Planned improvements to NFC specifications are likely to see improvements to Apple Pay range and speed.
Another proposed change would enable the Wallet app to get smarter, as the standard will begin supporting multiple actions with a single tap …
Near field communications (NFC) improvements
Contactless payment cards and Apple Pay alike use a technology known as NFC, or near field communications. This is a radio-based form of data communications specifically intended to operate only at extremely close range.
Contactless payments are commonly referred to as “tap to pay” for this reason: While physical contact isn’t needed, you do need to get your card, iPhone, or Apple Watch very close to the payment terminal. How close? Currently, the NFC standard is defined as 5mm, or less than 0.2 inches. While it may work at longer range, this is the only distance that is guaranteed.
However, Engadget reports that The NFC Forum, which defines these standards, plans to increase the guaranteed range to somewhere between four and six times this distance. At the top end, that would boost the range to 30mm, or 1.18 inches.
Apple Pay range and speed would be improved
While that doesn’t sound like much of a change, increasing the range would boost both reliability and speed when making contactless and Apple Pay purchases.
Reliability, because you wouldn’t need to get the NFC chip of the iPhone or Apple Watch quite so close to the terminal, so it will work first time more often – especially in situations where the payment terminal is positioned awkwardly. (Looking at you, retailers who position terminals such that only a trained contortionist can use their Apple Watch without needing to head straight to the emergency room afterwards.)
Speed, because the transaction would be triggered even while you’re still moving your device toward the payment terminal.
Smarter Wallet possibilities, too
Currently, the NFC standard only supports a single action – usually authorizing payment. However, the forum plans to introduce a “multi purpose tap” feature which would allow several actions to be triggered at once.
For example, this could trigger both payment, and separate accrual of retailer reward points. Another option would be to allow you to use your Apple Wallet app to check-in your entire family at an airport departure gate or ticket barrier at a venue.
Will be 2025 to 2028 before we see the benefits
If there’s one thing you can be sure of where tech industry standards are concerned, it’s that it takes time to reach agreement, and even longer to implement.
The NFC Forum says that the work needed for these improvements is already under development, but that it will take between two and five years before it is launched. It will almost certainly need Apple to switch to new NFC chips to support the new standards, so the iPhone 17 will probably be the first model able to take advantage.
Photo: Christiann Koepke/Unsplash
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