Over the last few years, NFC technology has witnessed rapid adoption and advancement in NFC regulations, security, and functionalities. Presently, NFC technology is supported by NFC Forum, a consortium of companies created in 2004, including firms like Sony, NXP Semiconductors, Nokia, Google Inc., Apple Inc., etc. It’s a non-profit group that works on standards, and regulations and promotes the adoption of Near Field Communication technology across the world.
NFC technology, as the name suggests is a short-range wireless communication technology that allows users to share data and communicate over a short range of a few centimeters (1-10cm). With recent advancements in NFC chip design, the technology is found in multiple small devices and gadgets including smartphones, smartwatches, mPOS terminals, wristbands, fitness trackers, etc.
Beyond NFC Tap-to-pay and Access Control
Currently, NFC technologies are prominently used in NFC tap-to-pay and access control applications. Google and Apple launched NFC-based digital wallets back in 2011 and 2014 respectively, which accelerated NFC adoption for making digital payments. Customers can simply tap their NFC-capable smartphone, as most smartphones today support NFC technology, and make payments in a restaurant, sports event, or retail store.
Coming to access control, NFC-based ID cards are prevalent in various sectors including corporate offices, hospitality, and healthcare premises. It offers a secure and quick access control while also offering employee attendance tracking, footfall tracking, etc.
So, apart from NFC-based digital payments and NFC-based access control at offices and healthcare premises, what are we looking at, going forward?
Well, beyond NFC tap-to-pay and access control systems, the technology is considered for digital product passport (DPP) in the European Union. NFC Forum is also working on requirements from legislation related to data safety, fraud prevention, anti-counterfeiting, and sustainability. With DPP, the technology can be used for circular economies where every product with an NFC tag is tracked throughout its lifecycle, reused, and recycled. Multi-purpose taps, wireless charging, etc. are also on the horizon.
Multi-purpose Tap with NFC
Most people are already familiar with NFC tap-to-pay where one can tap their NFC-capable mobile phone on a POS and make payments through digital wallets such as Google Pay, and Apple Pay. It works wonderfully and it is extremely secure with encryptions.
NFC multi-purpose tap however extends this feature to get more value from NFC technology. It can be used for asset tracking, product identification, and anti-counterfeiting where users can tap their smartphone on the NFC tag attached to a product only once and get more relevant information. The information on the tag is also mapped with a cloud database which prevents rewriting or cloning of the NFC tag, very useful in anti-counterfeiting applications.
To understand multi-purpose tap better, consider this; In a retail store, consumers can earlier tap their smartphones to make payments but with multi-purpose tap, they can now apply coupons, and get information about the product while making a payment, with a single tap.
Digital Product Passport
The European Union’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) is an initiative by the EU to offer a mandatory electronic record to nearly all items being sold in the EU starting in 2024. European Union presently consists of 27 countries.
NFC technology can be used to ensure that each item sold is accompanied by a DPP using NFC labels or NFC chips. The DPP will include information such as:
1.Materials and their origins
2. Product's technical performance
3. Unique product identifier
4. Repair activities
5. Lifecycle environmental impacts
6. Recycling capabilities
7. Information on substances of concern
8. Compliance documentation
9. User manuals and safety instructions
10. Guidance on product disposal, etc.
To meet the EU mandate of DPP, manufacturing firms are tagging finished goods at the source with an NFC tag attached to the product, encoded with a unique identifier. DPP is part of the EU’s green deal as DPP will allow manufacturers and consumers to track the product lifecycle and reduce waste. With DPP, it is easier to track inventory, improve supply chain management, and ensure regulatory compliance. NFC-based DPP will help promote circular economies and boost economic growth as well.
Apart from the multi-purpose tap and DPP, the NFC technology will further enhance the data capture and automatic identification landscape with low-cost NFC labels. Businesses in retail, supply chain, and ticketing can streamline operations with unique product identifiers encoded with NFC labels. Brands engaged with Luxury fashion and winemaking, producing high-end items will also adopt NFC for anti-counterfeiting purposes, preventing fraud and boosting customer experience.
NFC Sensors
Sensing is another sector which will witness increased adoption of NFC technology in 2025. NFC chips can be integrated with printed sensors while fabricating an NFC label, which can sense changes in temperature, humidity, stress and strain, etc. These NFC sensors can capture the sensing data and transmit to smartphones and NFC readers and provide crucial insights for wider applications in healthcare, food and storage, health & fitness, manufacturing, etc.
To summarize, NFC technology is proliferating and witnessing rapid adoption in retail, digital payments, and inventory management. The technology is now part of small wearable devices, smartphones, etc., allowing people to make digital payments and track product lifecycle through a Digital Product Passport.
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