Now truly contactless payment: in the next five years, the range of NFC will increase by a factor of 6

The NFC Forum, set up in 2004 by Sony, NXP Semiconductors and Nokia to improve NFC, has published a roadmap for the technology over the next five years, to 2028.

Here's What We Know

Most importantly, developers want to increase the range of NFC to make payment for goods truly contactless. Right now the optimum distance is just 5mm - which is why you often have to practically touch the terminal with your smartphone. But in the future the range will be increased by a factor of 4-6, to around 30mm.

NFC charging power should increase further, from 1W to 3W. This should bring wireless charging to new and smaller form factors, changing the industrial design and defining new markets. In theory, this applies to wireless headphones and other small gadgets.

The organisation also appears to have picked up on Apple's Tap to Pay feature and now plans to build into the NFC standard the ability to use a smartphone as a payment terminal.

Finally, NFC is set to become multi-functional. Simply put, once you bring your smartphone to the terminal or reader, you will be able to perform several of the same functions. For example, to present several cinema tickets at once.

Source: The Verge