Who hasn’t railed against contactless payment? Sometimes you have to do it several times and bring your bank card or smartphone near the payment terminal until you touch it for the transaction to be validated. With future developments in NFC (Near Field Communication), contactless data exchange technology, the range will be four to six times greater, going from 5 mm to 2 or 3 cm. Enough to make truly contactless mobile payments.
This increased reach has been validated by the NFC Forum, the standardization body which includes, among its 400 members, Apple, Google, Huawei, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics, Visa or Mastercard.
Among the other developments planned on its roadmap which runs until 2028, the power of wireless charging will also be increased. Until then limited to 1 watt, it will increase to 3 watts. This should reduce charging time but also allow manufacturers to design smaller search formats.
NFC becomes multitasking
In the future, NFC technology will be multitasking. The consumer will no longer have to present a loyalty card and then a payment card, the two operations will be carried out in a single pass. A traveler will be able to validate a transport ticket while proving his identity. What smoother the user experience.
The big winners of this development could be the digital giants who host in their virtual wallets, such as Apple Wallet or Google Pay, the user’s bank card but also their loyalty cards and other personal documents with the greatest risk. cross-checking of its associated data is used for profiling purposes.
As part of the energy transition and to meet environmental and regulatory challenges, NFC technology will be used to communicate data on how the device is designed and how it can be recycled. This should help extend its lifespan.
Individuals will accept contactless payments
Latest development and perhaps the most important, NFC Forum plans to transform any compatible smartphone into a payment terminal. This functionality, known as SoftPOS (Software Point-of-Sale), will allow companies and individuals to accept payments in a very simple way, while on the move.
This new method of payment will allow, for example, an occasional seller at a flea market to accept contactless payments. Payment terminal manufacturers will be less pleased with this prospect. In addition, will the commission charged by banking establishments on each transaction be modified?