NFC: It Just Doesn't Work

NFC (as far as tap-to-pay goes) works great for me, it's pretty much the only way I pay for things if the card reader supports it.

Not every phone has NFC, however most have a camera capable of reading a QRCode.

I created QCard[0] for this very purpose, quick in-person networking - Every QR reader can visit a URL.

You could also encode a VCard directly into a QRCode so it functions without internet, however I found this isn't widely supported.

[0]: https://qcard.link