The next generation of NFC will save you time and effort

Thanks to Near Field Communication (NFC) technology our smartphones allow us to make mobile contactless payments. As a result, some believe that the case can be made that NFC connectivity is as important as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular connectivity. Perhaps I wouldn't go that far, but the next generation of NFC is being shaped now by the NFC Forum which is the governing body that determines what NFC standards will be.

The NFC Forum includes representation from the biggest names in tech including Apple, Google, and chip designer Qualcomm. It has been discovered that one of the features coming to the next generation of NFC is called Multi-Purpose Tap. With the latter, the amount of data that can be transferred with a single tap of the NFC button will be much larger than now. As a result, a single tap of NFC will do more in the future. For example, with one tap of an NFC button you might be able to make a mobile payment via a credit card, have the buyer's age verified for certain purchases using mobile ID (like for alcohol), and a digital receipt can be issued.

Stores with loyalty cards will be able to add another purchase to the card if one is made and possibly adjust the transaction price to account for any discount or freebie earned by the customer wielding the loyalty card. The NFC Forum notes that Multi-Purpose Tap is still in the idea generation stage.

Mike McCamon, who is the executive director of NFC Forum, said in a press release, "Multi-Purpose Tap will bring even more convenience to contactless user experiences by making it possible for multiple transactions to be seamlessly conducted over the course of one single tap. Consumers and retailers love the security, reliability, and convenience of contactless payments — imagine also logging loyalty points or getting your receipt over that same instantaneous tap."

So what we are talking about is something that can be a real time saver. By the way, for the curious, the Google Nexus S (released at the end of 2010) was the first Android phone to support NFC. The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, released in 2014, were the first iPhone models to be equipped with an NFC chip.