(11-Jan-2012) At what cost do you value convenience? As the hype around Near Field Communications (NFC) or contactless payments intensifies one technology analyst wonders if we're inching toward a dangerous mobile security situation.
Some have suggested paper money is going the way of the square wheel and that by 2016 mobile payments could replace cash. But challenges remain before widespread adoption unfolds, notes a recent IDC Corp. blog, including contactless terminals that are often out of service and/or the under-trained store staff unfamiliar with the payment option.
NFC is the short-range communications standard that enables credit cards with an embedded NFC chip and mobile phones to transmit payment information to a contactless payment terminal such as those commonly found at gas stations and at some retail locations.