A system and method store all the information, such as the name, title, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and the like, on the business card itself using a barcode, as opposed to an identification number of the card. The system and method do not require any link to any server or to the Internet to receive the information. The contact information is input to a stand-alone computer in a format that can be imported into bar code encoding software loaded on the computer without the need of keying the data in or retrieving it from a server.