Venyon

• Near Field Communication
• NFC ecosystem
• NFC evolution and user experience
• OTA - secure and user-friendly application distribution

Near Field Communication

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a new short-range wireless connectivity technology standard designed for intuitive, simple and safe communication between electronic devices. NFC communication is enabled by bringing two NFC compatible devices within a few centimetres of one another or for the two devices to literally “touch” one another.

Applications of NFC technology include contactless transactions such as payment and transit ticketing, simple and fast data transfers including calendar synchronization or electronic business cards and access to online digital content.

NFC can be deployed in different type of devices, but as an enabling method for mobile phones it will dramatically simplify the way mobile devices interact not only with each other, but with the existing infrastructure accepting contactless communication. With the NFC mobile device the user can receive and share information and make fast and secure transactions, such as in ticketing and payment.

NFC is an ideal way of making secure and fast transactions. NFC mobile phones include a multi-application smart card chip (usually called as a secure element), which can host several applications. To describe it shortly, it can amalgamate all your current range of smart cards in your wallet to a single, secure chip inside of your mobile phone and therefore transforming your mobile phone into a virtual wallet with online capabilities.

Several options for secure element form factors 

The secure element can have several form factors. It can be removable, like a SIM card or memory card or it can be embedded into the phone. What is common for all these different form factors is that they all integrate special tamper-proof hardware and operating systems capable of storing and processing security sensitive applications and data. Although basic functionality of different types of secure elements is very much alike, there are unique features supported by them all. A SIM card which is designed for a subscriber token for wireless networks is a strong candidate for being the main stream secure element: it is removable, secure and has solid line of logistics with in-built security existing. Most likely, all of the form factors will co-exist in the future and they can be used for diverse use cases.

It’s all about services

NFC should not be seen as a technology, but rather as a set of services and an enabler. The technology itself forms a base for services, but mass market roll-out will only be successful with true added value for consumers. Cross-industry cooperation is an absolute necessity for mass-market roll-out and all the services and respective processes need to align to meet the requirements of consumers.