NFC Forum

NFC in Action

A remarkably diverse and ever-expanding universe of NFC use cases is being explored and brought to market all around the world. Today, both research organizations and commercial enterprises are putting NFC to work in widely diverse areas.

See these NFC uses cases in action by visiting NFC Forum on YouTube.

NFC Forum Global Competition

The NFC Forum held its NFC Global Competition in April 2012.

Learn more about the NFC Forum Global Competitions.

The NFC Forum is planning to hold its next NFC Global Competition in 2012.

A Day in the Life

NFC technology has the power to bring new simplicity and convenience to many aspects of a typical person's daily life, as this example illustrates:

7:30 - Eric gets on a train to go to his office, using his NFC-enabled phone to tap a reader and easily open the turnstile.

7:32 - He sees a poster announcing a free concert that evening. He touches his NFC-enabled phone to the N-Mark on the poster, which transfers the detailed information onto his phone. He reserves seats for the concert with his mobile phone, using mobile communications (e.g., SMS, internet, packet-based connections), and the complimentary tickets are sent to his mobile phone. He sends a text message to his wife to invite her to the concert and dinner.

8:15 - When he arrives at his office, Eric touches his NFC-enabled phone to the office gate to unlock the security mechanism.

Noon - At lunch time, he pays for his meal using one of the credit cards stored in his phone.

13:00 - After lunch, Eric visits the office of his new business partner for a meeting. Those attending the meeting exchange electronic business cards, stored in their NFC-enabled phones, by touching their phones together.

18:00 - Eric meets his wife and they go to the concert venue. He touches his NFC-enabled phone to a turnstile at the entrance to the venue, their reservations are confirmed, and they are admitted.

20:00 - After the concert, they visit a shopping center, where they make a few purchases and have dinner, using their NFC-enabled phones to pay for everything.

22:00 - When they arrive home, Eric realizes that he left his NFC-enabled phone on the train. He immediately calls the mobile network operator and makes a request to disable all active NFC services in the phone. If his phone is later found and returned to him, he will be able to reactivate these services.