You may be able to pay for purchases and get into train stations without having to physically touch your phone to an NFC terminal in the future. The NFC Forum, which defines the standards for NFC, has revealed a roadmap for key research and plans for near field communication through 2028. Apparently, one of the main priorities for the future of the technology is to increase its range. At the moment, NFC only works if two enabled devices are within 5 millimeters from each other, but the group says it’s currently examining ranges that are “four to six times the current operating distance.”
That’s 30 millimeters or 1.18 inches at most, but it could enable faster transactions and fewer failed ones overall, seeing as a longer range also means there’s a lower precision requirement for antenna alignment. In addition, the forum is looking to improve the current NFC wireless charging specification of 1 watt to 3 watts. The capability will bring wireless charging to “new and smaller form factors,” the forum said, but didn’t give examples of what those form factors could look like.
Another potential future NFC capability will support several actions with a single tap. Based on the sample use cases the forum listed — point-to-point receipt delivery, loyalty identification and total-journey ticketing — we could be looking at the possibility of being able to validate transit tickets or venue tickets for the whole family with just one tap or a single device. NFC-enabled smartphones could have the power to serve as point-of-sale devices in the future, as well. Apple’s Tap to Pay feature already lets iPhone owners use their phones as payment terminals. But a standardized capability would allow more people, especially in developing countries where Android is more prevalent, to use their devices to offer payments for their small businesses and shops.
These plans are in varying stages of development right now, with some further along than others. The forum doesn’t have a clear timeline for their debut yet, but it said that the timeframe for its plans spans two to five years. NFC tech could get faster and go fully contactless within the next five years
I, for one, can’t see a problem with extending the range of the technology we use for keys and payments by four to six times.
I mean, what could go wrong with being able to read secure data at a distance with fewer requirements for precision and proximity.
I’m not sure why you decided on sarcasm to discuss the concern, but I guess that’s the internet.
Do you really think these experts in the field haven’t considered security? Do you really think the ONLY thing saving us from rampant NFC crime has been distance limitations this whole time?
I know next to nothing on the topic, but your sarcastic implications are wild.
I didn’t decide on sarcasm, as much as defaulted to it.
As for the other thing… look, I have an RF shielded wallet. Do I think somebody is going to sneak behind me with a card reader and try to steal five bucks from me? No, not really. Do I find the notion of them being able to do it without having to physically tap my crotch less secure? Probably.
5mm? The NFC forum themselves list the range as 2cm, I use it frequently and you definitely do not need to be within 5mm.
When I was living in London I just had to wave my phone vaguely in the direction of the pay point to get in the tube. I’d say minimum 55mm
Yeah, definitely bigger than 5mm…
There’s been so many times when I accidentally trigger the sensor with my phone when I am simply choosing a tip option.
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I’ve worked on certification of NFC payment readers and the payment providers like Visa and MasterCard require that they work reliably out to 4 or 5cm or else they won’t be certified as payment devices. And without those certifications they’re not allowed to be used to accept payments.
The exact requirements vary for each payment provider but you can assume that cards will work 5cm from the reader and probably a bit beyond. We even had a robot at the place I worked at which would hold the card at hundreds of different positions around the reader to check where it worked and didn’t work. From memory MasterCard require that it can successfully read the card in 80% of locations within a “constellation” of points around the tap symbol.
@badbrainstorm Oh wow, this is the first #lemmy post I’ve seen come up on my #mastodon feed. I didn’t know lemmy does that. I wonder if this comment shows up on their page as well.
Welcome to ActivityPub! :)
It does. Posting here from Lemmy.world
@badbrainstorm It does! So cool!
it is, indeed!
I guess someone on your instance followed the community this was posted to.
Hello!
@MentalEdge Oh is that how it works, interesting.
Under the hood, communities are ActivityPub “users” that real users are able to post through.
I’m not entirely clear on how it all translates. I checked what this post looks like to you on mastodon, and it’s actually posted by the user who actually posted it, not the community.
The user also has zero follows, wonder how that works with it getting federated.
@MentalEdge Yeah, your profile in mastodon looks like a bare bones profile. But there is a link on the bottom to go to the original profile.
Also, I just followed you from mastodon. I wonder how that looks to you.
Wonder how this is different than just using BLE
Yeah ngl there are already many long range wireless communication standards
NFC requiring physical proximity is USEFUL, that’s why people choose it.Otherwise, the rest sounds find by me.
If you use an actual credit card you don’t need to physically touch it already - near is fine. Plus you don’t need to unlock a credit card to use it.
You don’t need to for NFC payments with your phone either, I’m not sure where the idea of the 5mm range has come from.
FaceID and fingerprints are such a hassle right? Takes sooo long to glance at my phone or put a finger on a sensor what an inconvenience.
It takes far longer to get a Card out my wallet than to get my phone out and double click the power button.
EDIT: Also near is good enough for phones too problem is half the people using cases that block NFC/Make it weaker.
So does this mean the guy with an Apple Watch behind me in line will automatically pay for my groceries through Apple Pay nfc
