Guide
What is an NFC Google review card?
An NFC Google review card is a plastic card, about the size of a debit card, with a small chip sealed inside it. The chip holds one thing: a web link pointing at your business's Google review page. When a customer holds their phone near the card, the phone reads that link and offers to open it.
That's the entire product. There's no app, no account, no software subscription and no electronics beyond the chip. It's closer to a printed business card than to a gadget.
What's physically inside
- A thin NFC antenna, usually a coil of copper or aluminium, laminated between layers of PVC
- A chip holding a few hundred bytes — enough for a URL
- Printed artwork on both faces, usually including a QR code carrying the same link
The chip has no battery. It's powered by the phone's own NFC field for the fraction of a second it takes to read, which is why the card can't run flat and why it works years after you bought it.
What happens when a customer taps
- The customer holds their phone within a couple of centimetres of the card
- The phone's NFC reader powers the chip and reads the stored link
- A notification appears on screen showing the link
- The customer taps the notification and their browser opens your Google review page
- They pick a star rating and, if they feel like it, type a line
On most Android phones the notification appears automatically. On iPhone XR and newer, the same thing happens when you hold the top edge of the phone near the card. Neither requires the customer to install anything.
What it is not
It's worth being clear about the limits, because some sellers oversell these cards.
- It does not write reviews. A human still has to choose the stars and press post.
- It does not guarantee five stars. It opens your review page — what a customer writes there is theirs.
- It does not collect customer data. The chip holds a link and reads nothing from the phone.
- It does not affect your ranking by itself. Reviews do that. The card only makes reviews easier to leave.
What it costs in India
A programmed, branded card typically costs a few hundred rupees as a one-time purchase. Our own pricing is ₹500 for one card and ₹1,000 for two, which includes finding your review link, designing the card around your logo, programming the chip and delivering it.
Be wary of anyone selling these on a monthly subscription. There is no recurring cost to a chip holding a URL, and a subscription usually means your link points at their server rather than directly at Google — which means it stops working the day you stop paying.
Should the card link straight to Google?
Yes, in almost every case. A card pointing directly at your Google review page keeps working forever, with nobody in the middle. A card pointing at a third-party page that then redirects to Google is a dependency you don't need, and if that middle page is used to screen unhappy customers, it also breaks Google's policies.
Common questions
Do NFC review cards work on all phones?
NFC works on iPhone XR and newer and most Android phones from the last several years. Older phones use the QR code printed on the card, which every smartphone camera can read.
How long does an NFC card last?
There's no expiry on the chip. Physically, a PVC card at a busy counter lasts years — the printing usually wears before the chip fails.
Can the link on the card be changed later?
Yes, if the card is rewritable and whoever sold it will reprogram it. We reprogram cards free for the first change.
Stop losing reviews at the door.
A TapStar card on your counter turns happy customers into Google reviews. ₹500 for one, ₹1,000 for two.