For those who want to use near field communication technology but don’t currently have an NFC compatible smartphone, there are other ways to enable NFC on your phone without trading it in for an expensive new model. Both SIM and SD cards can be equipped with NFC chips, and some companies currently offer or are preparing to offer these options so more customers can start using NFC technology.

SD Cards

An SD card serves as a memory card for your smartphone. Purchasing an SD card with NFC technology stored on it lets you pop it into your phone’s SD card slot and start waving your smartphone at registers or over smart posters. The drawback of this technology is the range of phones it can work with. Those with a metallic SD card slot won’t work; however, those with a non-metallic slot should work just fine with the NFC SD card.

SIM Cards

SIM cards with NFC chips embedded on them are soon to be a worldwide standard, making them more accessible and compatible than SD card versions of NFC technology. The SIM card does raise security concerns, however. It could be stolen or possibly hacked to collect and use sensitive financial information. As the standards for this technology are developed, companies aim to create increased security that prevents these potential problems from occurring.

Set-up and Usage

Once you’ve purchased an SD or SIM card for your smartphone, turn off your phone and insert the card. Turn the phone back on and search the your smartphone’s marketplace for apps compatible with NFC technology. To work you’ll need to wave the area with the SD or SIM card over the card reader, which can prove a little trickier to hit than with smartphones that come preinstalled with NFC chips. Removing the card will disable your NFC access.

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