Friday, June 17, 2011

Implementers of NFC mobile payment seem to have forgotten about usability

Every now and then, I will hear people talking about the next big thing, Near Field Communications, otherwise known as NFC. In summary, it's a technology for wireless payment, and it seems to be specifically targeted for the mobile phones. The current implementation that I heard requires you to use a specific app in the phone that will authenticate the payee.

People assumes that since I'm in the technology line I will be quite interested in it. On the contrary, I think that NFC technology may not take off because of the usability issue. I can think of 3 big reasons why this is so:
  1. What happens if your mobile phone runs out of battery when you wish to make your payment? The app will not be able to run and you will not be able to authenticate yourself
  2. What happens if you have no data signal at the payment location? It's quite common that there are blackspots in certain areas of the country where you cannot even get 2.5G data signal. My guess is that the NFC authentication app will not be able to function without a data connection.
  3. Do you know that people lose their mobile phones more often that the credit card?

However, I am able to think of one area where NFC will take off. Loyalty cards to get discounts! :)

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