What is NFC and how does it work?
Near Field Communication is a wireless communication technology comparable to WiFi or Bluetooth. Using this technology it is possible to transfer data between two devices, e.g. a mobile phone and an NFC tag (the technical name for an NFC label or sticker). It is commonly used to send data from one device to another. Using NFC you can transfer data between two NFC-enabled mobile phones, from a mobile phone to a payment terminal, or from an NFC tag to a mobile phone.
What is NFC used for?
NFC is used for services that make people's lives easier, and their number increases by the day. At present it is used above all for contactless payments, marketing and advertising, access control and other security services, product identification, the collection of statistical data, mobile triggers for tasks and events, profile switching in mobile phones, and many others…
The great thing about NFC is the fact that, to get all the listed uses up and running, only a single thing is needed, and that is an NFC-enabled mobile phone.
What is the user experience like?
The beauty of NFC lies in its simplicity. As soon as the required information has been encoded once into the NFC tag, the tag is ready for use. The user simply holds the tag to their NFC-enabled mobile phone and the data transfer happens instantly, subsequently triggering the required function. This can be the display of a website, the launch of an application or a service. No use of a camera with a barcode or QR code reading function is needed, no downloading of applications; simply clean, fast and easy contactless scanning.
How close to each other must the "near fields" be?
NFC works only over short distances – usually something around a few centimetres. This short range makes NFC a perfect intermediary of interaction and at the same time makes it impossible for someone who is not meant to have access to the encoded information to read it. Whether "by mistake" or deliberately.
How is NFC used for mobile payments?
NFC is used as a "connector" between a mobile phone (or a contactless payment card) and a payment terminal. NFC has a number of significant advantages, not least its ability to work only in close proximity to the second device. Many analysts predict that we will soon enter the era of contactless payments using mobile phones. Using mobile phones for this purpose is not only very simple and practical, but it is also just a small step away from virtual loyalty cards, season tickets and similar services.
Which mobile phones support NFC?
Almost all new smartphones are now made with built-in NFC. In fact, 9 out of 10 leading manufacturers already use NFC automatically. The black sheep is Apple's iPhone, which as the only manufacturer has so far not integrated NFC into its devices. Many indications, however, suggest that NFC will be deployed in the new iPhone 6.
The history of NFC
NFC (Near field communication) is a set of standards for establishing wireless communication and the subsequent transfer of data. The history of NFC reaches back to 2003, when it was approved as an ISO/IEC standard. In 2004 the companies Phillips, Sony and Nokia founded the NFC Forum association, which brings together companies dealing with NFC technology. NFC was since then in the background due to the incompatibility of mobile devices with this technology. Today, however, it is already a standard element for mobile devices, and the number of NFC devices on the market is rising. For this reason too, a major expansion of NFC is expected.