NFC gathers momentum with strong endorsement by a large nyumber of carriers

 I have been quite critical of the potential and the likelihood of NFC payments becoming a mainstream solution soon. (Read here and here). I did however say that it is going to require a large eco-system to get established. Many players should agree on standards and start executing on it at the same time.

This seems to have happened in November when the GSMA announced that 45 carriers (and a few handset-manufacturers) have accepted and endorsed the single-wire protocol for NFC phones. (Read here). This is extremely relevant for the NFC industry for the following reasons:

• The common commitment will provide the basis for developers of payment systems to start focussing their efforts around an agreed architecture.
• The fact that phones, processes and systems can now be deployed that will be interoperable and inter-changable, will support a more viable business case.
• Lots of the energy that was spent on alternative solutions will loose momentum.

With these building blocks in place, the grading of NFC as becoming a viable payment technology must be increased with a few notches. While it is unlikely that many of the predictions made by analysts will materialise, we can now safely say that NFC payments will become a reality in the not too distant future.