You may be able to pay for purchases and enter train stations without having your phone touch the NFC station in the future. The NFC Forum, which defines NFC standards, has it open a road map For research and master plans for near field communications until 2028. It seems that one of the main priorities for the future of technology is to increase its range. Right now, NFC only works if two enabled devices are within 5 millimeters of each other, but the group says it’s currently considering ranges of “four to six times the current operating distance.”
That’s 30 millimeters or 1.18 inches at most, but it can enable faster transactions and fewer failed transactions overall, since the longer range also means there are lower precision requirements for antenna alignment. In addition, the forum is looking to improve the current NFC wireless charging specification from 1W to 3W. The forum said that this capability will bring wireless charging into “new, smaller form factors,” but gave no examples of what those could look like.
Another potential future NFC capability would support multiple one-click actions. Based on the typical use cases listed in the forum—point-to-point voucher delivery, loyalty identification and total trip ticketing—we could consider the possibility of validating transit tickets or place tickets for the whole family using just one ticket tap or one device. NFC-enabled smartphones could have the ability to act as point-of-sale devices in the future as well. Apple’s Tap to Pay feature allows iPhone owners to use their phones as payment terminals. But the modular capability will allow more people, especially in developing countries where Android is prevalent, to use their devices to make payments for their small businesses and stores.
These plans are in varying stages of development right now, and some are longer than others. Forum doesn’t have a clear timeline for their debut yet, but has said the time frame for its plans is two to five years.
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