Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

between two electronic devices over a distance of or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used for the bootstrapping of capable wireless connections. Like other proximity card technologies, NFC is based on inductive coupling between two

electromagnetic coil An electromagnetic coil is an electrical Electrical conductivity, conductor such as a wire in the shape of a wiktionary:coil, coil (spiral or helix). Electromagnetic coils are used in electrical engineering, in applications where electric curre ...

s present on a NFC-enabled device such as a

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

. NFC communicating in one or both directions uses a frequency of 13.56 MHz in the globally available unlicensed

radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the u ...

ISM band, compliant with the ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface standard at data rates ranging from 106 to 848 kbit/s. The NFC Forum has helped define and promote the technology, setting standards for certifying device compliance. Secure communications are available by applying encryption algorithms as is done for credit cards and if they fit the criteria for being considered a personal area network.

NFC standards

NFC standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats and are based on existing

radio-frequency identification Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically Automatic identification system, identify and Tracking system, track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, ...

(RFID) standards including ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. The standards include ISO/IEC 18092 and those defined by the NFC Forum. In addition to the NFC Forum, the

GSMA The GSM Association (GSMA) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit trade association that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide. More than 750 mobile operators are full GSMA members and a further 400 companies in the bro ...

group defined a platform for the deployment of GSMA NFC Standards within mobile handsets. GSMA's efforts include Trusted Services Manager, Single Wire Protocol, testing/certification and secure element. NFC-enabled portable devices can be provided with

application software Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not operating, administering or programming the computer. An application (app, application program, software application) is any program that can be categorized as ...

, for example to read electronic tags or make payments when connected to an NFC-compliant system. These are standardized to NFC protocols, replacing proprietary technologies used by earlier systems. A patent licensing program for NFC is under deployment by France Brevets, a patent fund created in 2011. This program was under development by Via Licensing Corporation, an independent subsidiary of

Dolby Laboratories Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (Dolby Labs or simply Dolby) is a British-American technology corporation specializing in audio noise reduction, audio data compression, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and high-dynamic-range television (H ...

, and was terminated in May 2012. A platform-independent

free and open source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term encompassing free ...

NFC library, , is available under the GNU Lesser General Public License. Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange and simplified setup of more complex communications such as

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

. In addition, when one of the connected devices has Internet connectivity, the other can exchange data with online services.

NFC wireless charging (WLC)

Near-field communication (NFC) technology not only supports data transmission but also enables wireless charging, providing a dual-functionality that is particularly beneficial for small, portable devices. The NFC Forum has developed a specific wireless charging specification, known as NFC Wireless Charging (WLC), which allows devices to charge with up to 1W of power over distances of up to . This capability is especially suitable for smaller devices like earbuds, wearables, and other compact Internet of Things (IoT) appliances. Compared to the more widely known Qi wireless charging standard by the Wireless Power Consortium, which offers up to 15W of power over distances up to , NFC WLC provides a lower power output but benefits from a significantly smaller antenna size. This makes NFC WLC an ideal solution for devices where space is at a premium and high power charging is less critical. The NFC Forum also facilitates a certification program, labeled as Test Release 13.1 (TR13.1), ensuring that products adhere to the WLC 2.0 specification. This certification aims to establish trust and consistency across NFC implementations, minimizing risks for manufacturers and providing assurance to consumers about the reliability and functionality of their NFC-enabled wireless charging devices.

History

NFC is rooted in

technology (known as RFID) which allows compatible hardware to both supply power to and communicate with an otherwise unpowered and passive electronic tag using radio waves. This is used for identification, authentication and tracking. Similar ideas in advertising and industrial applications were not generally successful commercially, outpaced by technologies such as QR codes,

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

s and UHF

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

tags. * May 17, 1983: The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation "

" was granted to Charles Walton. * 1997: Early form patented and first used in ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' character toys for

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

. The patent was originally held by Andrew White and Marc Borrett at Innovision Research and Technology. The device allowed data communication between two units in close proximity. * March 25, 2002:

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

and

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

agreed to establish a technology specification and created a technical outline. Philips Semiconductors applied for the six fundamental patents of NFC, invented by the Austrian and French engineers Franz Amtmann and Philippe Maugars who received the European Inventor Award in 2015. * December 8, 2003: NFC was approved as an

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

/ IEC standard and later as an ECMA standard. * 2004: Nokia, Philips and Sony established the NFC Forum * 2004: Nokia launched NFC shell add-on for Nokia 5140 and later Nokia 3220 models, to be shipped in 2005. * 2005: Mobile phone experimentations in transports, with payment in May in

Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...

(Nokia) and as well validation aboard in October in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionOrange and payment in shops in October in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

(

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

) with first reception of "Fly Tag" informations * 2006: Initial specifications for NFC Tags * 2006: Specification for "SmartPoster" records * 2007: Innovision's NFC tags used in the first consumer trial in the UK, in the

Nokia 6131 The Nokia 6131/6133 is a Flip (form), clamshell cell phone introduced by Nokia on February 13, 2006. The Nokia 6131 has improvements over its predecessor, the Nokia 6101, as such, native USB connectivity (only CA-53 cable or compatible is support ...

handset. * 2008: AirTag launched what it called the first NFC SDK. * 2009: In January, NFC Forum released Peer-to-Peer standards to transfer contacts, URLs, initiate

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

, etc. * 2009: NFC first used in transports by China Unicom and Yucheng Transportation Card in the tramways and bus of

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

on 19 January 2009, then implemented for the first time in a metro network, by China Unicom in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

on 31 December 2010. *2010: Innovision released a suite of designs and patents for low cost, mass-market mobile phones and other devices. * 2010: Nokia C7: First NFC-capable smartphone released. NFC feature was enabled by software update in early 2011. * 2010:

Nexus S: First Android NFC phone shown * May 21, 2010:

Nice, France Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million

, launches, with "Cityzi", the "Nice City of contactless mobile" project, the first in Europe to provide inhabitants with NFC bank cards and mobile phones (like Samsung Player One S5230), and a "bouquet of services" covering transportation (tramways and bus), tourism and student's services * 2011: Google I/O "How to NFC" demonstrates NFC to initiate a game and to share a contact, URL, app or video. * 2011: NFC support becomes part of the Symbian

mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on the ...

with the release of Symbian Anna version. * 2011: Research In Motion devices are the first ones certified by MasterCard Worldwide for their PayPass service * 2012: UK restaurant chain EAT. and Everything Everywhere ( Orange Mobile Network Operator), partner on the UK's first nationwide NFC-enabled smartposter campaign. A dedicated mobile phone app is triggered when the NFC-enabled mobile phone comes into contact with the smartposter. * 2012: Sony introduced NFC "Smart Tags" to change modes and profiles on a Sony smartphone at close range, included with the Sony Xperia P Smartphone released the same year. * 2013: Samsung and VISA announce their partnership to develop mobile payments. * 2013:

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

scientists, in an effort to curb fraud and security breaches, develop an NFC-based mobile authentication security technology. This technology works on similar principles to dual-factor authentication security. * October 2014: Dinube becomes the first non-card payment network to introduce NFC contactless payments natively on a mobile device, i.e. no need for an external case attached or NFC 'sticker' nor for a card. Based on Host card emulation with its own ''application identifier'' (AID), contactless payment was available on Android KitKat upwards and commercial release commenced in June 2015. * 2014:

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

, Verizon and

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand of telecommunications by Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telec ...

released Softcard (formerly ISIS mobile wallet). It runs on NFC-enabled Android phones and

iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the iPhone 4s. Following a number of notable leaks, ...

and

iPhone 5 The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, 6th generation iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 4s, and preceding both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. It was formally unveiled as part of ...

when an external NFC case is attached. The technology was purchased by

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

and the service ended on March 31, 2015. * September 2015: Google's Android Pay function was launched, a direct rival to Apple Pay, and its roll-out across the US commenced. * November 2015: Swatch and Visa Inc. announced a partnership to enable NFC financial transactions using the "Swatch Bellamy" wristwatch. The system is currently online in Asia, through a partnership with China UnionPay and Bank of Communications. The partnership will bring the technology to the US, Brazil, and Switzerland.

Ultra-wideband Ultra-wideband (UWB, ultra wideband, ultra-wide band and ultraband) is a radio technology that can use a very low energy level for short-range, high-bandwidth communications over a large portion of the radio spectrum. UWB has traditional applicat ...

(UWB) another radio technology has been hailed as a future possible alternatives to NFC technology due to further distances of data transmission, as well as Bluetooth and wireless technology.

Design

NFC is a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically requiring a separation of or less. NFC operates at 13.56

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

on ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface and at rates ranging from 106 kbit/s to 424 kbit/s. NFC always involves an initiator and a target; the initiator actively generates an RF field that can power a passive target. This enables NFC targets to take very simple form factors such as unpowered tags, stickers, key fobs, or cards. NFC peer-to-peer communication is possible, provided both devices are powered. NFC tags contain data and are typically read-only, but may be writable. They can be custom-encoded by their manufacturers or use NFC Forum specifications. The tags can securely store personal data such as debit and credit card information, loyalty program data, PINs and networking contacts, among other information. The NFC Forum defines five types of tags that provide different communication speeds and capabilities in terms of configurability, memory, security, data retention and write endurance. As with proximity card technology, NFC uses inductive coupling between two nearby loop antennas effectively forming an air-core

transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

. Because the distances involved are tiny compared to the

wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...

electromagnetic radiation In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a self-propagating wave of the electromagnetic field that carries momentum and radiant energy through space. It encompasses a broad spectrum, classified by frequency or its inverse, wavelength ...

(radio waves) of that frequency (about 22 metres), the interaction is described as near field. An alternating

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

is the main coupling factor and almost no power is radiated in the form of

radio wave Radio waves (formerly called Hertzian waves) are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the lowest frequencies and the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies below 300 gigahertz (GHz) and wavelengths g ...

s (which are electromagnetic waves, also involving an oscillating

electric field An electric field (sometimes called E-field) is a field (physics), physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles such as electrons. In classical electromagnetism, the electric field of a single charge (or group of charges) descri ...

); that minimises interference between such devices and any radio communications at the same frequency or with other NFC devices much beyond its intended range. NFC operates within the globally available and unlicensed

ISM band of 13.56 MHz. Most of the RF energy is concentrated in the ±7 kHz bandwidth allocated for that band, but the emission's spectral width can be as wide as 1.8 MHz in order to support high data rates. Working distance with compact standard antennas and realistic power levels could be up to about (but practically speaking, working distances never exceed ). Note that because the pickup antenna may be quenched in an eddy current by nearby metallic surfaces, the tags may require a minimum separation from such surfaces. The ISO/IEC 18092 standard supports data rates of 106, 212 or 424 kbit/s. The communication takes place between an active "initiator" device and a target device which may either be: ; Passive: The initiator device provides a carrier field and the target device, acting as a transponder, communicates by modulating the incident field. In this mode, the target device may draw its operating power from the initiator-provided magnetic field. ; Active: Both initiator and target device communicate by alternately generating their own fields. A device stops transmitting in order to receive data from the other. This mode requires that both devices include power supplies. NFC employs two different codings to transfer data. If an active device transfers data at 106 kbit/s, a modified Miller coding with 100 percent

modulation Signal modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform in electronics and telecommunication for the purpose of transmitting information. The process encodes information in form of the modulation or message ...

is used. In all other cases Manchester coding is used with a modulation ratio of 10 percent. Every active NFC device can work in one or more of three modes: ; NFC card emulation: Enables NFC-enabled devices such as smartphones to act like smart cards, allowing users to perform transactions such as payment or ticketing. See Host card emulation ; NFC reader/writer: Enables NFC-enabled devices to read information stored on inexpensive NFC tags embedded in labels or smart posters. ; NFC peer-to-peer:Enables two NFC-enabled devices to communicate with each other to exchange information in an

ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...

fashion. NFC tags are passive data stores which can be read, and under some circumstances written to, by an NFC device. They typically contain data ( between 96 and 8,192 bytes) and are read-only in normal use, but may be rewritable. Applications include secure personal data storage (e.g.

debit Debits and credits in double-entry bookkeeping are entries made in account ledgers to record changes in value resulting from business transactions. A debit entry in an account represents a transfer of value ''to'' that account, and a cred ...

or credit card information,

loyalty program A loyalty program or rewards program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of one or more businesses associated with the program. Single-company vs. coalition programs Loyalty progr ...

data,

personal identification number A personal identification number (PIN; sometimes RAS syndrome, redundantly a PIN code or PIN number) is a numeric (sometimes alpha-numeric) passcode used in the process of authenticating a user accessing a system. The PIN has been the key to faci ...

s (PINs), contacts). NFC tags can be custom-encoded by their manufacturers or use the industry specifications.

Security

Although the range of NFC is limited to a few centimeters, standard plain NFC is not protected against

eavesdropping Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information. Etymology The verb ''eavesdrop'' is a back-formation from the noun ''eave ...

and can be vulnerable to data modifications. Applications may use higher-layer

cryptographic protocol A cryptographic protocol is an abstract or concrete Communications protocol, protocol that performs a information security, security-related function and applies cryptographic methods, often as sequences of cryptographic primitives. A protocol desc ...

s to establish a secure channel. The RF signal for the wireless data transfer can be picked up with antennas. The distance from which an attacker is able to eavesdrop the RF signal depends on multiple parameters, but is typically less than 10 meters. Also, eavesdropping is highly affected by the communication mode. A passive device that doesn't generate its own RF field is much harder to eavesdrop on than an active device. An attacker can typically eavesdrop within 10 m of an active device and 1 m for passive devices. Because NFC devices usually include ISO/IEC 14443 protocols, relay attacks are feasible.Timo Kasper et al. 2007 For this attack the adversary forwards the request of the reader to the victim and relays its answer to the reader in real time, pretending to be the owner of the victim's smart card. This is similar to a man-in-the-middle attack. One code example demonstrates a relay attack using two stock commercial NFC devices. This attack can be implemented using only two NFC-enabled mobile phones.

Standards

NFC standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats, and are based on existing RFID standards including ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. The standards include ISO/IEC 18092 and those defined by the NFC Forum.

ISO/IEC

NFC is standardized in ECMA-340 and ISO/IEC 18092. These standards specify the modulation schemes, coding, transfer speeds and frame format of the RF interface of NFC devices, as well as initialization schemes and conditions required for data collision-control during initialization for both passive and active NFC modes. They also define the transport protocol, including protocol activation and data-exchange methods. The air interface for NFC is standardized in: * ISO/IEC 18092 / ECMA-340—''Near Field Communication Interface and Protocol-1'' (NFCIP-1) * ISO/IEC 21481 / ECMA-352—''Near Field Communication Interface and Protocol-2'' (NFCIP-2) NFC incorporates a variety of existing standards including ISO/IEC 14443 Type A and Type B, and FeliCa (also simply named F or NFC-F). NFC-enabled phones work at a basic level with existing readers. In "card emulation mode" an NFC device should transmit, at a minimum, a unique ID number to a reader. In addition, NFC Forum defined a common data format called ''NFC Data Exchange Format'' (NDEF) that can store and transport items ranging from any

MIME A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

-typed object to ultra-short RTD-documents, such as URLs. The NFC Forum added the ''Simple NDEF Exchange Protocol'' (SNEP) to the spec that allows sending and receiving messages between two NFC devices.

GSMA

The GSM Association (GSMA) is a trade association representing nearly 800 mobile telephony operators and more than 200 product and service companies across 219 countries. Many of its members have led NFC trials and are preparing services for commercial launch. GSM is involved with several initiatives: * Standards: GSMA is developing certification and testing standards to ensure global interoperability of NFC services. * ''Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative'': Seeks to define a common global approach to using NFC technology to link mobile devices with payment and contactless systems. * On November 17, 2010, after two years of discussions, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile launched a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

to develop a platform through which

point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

payments could be made using NFC in cell phones. Initially known as Isis Mobile Wallet and later as Softcard, the venture was designed to usher in broad deployment of NFC technology, allowing their customers' NFC-enabled cell phones to function similarly to credit cards throughout the US. Following an agreement with—and IP purchase by—Google, the Softcard payment system was shuttered in March, 2015, with an endorsement for its earlier rival, Google Wallet.

StoLPaN

StoLPaN (Store Logistics and Payment with NFC) is a pan-European consortium supported by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

's Information Society Technologies program. StoLPaN will examine the potential for NFC local wireless mobile communication.

NFC Forum

NFC Forum is a non-profit industry association formed on March 18, 2004, by

NXP Semiconductors NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a Dutch semiconductor manufacturing and design company with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is the third largest European semiconductor company by market capitalization as of 2024. The company employs approx ...

and

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

to advance the use of NFC wireless interaction in consumer electronics, mobile devices and PCs. Its specifications include the five distinct tag types that provide different communication speeds and capabilities covering flexibility, memory, security, data retention and write endurance. NFC Forum promotes implementation and standardization of NFC technology to ensure interoperability between devices and services. As of January 2020, the NFC Forum had over 120 member companies. NFC Forum promotes NFC and certifies device compliance and whether it fits in a personal area network.

Other standardization bodies

GSMA defined a platform for the deployment of GSMA NFC Standards within mobile handsets. GSMA's efforts include, Single Wire Protocol, testing and certification and secure element. The GSMA standards surrounding the deployment of NFC protocols (governed by NFC Forum) on mobile handsets are neither exclusive nor universally accepted. For example, Google's deployment of Host Card Emulation on Android KitKat provides for software control of a universal radio. In this HCE Deployment the NFC protocol is leveraged without the GSMA standards. Other standardization bodies involved in NFC include: *

ETSI The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, not-for-profit, standardization organization operating in the field of Information and communications technology, information and communications. ETSI supports the de ...

/ SCP (Smart Card Platform) to specify the interface between the SIM card and the NFC chipset. * EMVCo for the impacts on the EMV payment applications

Applications

NFC allows one- and two-way communication between endpoints, suitable for many applications. NFC devices can act as electronic

identity document An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a documentation, document proving a person's Identity (social science), identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). ...

s and keycards. They are used in contactless payment systems and allow mobile payment replacing or supplementing systems such as credit cards and electronic ticket smart cards. These are sometimes called ''NFC/CTLS'' or ''CTLS NFC'', with ''contactless'' abbreviated as ''CTLS''. NFC can be used to share small files such as contacts and for bootstrapping fast connections to share larger media such as photos, videos, and other files.

Commerce

NFC devices can be used in contactless payment systems, similar to those used in credit cards and electronic ticket smart cards, and allow mobile payment to replace/supplement these systems. In Android 4.4, Google introduced platform support for secure NFC-based transactions through Host Card Emulation (HCE), for payments, loyalty programs, card access, transit passes and other custom services. HCE allows any Android 4.4 app to emulate an NFC smart card, letting users initiate transactions with their device. Apps can use a new Reader Mode to act as readers for HCE cards and other NFC-based transactions. On September 9, 2014,

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

announced support for NFC-powered transactions as part of Apple Pay. With the introduction of iOS 11, Apple devices allow third-party developers to read data from NFC tags. As of 2022, there are five major NFC apps available in the UK: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Barclays Contactless Mobile and Fitbit Pay. The UK Finance's UK Payment Markets Summary 2021 looked at Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay and found 17.3 million UK adults had registered for mobile payment (up 75% from the year before) and of those, 84% had made a mobile payment.

Bootstrapping other connections

NFC offers a low-speed connection with simple setup that can be used to bootstrap more capable wireless connections. For example, Android Beam software uses NFC to enable pairing and establish a Bluetooth connection when doing a file transfer and then disabling Bluetooth on both devices upon completion. Nokia, Samsung, BlackBerry and Sony have used NFC technology to pair Bluetooth headsets, media players and speakers with one tap. The same principle can be applied to the configuration of Wi-Fi networks. Samsung Galaxy devices have a feature named S-Beam—an extension of Android Beam that uses NFC (to share

MAC address A MAC address (short for medium access control address or media access control address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller (NIC) for use as a network address in communications within a network segment. This use i ...

and IP addresses) and then uses Wi-Fi Direct to share files and documents. The advantage of using Wi-Fi Direct over Bluetooth is that it permits much faster data transfers, running up to 300 Mbit/s.

Social networking

NFC can be used for

social networking A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

, for sharing contacts, text messages and forums, links to photos, videos or files and entering multiplayer

mobile game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any Mobile device, portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet computer, table ...

Identity and access tokens

NFC-enabled devices can act as electronic

s found in passports and ID cards, and keycards for the use in fare cards, transit passes, login cards, car keys and access badges . NFC's short range and encryption support make it more suitable than less private RFID systems.

Smartphone automation and NFC tags

NFC-equipped smartphones can be paired with NFC Tags or stickers that can be programmed by NFC apps. These programs can allow a change of phone settings, texting, app launching, or command execution. Such apps do not rely on a company or manufacturer, but can be utilized immediately with an NFC-equipped smartphone and an NFC tag. The NFC Forum published the Signature Record Type Definition (RTD) 2.0 in 2015 to add integrity and authenticity for NFC Tags. This specification allows an NFC device to verify tag data and identify the tag author.

Gaming

NFC has been used in

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

starting with '' Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure''. These are customizable figurines which contain personal data with each figure, so no two figures are exactly alike. Nintendo's Wii U GamePad was the first console system to include NFC technology out of the box. It was later included in the Nintendo 3DS range (being built into the New Nintendo 3DS/XL and in a separately sold reader which uses

Infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

to communicate to older 3DS family consoles) and the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

range (being built within the right Joy-Con controller and directly in the Nintendo Switch Lite). The

amiibo (, ; stylized as amiibo; plural: ''Amiibo'') is a toys-to-life platform by Nintendo, which was launched in November 2014. It consists of a wireless communications and storage protocol for connecting figurines to the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Ni ...

range of accessories utilize NFC technology to unlock features.

Sports

Adidas Telstar 18 is a soccer ball that contains an NFC chip within. The chip enables users to interact with the ball using a smartphone.

Bluetooth comparison

NFC and Bluetooth are both relatively short-range communication technologies available on mobile phones. NFC operates at slower speeds than Bluetooth and has a much shorter range, but consumes far less power and doesn't require pairing. NFC sets up more quickly than standard Bluetooth, but has a lower transfer rate than Bluetooth low energy. With NFC, instead of performing manual configurations to identify devices, the connection between two NFC devices is automatically established in less than .1 second. The maximum data transfer rate of NFC (424 kbit/s) is slower than that of Bluetooth V2.1 (2.1 Mbit/s). NFC's maximum working distance of less than reduces the likelihood of unwanted interception, making it particularly suitable for crowded areas that complicate correlating a signal with its transmitting physical device (and by extension, its user). NFC is compatible with existing passive RFID (13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 18000-3) infrastructures. It requires comparatively low power, similar to the Bluetooth V4.0 low-energy protocol. However, when NFC works with an unpowered device (e.g. on a phone that may be turned off, a contactless smart credit card, a smart poster), the NFC power consumption is greater than that of Bluetooth V4.0 Low Energy, since illuminating the passive tag needs extra power.

Devices

In 2011, handset vendors released more than 40 NFC-enabled handsets with the Android mobile operating system.

BlackBerry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

devices support NFC using BlackBerry Tag on devices running BlackBerry OS 7.0 and greater. MasterCard added further NFC support for PayPass for the Android and BlackBerry platforms, enabling PayPass users to make payments using their Android or BlackBerry smartphones. A partnership between

and Visa added a ' payWave' application on the Galaxy S4 smartphone. In 2012,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

added native NFC functionality in their mobile OS with

Windows Phone 8 Windows Phone 8 is the second generation of the Windows Phone mobile operating system from Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft, released on October 29, 2012. It runs on the Windows NT kernel and is the successor to Windows Phone 7. It was the first ...

, as well as the

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...

operating system. Microsoft provides the "Wallet hub" in Windows Phone 8 for NFC payment, and can integrate multiple NFC payment services within a single application. In 2014, iPhone 6 was released from

to support NFC. and since September 2019 in

iOS 13 iOS 13 is the thirteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for the iPhone, iPod Touch and HomePod. The successor to iOS 12, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June ...

Apple now allows NFC tags to be read out as well as labeled using an NFC app.

Deployments

As of April 2011 hundreds of NFC trials had been conducted. Some firms moved to full-scale service deployments, spanning one or more countries. Multi-country deployments include Orange's rollout of NFC technology to banks, retailers, transport, and service providers in multiple European countries, and Airtel Africa and Oberthur Technologies deploying to 15 countries throughout Africa. * China Telecom (China's 3rd largest mobile operator) made its NFC rollout in November 2013. The company signed up multiple banks to make their payment apps available on its SIM Cards. China telecom stated that the wallet would support coupons, membership cards, fuel cards and boarding passes. The company planned to achieve targets of rolling out 40 NFC phone models and 30 Mn NFC SIMs by 2014. * Softcard (formerly Isis Mobile Wallet), a joint venture from Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile, focuses on in-store payments making use of NFC technology. After doing pilots in some regions, they launched across the US. *

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

launched the NFC-based Vodafone SmartPass mobile payment service in Spain in partnership with Visa. It enables consumers with an NFC-enabled SIM card in a mobile device to make contactless payments via their SmartPass credit balance at any POS. * OTI, an Israeli company that designs and develops contactless microprocessor-based smart card technology, contracted to supply NFC-readers to one of its channel partners in the US. The partner was required to buy $10MM worth of OTI NFC readers over 3 years. * Rogers Communications launched virtual wallet Suretap to enable users to make payments with their phone in Canada in April 2014. Suretap users can load up gift cards and prepaid MasterCards from national retailers. *

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

's first workforce smart card uses NFC. * As of December 13, 2013 Tim Hortons TimmyME BlackBerry 10 Application allowed users to link their prepaid Tim Card to the app, allowing payment by tapping the NFC-enabled device to a standard contactless terminal. * Google Wallet allows consumers to store credit card and store loyalty card information in a virtual wallet and then use an NFC-enabled device at terminals that also accept MasterCard PayPass transactions. * Germany, Austria, Finland, New Zealand, Italy, Iran, Turkey and Greece trialed NFC ticketing systems for public transport. The Lithuanian capital of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

fully replaced paper tickets for public transportation with ISO/IEC 14443 Type A cards on July 1, 2013. * NFC sticker-based payments in Australia's Bankmecu and card issuer Cuscal completed an NFC payment sticker trial, enabling consumers to make contactless payments at Visa payWave terminals using a smart sticker stuck to their phone. * India was implementing NFC-based transactions in box offices for ticketing purposes. * A partnership of Google and Equity Bank in Kenya introduced NFC payment systems for public transport in the Capital city Nairobi under the branding BebaPay. * January 2019 saw the start of trial using NFC-enabled Android mobile phones to pay public transport fares in

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

* A summary video of near-field communication {{authority control Articles containing video clips Bandplans Ecma standards ISO standards Mobile telecommunications Wireless