Apple Pay and NFC could get this major upgrade — but there’s one big problem

Whether you’re paying through Apple Pay , Google Wallet or some other mobile system, all those payments happen thanks to Near Field Communication — or NFC. While you may not have thought much of it, a lot of work goes into developing the NFC standard behind the scenes. And that hard work has resulted in a new version of the tap-and-pay technology for your phone.

The NFC Forum , which is responsible for maintaining NFC specifications, just announced something called “Multi-Purpose Tap”. The idea being that you can do multiple things by tapping your phone once. This means NFC card readers will be able to register things like loyalty cards, promotions and payment information with one tap.

It’s claimed that this upgrade will “revolutionize the contactless user experience”. While I wouldn’t go quite that far, the ability to transfer a bunch more relevant information with a single tap does sound pretty convenient. The process of checking out and ensuring you get whatever loyalty points or discounts you’re owed at the supermarket would be a lot easier. The idea of not having to scan a bunch of cards or coupons from my wallet before paying does sound very appealing.

The NFC Forum also envisions a bunch more scenarios where the tech could come into play. Automatically applying concessions or best fare pricing on travel tickets, receiving digital receipts or giving the user details on how the things they’ve bought can be reused or recycled.

I am definitely all for paying less on travel, and automatically receiving a digital copy of my receipt. Though I’m not sure how non-paper receipts will work at places like Costco that sign your receipt as you leave. Likewise I’m not too happy about the idea of having a payment machine sending me a bunch of information about stuff I didn’t ask for. Whether it’s related to recycling or if companies try to exploit it as another way to feed us advertising, that will not stand.

Here’s hoping our payment providers will give us the option to, at the very least, opt out of those messages. Or, ideally, block that extra spam in its entirety.

The real downside here is that the NFC Forum doesn’t have any information on when Multi-Purpose Tap will start rolling out. Right now the technology is still in its first review stage, and the Forum is asking “members of the NFC value chain” to contribute to further development.

In other words payment providers, retailers and even terminal manufacturers will have an opportunity for their say in how Multi-Purpose Tap is implemented. Then it relies on the appropriate hardware being released to phones and retailers around the world So you better be patient, and prepare yourself for a considerable wait.

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