NFC payment has been around since 2011 with the start of Google Wallet. However, due to the fact that it never really took off with consumers, Android Pay was created and just this year, it was announced that Google Wallet and Android Pay were going to merge as one, which is going to be called Google Pay.

NFC stands for Near Field Communication. When it comes to paying for items in-store or online, it allows you, the consumer, to pay for your items with your smartphone or smartwatch. That sounds similar to what we do now but instead of pulling out our smartphone, we pull out our wallet.

The services that current exist for NFC payment are Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Microsoft Wallet (for Windows Phones), FitBit Pay and Garmin Pay.

What makes NFC payment different is that when you pay, the credit/debit card terminals do not get your card information. They create a temporarily generated number that is just enough to show that you have the money in your account.

On top of that, because the stores are not getting your card number information, they cannot track what you spend via your card.

But isn’t this the same thing as the chip that they embedded in all of our cards a couple of years ago

Yes and no.

Instead of typing in the back of your card or typing in a pin at the checkout, NFC payment is verified by a fingerprint on your smartphone and your blood pressure rate on a smartwatch. This verifies that it is truly you.

In a society that is so big on shopping, both in-store and online, there has been a massive issue with consumers getting their card hacked by a hacker. In 2017, it was projected that there were at least 1500 data breaches in 2017 alone.

The way your card gets hacked is that the hacker gets your card information, which includes the number on the front and then the three-digit code on the rear-side. From there, the hacker has basic access to your account and can start making purchases with said card.

Businesses in Wayne that accept NFC payment are Casey’s General Store, McDonalds, Subway, Pac-N-Save, IGA Quality Foods and the Hahn Administration Building (although they are unaware that they do accept it).

The ways you know a business accepts NFC payment are either by seeing the universal NFC logo or the business has an Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay sticker. However, if the business has an Apple Pay sticker but not any of the other ones, it is likely that the business will still accept it since it is an NFC payment service.

We as students at Wayne State College and in society in general need to be promoting NFC payment methods and make sure that both national retailers and local business begin to accept it. Not only is it better for the consumer, but it’s more convenient and efficient. At the end of the day, it beats waiting for that check to go through.