What is NFC (Near Field Communication) and what is Apple Pay?

You may be asking, “How do I add Apple Pay?” or, “How do I integrate Android Pay?” NFC (Near-Field-Communication) is a technology that’s been in mobile phones/tablets for quite some time. It’s an industry standard, meaning that the technology is shared by many different firms, and isn’t unique to a specific company. So, many different phones will have NFC technology inside! Apple Pay is simply Apple’s own “version” of NFC. Google has their own version, too – it’s called Google Wallet. But fundamentally, it’s the same thing – both companies are using NFC to send short, secure communications between two devices. The communications only pass a few feet – hence the name “near field”.

NFC simply allows data to pass between two compatible devices, and ultimately, it’s just a technology that facilitates data transfer. NFC is actually used in many different types of devices. But in the credit card processing industry, NFC is used to securely transfer sensitive credit card data in a wireless format, quickly and easily. That’s NFC’s job!

As a merchant, it’s important that your equipment is NFC-capable, so that you can accept payments from other NFC-devices, like Android (Google) phones, Apple iPhones, Apple Watches, and Google Wallet devices. More and more consumers are adopting NFC-capable devices, and as such, they’ll want to start paying for their goods/services with those devices! All new FD and PAX terminals sold by Dharma are NFC-capable right out of the box, as are many VeriFone models, so you can accept the newest forms of payment right now.