Near field communication or NFC chips are nothing new to the average London commuter, whether they know it or not it is the NFC chip in their Oyster card that allows the contact less payment when passing through the station barriers. Since the London launch of the Oyster system in 2003 it has now become second nature to those that posses cards, it is rarely thought about and I must say that when I was working the city last year I was introduced to the joys of contact less ticketing and wouldn’t have it any other way.
NFC's are currently used in Asia in all sorts of technologies but the most notable development must surely be the electronic wallet. An app that allows you to put credit into a digital wallet on your mobile and then pay for daily items as and when surely is something that we could all make use of. Have you ever been stood in a queue in the local supermarket when the person in front of you whips out their Visa card to pay for a packet of crisps? Whatever happened to carrying cash? Well I guess that the dawn of the eWallet may signal the end of transactions as we know them.
Barclays were the first major company in the UK to invest in the technology and according to Silicon.com, all future Barclay debit cards will feature an NFC chip to enable contact less and Pin-less transactions on all purchases under £10. Nokia and Blackberry are the first major handset manufacturer to commit the incorporation of NFC chips in all new handsets from 2011, despite there currently being little or no demand for the technology in European markets. Although many networks are looking at the technology as a source of future business, many say that they will "follow the market rather than lead it"
So the technology may be up to standard but is the demand or infrastructure there to support it? Well if you think back, was there ever any demand for phones to have cameras, MP3 players of Bluetooth? Probably not but because the technology exists we use it. If the latest Smartphone featured an eWallet that could use in conjunction with your PayPal app, would you use it? I probably would! Do we think then that this is the future of mobile and money? When I go out to the shops all I will need is my phone and nothing else? Will the advent of NFC eWallets spell the end of days for cash and cheques? If I can send virtual money to my friend through PayPal or through the “bump” of a phone, why would I need to use cash or a cheque?
There are certainly those that believe NFC's are dead before they have even really started. Many claim concerns over security and safety but who's to say that PayPal or one of the larger banks won't find a way around this? I personally believe that over the next couple of years we will see a huge uptake in NFC driven transactions, machines on street corners or supermarkets that allow you to top up you phones eWallet in seconds. Four years ago I didn't think I would ever be able to internet shop on my phone but in the next four years I am almost certain that all I will ever need is my phone.
I will leave you with a short clip of Jeremy Belostock, Nokia's head of NFC's telling us why Near Field Communication are going to be so important.
No comments:
Post a Comment