If you thought waving your MasterCard at a PayPass terminal made things easy, MasterCard may be coming out with an advanced NFC that makes payment even easier.
MasterCard, an exclusive launch partner of Google Wallet, unveiled some prototypes at a Google Wallet event that went beyond the "regular" NFC payment processing we see in stores today. One prototype app, for example, was QkR, an app that allowed payment processing from just about anywhere. The app reads QR codes from posters or a TV screen and prompts the user with an option to purchase that item. The app also picks up cues from TV signals that can prompt the user with another relevant shopping opportunity they may be interested in!
Another interesting prototype MasterCard revealed was the Xbox Kinect-NFC technology. If a user sees something on TV they want to buy, they can simply wave their hands at an icon on the screen. From there, the user selects personal purchasing options (such as size) – all with their hands. After the user completes the purchase, the receipt is sent to the QkR app. It's a little scary how products can easily come to be of your possession with this technology!
Although demonstrating the prototypes, MasterCard has no set dates for launching them as commercial products, however it does bring to reality what the technology is capable of. NFC has been a large focus in technology and mobile payment news in the last year since Google launched Google Wallet. With MasterCard and other financial giants jumping onto the NFC bandwagon, NFC technologies have been able to grow and expand what it can be used for. Social media, for example, is one medium that stands to gain from NFC. For e.g., rather than downloading an app for QR codes then having to scan it, NFC can pick up data and instantly connect the phone with the code automatically.
NFC holds a lot of potential and evolution beyond payment processing, such as customized mobile solutions in combination with other platforms such a social media. The question is, which company will be the first to do it?
