NFC technology has been around since 2002, with its origins reaching as far back as the 1980s in the form of the RFID. Perhaps the reason that people think it isn’t mature, is that for years after its invention, it wasn’t widely adopted. It has only been in the last 18 months with the launch of mobile and contactless payments that consumers the world over have really embraced mobile NFC.
One can argue that NFC technology is mature, but that the ecosystem is still young, with the potential to develop much further. The GSMA noted in its 2015 Mobile Economy report that there were 43 commercial launches of NFC mobile commerce services during 2014. These frequent launches, almost one a week, brought the total number of commercial and pilot services to over 300.
The ecosystem is growing at pace, and when coupled with Juniper Research’s forecast that NFC-enabled handsets will rise from 740 million worldwide at the end of 2015 to 3.9 billion by 2020, it is clear the future is bright.
And it doesn’t stop there. Mobile ticketing is another big growth area. Mobile ticketing is making inroads into many new areas, from contactless transportation, to air travel and a range of events; in particular, this area has been further boosted by the growth of wearables – another ‘young’ technology that works hand-in-hand with NFC.
There are of course many other examples that demonstrate the growth of Apple Pay has been highly successful, and is already spreading to more countries. Samsung Pay is rolling out across the world, and is now available in Spain.
There’s also been further Mobile Wallet implementation in Korea, as well as in other key locations in Asia. And it’s also worth noting that Europeans “touched to pay” three billion times in the last 12 months.
Mobile NFC relies on field-proven contactless technology, and the infrastructure and security are already in place to allow it gain even greater acceptance.
For more info, click the image below to discover the 7 key myths surrounding NFC. And let us know what you think by tweeting to us @GemaltoMobile. Are there any other myths out there we haven’t mentioned?
Clear up key concerns about mobile NFC
