Side by side
| NFC | QR code | |
|---|---|---|
| Works on | Phones with NFC switched on. See which ones. | Phones with a working camera and scanner. |
| What the guest does | Holds the phone to it. iPhones then show a prompt to tap, and Android's documentation says Android 17 does too. | Opens the camera or scanner, aims, taps the link. |
| Low light | Doesn't need light, though the guest has to see where to tap. | The camera has to see the code. |
| On your table | The chip is hidden, so nothing has to show but a mark. | The code has to be visible. |
| Tampering | Can be locked. A sticker on top is still possible. | A printed code can't be rewritten. A sticker on top is possible. |
Which one, where
At the counter
Both. Everyone passes through this spot and there is room for a stand, so you can cover every phone. Kyvo's counter stand carries NFC and a QR code.
On each table
A thin NFC tile keeps the table clear. A tile is tap only, so make sure guests with older phones can still reach a QR code, on a stand or on the printed menu.
Dim rooms and lounges
A camera may struggle where a chip doesn't care about the light. Guests still need to see where to tap, so make the mark easy to find, and test it in the room at night.
Metal tables
A standard NFC tile may not read on metal. You could try a ferrite-backed tag, or use a QR code. See NFC tag not working?
Guests who are not used to either
Words help. A mark that says TAP HERE, and a member of staff who can show them, gives a guest somewhere to start.
Is NFC safer than QR?
Not in any way we could support. Both can be covered by a stranger's sticker, and that is the realistic risk with either.
- QR: the US FBI and FTC warn that criminals cover or tamper with QR codes to send people to fake sites. The FTC's examples are parking meters. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre says QR codes in pubs and restaurants are probably safe, and that open spaces like stations and car parks might be riskier.
- NFC: a malicious sticker can go over a real tag, and an unlocked tag can be rewritten. Lock your tags.
Either way, the fix is simple: look at your stands and tiles regularly, and remove anything that isn't yours.
Numbers you may see
You may read that NFC gets 12 times the engagement of QR. That figure traces to a small US pilot from around 2012, in five grocery stores, run with an NFC vendor. It has nothing to do with venues or reviews. The claims we traced that NFC multiplies reviews came from sellers or anecdotes, and we could not confirm any of them. So we don't publish any.
What Kyvo does
The counter stand has both NFC and a QR code. The table tile is NFC only, about 1.1 mm thin. What is Kyvo? has the rest.
Sources
- FBI IC3: tampered QR codes, January 2022
- US FTC: QR codes on parking meters, September 2026
- UK NCSC: QR codes, what's the real risk?
- SecurityBrief: Kaspersky on tampered NFC tags
- NXP: NTAG213/215/216 datasheet, locking
- Apple Developer: background tag reading
- Android Developers: NFC basics
- Retail Dive: the Kraft NFC pilot
- W3C Web NFC mailing list: stickers over tags, and writable tags
- Avery Dennison: NFC tags on metal