NFC

How NFC Works on Phones and Why It Needs Such Short Range

Tapping a phone against a payment terminal, transit reader, accessory, or small electronic tag can trigger an action almost immediately. The technology behind many of these interactions is NFC, short for Near Field Communication. NFC is a wireless technology, but it behaves differently from Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. It is designed for communication across a very small distance, usually only a few centimetres. That short range is not simply a limitation. It is one of the characteristics that makes tap-based interactions practical.