- The NFC Forum is driving ahead with a strategy to innovate NFC further in key areas where demand is growing, including multiple actions prompted by a single tag read and longer-range reads
- The forum’s working groups are focusing on how NFC technology can best serve the European DPP initiative to track products from cradle to grave
Looking at the next generation of contactless technology, NFC Forum is planning a set of applications and standards that will bring new innovation and use-cases for passive, 13.56 MHz devices. The forum is defining the latest, broadened functionality and experiences, most recently with multi-purpose taps.
With this new feature, the tap-to-pay feature that consumers are so accustomed to could be capable of achieving a variety of functions at once. One example is when purchasing goods at a storer, a customer’s loyalty card, proof of age or other credentials could be added to a payment at an NFC terminal with a single tap.
Multi-purpose tapping is part of a detailed road map for the NFC Forum—a standards group with more than 500 organization members aimed at promoting and innovating NFC technology solutions.
In fact, the multiple-purpose tap is one of a handful of pursuits for the forum that are proceeding to expand technology usage, explained Mike McCamon, NFC Forum’s executive director. NFC Forum’s road map includes the Europe Union’s (EU) Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirement standardization, longer range NFC transmission, wireless charging and the release of an educational e-book.
Growing Membership and Engagement
Part of the planning is focused on the results from the NFC Usage and Adoptions Study—conducted by NFC Forum and ABI Research— released in April, that found the majority of consumers prefer to use their mobile phone or wearable over a contactless card when paying for goods. That means as consumers expand their expectations to access goods and services with their phones, NFC functionality in these devices has room for growth.
Considering NFC’s stable presence in multiple industries—especially in contactless payments—the forum has been looking ahead, rather than resting on its laurels.
“The interesting thing is that in terms of memberships, our numbers are way up, engagement is up and we seem to be experiencing a pretty nice revival,” McCamon said.
Having created a road map has been instrumental in giving membership and the NFC industry more direction, “I think we could be drifting without it,” he said.
Multi-purpose Tap
The NFC Forum first published plans for the NFC multi-purpose tap concept to enable businesses and consumers to accomplish multiple actions with a single tap in the spring.
The forum puts each of its endeavors through a series of stages: starting with research, then market requirements assessments, technical work, testing and finally, release. Multi-purpose tap is relatively early in the process: in the market requirements stage.
For that reason, the forum reports, now is a good time for technology providers or users to get involved.
“If you’re a company that’s looking to implement something like this or wanting to influence the spec, this is when we define these things,” said McCamon.
Application Concepts
The group is still developing application concepts around the multi-use tap. One might be in retail where an NFC tag ID can be captured and prompt access to multiple sets of data including the actual payment.
“When I go to tap perhaps it could pass along the fact that I am over the age of 21 so I can buy alcohol. It could also pass my loyalty card, along with capturing credit card information,” said McCamon.
Users might receive the receipt back directly into their digital wallet as opposed to having to go through the cloud to access it, or have it sent in an email.
Beyond payment transactions, the technology could bundle other events with a single tap. In a concert or sports venue, a user could receive discount food or merchandise when they scan their NFC ticket.
Reducing Payment Friction
In fact, NFC Forum’s consumer study found 63 percent of customers that use contactless payment want multi-purpose tap to simplify the payment experience. And the survey found that 85 percent of customers report that they’re more likely to shop at a retailer that has a loyalty program.
“Decreasing friction for people to use it is actually something that would be really important to retailers,” explained McCamon.
Multi-purpose tap for consumers could mean less time in line to accomplish each transaction and higher reliability their loyalty card is connected to the purchase.
Extended Range
Another pursuit—the establishment of increased NFC transmission range —is progressing according to plans, forum members reported. The goal was to enable transmission at approximately four times the current range of 5 millimeters to about 20 millimeters.
The extended range is not intended to compete with the much longer range of Bluetooth, Ultra-wideband or UHF RAIN RFID. Instead, said McCamon, “it really is about improving the user experience in terms of time as well as alignment of antennas.”
The longer range would be intended to make transactions more reliable and faster for customers when they use the technology as well as improve convenience for those tapping their device or a card against a reader such as a door or payment terminal.
Forum members expect extended range NFC chips in the market as early as the end of 2025, with consumer products leveraging those chips to follow.
DPP Standardization
Another legislative trend in Europe offers new opportunities for NFC. The EU is requiring a DPP for products that are made, used or recycled in Europe. Just how products are identified is still open to several technological options, one of which is NFC.
NFC tags are DPP compliant as the regulations call for a data carrier, and a connection from the product to the cloud. McCamon noted “it’s very simple for someone to integrate a tag or an NFC chip into a product,” that can be done today with no modifications to existing NFC tags or readers.
However, there may need to be a shift in software and data storage. Currently, McCamon pointed out, most people are using NFC tags on products for very different purposes. These can include authentication of a high value item, access to rewards or details about the ingredients or components in a product.
When used for DPP compliance, the NFC system would need to be focused on accessing a DPP site, and coexisting with other functions such as customer engagement portals.
Storing Static and Dynamic Data
The Forum’s DPP work group is includes studying the types of static as well as dynamic data that can be stored on the tag to supplement the DPP. For instance, a tag’s chip could store a full copy of the DPP history of a product, and then enable an NFC device to further validate the data in the cloud for authentication.
Additionally, NFC tags have the capacity to store additional data that can be updated over time such as updating the history of an electric vehicle (EV) battery to indicate how many times it has been charged. Such dynamic as well as static data that can be stored on the digital passport on the device in addition to connecting it to the cloud for the standard version.
Thus far the members of the DPP working group are NFC companies and device makers, including Sony.
Wireless Power
Additionally, the forum has established a technical specification that makes it possible to charge NFC devices over the air at up to one watt of power. The technology can enable transmissions of enough energy to power small devices such as a headset or stylus, or enable an action related to an NFC tag read, namely releasing a door lock without requiring a power source.
To further this capability, the forum is looking at expanding the specification to enable up to three watts of power which could serve applications that only require small power access, and thereby eliminate disposable batteries like watch batteries.
Charging a stylus using NFC wireless power, for instance, could be accomplished in one minute, with enough power to operate the stylus for three hours.
Adding Goals to the Roadmap
Looking ahead, the group plans to continue to add to new challenges to its agenda for future development and standardization as accomplishments are reached.
“My goal is to make sure we always have five to seven items that are on the road map that we’re working on. As we complete items my expectation is that we will continue to add new work items,” McCamon said.
McCamon stressed the NFC Forum is driven to be part of future technology evolution, even as its chips and readers are being used widely for specific purposes, such as payments. The forum intends to make announcements on road map items status in an October member meeting.
“We pushed really hard to think about where we could innovate and it really has rallied the membership,” he said.