Near Field Communications technology is set to be the next big thing to hit the mobile market and a recent report by Juniper Research has given some interesting information on the subject.
It has been predicted that Near Field Communications (NFC) services will expand greatly over the next three years and by 2014 at least 20% of smartphones will be NFC-capable. This of course means that the number of debit and credit cards in use will gradually diminish.
In fact, these services are expected to be launched across 20 countries by next year itself. Retail marketing and payments for purchases made, will be done through coupons and smartcards in Western Europe, North America and other developed nations.
Mobile operators have already made announcements in regard to NFC technology and manufacturers expect to sell 1 million NFC devices this year itself.
Mobile wallets are also expected to be frequently used for the purchase of tickets for travel on metro, bus and rail in future. Until last year, less than 100 million used the service for purchase of tickets, but by 2015 that figure is expected to cross half a billion. This will help transport companies to eventually cut down on their operational costs, while at the same time providing a great convenience to users.
Blackberry and Samsung will be launching NFC-enabled devices, while Orange will be launching contactless payment technology by the end of this year. Other companies are expected to follow suit.
