter the information for you. The advantage is that this process takes less than 30 seconds and minimizes the risk of errors linked to text-based recognition.

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Available on most popular mobile platforms such as iOS and Android, you can also use it on the web. Although, the app is free and lets you scan 10 cards, if you want to scan more business cards, you will have to pay a $9.99 fee. The extensive language support, as well as its ability to integrate with hundreds of third-party apps, give it a clear edge over other card scanner apps.

3.     Wantedly People

Similar toCamCard, the Wantedly People app lets you scan multiple business cards simultaneously, but in a much better way. Users can scan 10 cards at once. As soon as you start using this app, you will realize that it is always one step ahead of other apps. For instance, when you launch the app, it will directly take you to the camera mode, where you can scan business cards and documents.

Capture the image by pressing the camera shutter button and it will import all the details in no time. If speed is a priority for scanning business cards, Wantedly People fits the bill perfectly. The only problem with this app is that it can only work with default contact fields and if there is a new field, it might fail to make the right connection.

4.     ABBYY Business Card Reader

For those looking for speed, accuracy, and reliability in a single business card scanner app, ABBYY is an ideal choice. With the ABBYY app, you do not even have to press the camera shutter button as it will automatically capture the image when it recognizes a business card and the contact will be saved to your address book immediately.

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What differentiates the ABBYY business card app is the inability to get in touch with your new contacts without leaving the app. Send a template email or business card with the press of a button. There is also a dedicated version for Windows operating system to import pictures of business cards. The app is free for scanning 15 cards but if you go beyond that, you will have to pay something from $7.99 to $29.99 per month depending on your needs. ABBYY can also be integrated with Salesforce.

5.     Evernote

Are you surprised to see Evernote on the list of business card apps here? If yes, then you are not alone. Most people consider Evernote as a note-taking app. The fact of the matter is that Evernote can do much more than that. Evernote lets you scan documents and business cards through their mobile apps and view them online.

Evernote has an ability to scan documents and business cards automatically when you open your camera, and send them a document scanner mode. Pulling out all the data from business cards is a breeze.  Evernote lets you scan up to 5 business cards for free. If you want to stretch that limit, you can choose a premium package, which starts from $7.99 per month, or $69 per year with Evernote’s premium account.

Which business card scanner app do you currently use? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.