Ways to Use Near Field Communication

Where ever you go, you’ll encounter ways to make your day easier using near field communication. Plans for the future cover shopping malls, office buildings, and even your own vehicle as potential places for near field communication to help offer quick services. Below is a list of ways everyday people can or will be able to interact with near field communication:

  • Commuting to the office: During the drive to and from work, NFC can unlock your car, adjust your seats, and even admit you to the company’s secure parking garage.
  • At the office: Once you’ve arrived, you can gain access to your office building and clock in by swiping your smartphone or other device. Paying for snacks out of the vending machine or clocking in and out for breaks takes only seconds using NFC technology.
  • Paying with your phone: Contactless (NFC) payments are a great example of using NFC technology in your every day life. Although contactless payments have been slow to pick up in the US (in 2015 less than 20% of Americans used mobile payments) they are already wildly popular in the UK, Australia and Canada. Contrary to popular belief, NFC payments are incredibly secure - even more secure than EMV or chip card payments. This is because global PCI compliance standardsrequires all electronic devices to tokenize credit card data- so your credit card information is never stored directly on your phone. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay are all examples of NFC payments.
  • On the bus: If you commute to the office, you can pay for your bus or subway pass and wave your phone to pass through the gates. Tapping your phone at a kiosk gives up-to-date information about schedules and delays, while interacting with advertisements and bulletin boards lets you access coupons or learn more about current events in your area.
  • At the store: On the way home from work you stop to buy groceries. Coupons and customer reward points are already pre-loaded on your smartphone and are applied to your total automatically when you check out. Payment occurs when you wave your smartphone over the card reader and you’re ready to go without ever opening your wallet.
  • At a concert: Like purchasing a bus ticket, you can purchase concert tickets and use your NFC compatible smartphone to gain access to a concert. You can also interact with smart posters at the concert for information about the band, the current schedule of events, and upcoming performances. When you’re thirsty, just wave your phone at a merchant's register to buy a drink. Less tickets and cards to juggle makes the event hassle-free and reduces your chances of being pickpocketed.
  • Hanging out with friends: Finally, when you need some down time you can share games, links, and info with friends by bumping phones. NFC can establish a Bluetooth connecting between your phones for sending large amounts of data from a further distance range than NFC covers. You can even send money to each other all with the wave of a smartphone.

The possibilities are limited only by the imaginations of those manufacturing this technology. NFC can replace barcodes with more intelligent NFC tags and allow smartphone users to interact with objects to find out information such as a bus schedule or learn more about a product they want to purchase. NFC technology is designed to increase convenience when learning, shopping, and sharing data.

NFC in Action