Benefits of NFC: Tips and Tricks
Near Field Communication (NFC) and wireless touch-to-transfer technologies have been much talked about recently, especially as they promise to be the future of on-the-go payments in businesses, transport, and many other options.
But according to the experts, NFC is about to blow our minds with new applications outside the retail world. Nowadays, there are many NFC-enabled smartphones that allow users to make payments and obtain discounts and offers while they shop, or even to pay for transport on cities. But here are some other uses of NFC technology that we may see :
Social networking is one of the fields where NFC technology can make a difference, changing the way we conceive social activities today, like for instance sharing photos by simply putting one device next to another, or accessing movie information from posters.
Contactless payments when shopping are something that is already well accepted today, and some retailers are even experimenting with NFC self-checkout programs. But what if we could get more out of the products sitting on the shelves when we go shopping? ‘smart products’ could give us a lot more information about them with a simple scanning.
When we travel, we can benefit from NFC technologies using our phone as a wallet, but also to find information about historical places, restaurants, shopping centers, transport, discounts, etc.
NFC will allow patients to carry their medical history with them wherever they go. So they’ll be able to manage their doctor’s appointments, share test results, etc. Also, it’ll be an advantage when they travel to a different country and they have to go to a hospital but don’t speak the language.
Smartphones and cars will be connected through NFC to open doors, control the GPS system, activate driving aids, receive data and alerts about the state of the roads or pay for the petrol, among other things.
NFC can also improve marketing as we know it. By adding NFC stickers to mailing, marketers could improve considerably the reach of their advertising campaigns.
All of this sounds great. But it may be a while until all of these functionalities are fully implemented, as not all devices implement NFC. Apple, for one, doesn’t. Although there are rumours that say that the next iPhone will include an e-wallet. Another problem to consider is consumer education, as people don’t trust NFC due to privacy and security issues.
