NFC applications

In addition to its well-known use in payment transactions, the technology offers further possibilities. Near Field Communication is now used in many different areas. Two important sectors for the technology are, for example, retail and healthcare.

• In retail, NFC enables the use of loyalty programmes by allowing customers to conveniently hold their smartphones up to a terminal to collect loyalty points or receive exclusive offers.

• In the healthcare sector, NFC tags are used to securely transfer patient data and simplify access to medical information.

NFC in everyday life

There are also various everyday applications. One example of this is Nintendo's Amiibo function. The Amiibo figures and Amiibo cards contain chips. These chips can be used to store game data within the NFC Amiibo figure or card. The corresponding end devices (Nintendo Switch or Nintendo 3DS) have an area for reading NFC tags. When an Amiibo figure or Amiibo card is held up to the reading area, the game data can be transferred to the device.

But besides Amiibo, there are many other interesting uses. The following list shows examples of typical everyday applications.

• Changing smartphone settings (Android / iPhone)
• Launching apps on your smartphone (Android / iPhone)
• Connecting NFC devices to your smartphone (Android / iPhone)
• Digital business cards (NFC-vCard, Social-vCard)
• Digital greeting cards (NFC-Love)
• Improving organisation
• Nintendo Amiibo

Read more here about how you can automate your everyday life with NFC. In our collection of How2 guides, we describe specifically how you can implement these functions on your smartphone.

Applications for businesses

In the corporate sector, near field communication is used, for example, in access control, where employees use their ID cards or smartphones with NFC tags to gain secure and convenient access to buildings.

Furthermore, the technology facilitates the exchange of information, for example at trade fairs or events. There, visitors can access additional information by touching NFC tags on displays.

However, there are many other possible applications for businesses. Typical applications for businesses include, for example:

• Advertising with digital posters (NFC-URL)
• Digital competitions
• Special giveaways (e.g. Dogtap, Bagtap)
• product assistants
• product certification
• Digital business cards (NFC-vCard)
• Recording working hours
• access control
• property surveillance
• inventory

Read more about NFC business applications here.

Overall, it is clear that near field communication extends far beyond payment transactions. This is due to the versatility of NFC, which makes it attractive for a wide variety of areas. The technology offers a broad range of possible applications, both in everyday life and in various business sectors. New areas of application for near field communication are constantly emerging. It therefore remains exciting to see how the technology will develop in the future.