Tech Talk, The UK says hello to NFC

I said this blog could feature anything and anything it does with this article that will be dubbed, Tech Talk.

This week Orange and Barclays officially announced the launch of its “Quick Tap” scheme, an extension of the ever increasing in popularity contactless payment system which eliminates the need to enter in a pin for purchases made on a Near Field Communication, or NFC, chip equipped credit or debit card. In principal Quick Tap turns your mobile phone into a digital wallet, doing away with the need to carry around your debit and credit card or even cash allowing you to make payment for goods (subject to service limitations) by waving your phone over a contactless payment terminal and the money then being debited from a preloaded amount of funds on your phone. Of course this isn’t actually that new a thing.

Japan, Korea and Finland to name but three countries have all been using this technology since the last decade, but it’s not just paying for your lunch that this tech could be used for.

The applications are near endless although the obvious is from a commerce point of view, imagine in an almost minority report way you walk into your local branch of All Saints for a browse. As you walk through the stores doors a video screen flickers onto life and you are addressed by name by a virtual shop assistant. This process has been triggered by the NFC chip in your phone, it knows that seven weeks ago you purchased a pair of Jeans from the same store using your phone to make payment and now the virtual shop assistant is offering you a few suggestions on what to buy to go with those Jeans. You’ll soon be walking past digital billboards equipped with NFC that upon picking up your phones NFC chip will be able to offer targeted advertising dependant on your purchasing history. What seemed like sci-fi a few years ago is now very firmly sci-fact.

In a few short years it is most likely that your phone will be able to be used for pretty much anything, replacing your house keys, car keys, travel passes even your passport could be replaced thanks to NFC. The tech is still in it’s infancy in the UK at least, but the possibilities are endless, not to mention exciting.