Near Field Communication has been around for a while now. With the strong use cases such as payments using NFC, it is getting more traction since last few years. Android and iOS, both have support for this protocol and have various use cases successfully implemented in various fields.
Is It Similar to Bluetooth?
NFC is a set of protocols for communication between two electronic devices. This communication happens when these 2 devices are close to each other (within 4 cm range). This is very similar to Bluetooth communication, but bluetooth communication can happen upto 30ft range. Apart from this, Bluetooth needs pairing of devices, whereas NFC happens instantly when the devices are close to each other. Although they are similar and NFC tends to be easier to use, bluetooth has been more popular until now.
However, as per recent reports, NFC enabled phones are getting traction. About 64% of phones those would be shipped in 2018 would have this technology included. Apart from mobiles, it is also used at other places such as smart cards.
Types of communications
- Two way communication – You can use NFC to transfer data from one phone to other. This is a very common way now to setup you new android phone.
- One way communication – In this case, your NFC tag carries certain data, which is written/updated by NFC powered terminals. For example, if you are carrying a smart card for your metro travel, the moment you flash it at the entrance of metro, it could deduct appropriate amount from your smart card and write new balance there.
How does mobile payment using NFC work?
- Customer launches the payment application on the mobile phone
- Customer taps the mobile phone on the credit card terminal.
- A connection is made using NFC between the terminal and mobile phone.
- Customer is prompted for second level authentication such as fingerprint scan or entering a pin.
- Transaction is validated using a secure chip, which gets authorization from the bank and relay it back to the mobile app. This marks the completion of the payment.
Future Trends
NFC tags could be placed at various places including entrance of trade shows, which could instantly give information about various booths to the visitors. The tags could also be placed in flyers or advertisements which could give additional info to the customers by just tapping. Tags placed within retail stores in conjunction with mobile apps can provide additional personalized info to the consumers which increases the sales.
Related Links
Related Keywords
RFID, Bluetooth
Why use NFC when there is Bluetooth.bluetooth has more range.
The reasons why NFC would be preferred are:
For Bluetooth, you need pairing which is time-consuming and pairing is permanent unless one of the participating devices deletes the pairing. All this is too tedious if you are sure that you wouldn’t want to connect to the other device again. In such cases, NFC would be very handy.