The Future of NFC: From Vision to Reality

My story begins in 2009 when my daughter, Paige, first got her learner’s permit. I’ll never forget the day she proudly took me out for a drive and said, “Dad, I can’t wait for the day when I can use my phone to pay for gas.”

That moment stuck with me—it was a glimpse into the future of contactless interactions, a world where smart devices would provide seamless, secure, and personalized experiences.

Many of you have heard this story before, perhaps in a pitch or one of my speeches (or saw our first pitch deck, “A day in the life” that Paige was the inspiration for.) But as I reflect on my journey pioneering NFC adoption at scale, I’d like to share it once again.

The Early Days of Contactless Innovation

Between 2006 and 2009, as CEO of a place-based out-of-home media company, I saw firsthand how smartphones were poised to become the ultimate marketing tool. They knew who we were, where we were, and what we cared about. They had the potential to offer secure payments—though that capability was still a few years away.

My challenge at the time was enabling frictionless (yes, I was one of the first to use this term for contactless technologies) connections between static media displays and smartphones.

QR codes hadn’t yet taken off in the U.S., and while I tested a promising optical recognition technology, it required a complex backend infrastructure that would hinder consumer adoption. Bluetooth also showed promise, but its cost, intrusive push messaging, and technical barriers made it difficult to scale.

Then one day, I read a post on LinkedIn by BB, a forward-thinking genius who had gone to the USPTO and filed patents defining the very ecosystem I envisioned. That day marked the beginning of an incredible journey. Alongside visionary partners—especially the News America Marketing executive team (Jesse, Amy, Sharon, Kris...), which was ahead of its time in digitizing shelf-level, static media—we built and launched the first SaaS platform enabling NFC-powered connections between physical media, objects, and digital content.

Fast forward 18 years, and it’s incredible to see how NFC has evolved. It’s no longer just an emerging technology—it’s mainstream. It’s ubiquitous. And the NFC Forum has done an incredible job driving adoption, innovation, and new use cases. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend reading their 2024 Annual Report: The Arc of Contactless Adoption here. It’s a great look at how far we’ve come and where we’re headed next.

For me, two key innovations stand out—ones that take NFC far beyond just payments and into a future where every tap creates value: Multi-Purpose Tap and Digital Product Passports (DPPs).

Multi-Purpose Tap: One Tap, Multiple Actions

Multi-Purpose Tap is exactly what I always envisioned: one simple tap that does it all. It eliminates friction by enabling multiple interactions at once—whether that’s making a payment, earning loyalty points, receiving a digital receipt in one step, or seamlessly applying best fare pricing on transit tickets.

Think about how much smoother everyday transactions become when you don’t need extra steps or additional apps. That’s the magic of NFC: it just works.

For retailers, it’s a game-changer. A single tap at checkout could provide instant recycling instructions, IRC’s, or product details, supporting sustainability efforts. For transit systems, it streamlines fare validation, concessions, and best pricing—all with one motion. This is the kind of real-world impact that makes NFC more than just a convenience; it makes it essential.

Digital Product Passports: Transparency & Sustainability at a Tap

Sustainability is no longer a buzzword—it’s a necessity. The NFC Forum is working on a Digital Product Passport (DPP) standard to help businesses and consumers make more informed choices.

With NFC-enabled DPPs, products will store critical lifecycle data directly on an embedded NFC tag. Tap your phone, and you’ll instantly see: ?? How to reuse or remanufacture the product ?? Recycling and disposal instructions ?? Sourcing and sustainability efforts

For businesses, this means compliance with new regulations (like the EU’s Eco-design for Sustainable Product Regulation), but for consumers, it’s about empowerment—knowing exactly what they’re buying and how they can minimize waste.

Bringing It All Together

The NFC-powered world I imagined years ago is now a reality. What was once just an idea—one that started with a simple comment from my daughter—is now shaping the way we interact with the world.

Multi-Purpose Tap and Digital Product Passports are just the beginning. As NFC technology continues to evolve, we’re moving toward a future where interactions are truly seamless, frictionless, meaningful, and sustainable.

Would love to hear your thoughts—how do you see these NFC innovations shaping the future? Let’s continue the conversation.

Tim Daly

March 6, 2025