NFC

NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a short-range wireless standard that lets two devices exchange data when held within a few centimeters of one another. Built on RFID technology and operating at 13.56 MHz, it supports quick, intentional interactions — a phone tapped against a terminal, a card against a reader, or two devices touched to pair. Its very short range is a feature, making the act of communicating a deliberate, physical gesture rather than an ambient one.

• Short range by design - Communication only happens at a few centimeters, which doubles as a security and intent signal.
• Contactless payments - The backbone of tap-to-pay wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay at point-of-sale terminals.
• Passive and active modes - Powered readers can energize unpowered tags and cards, so an NFC tag needs no battery.
• NDEF data format - A standardized message format for exchanging URLs, identifiers, and small payloads between devices.

Where NFC meets the API world is at the tap: a contactless payment or transit fare triggers a chain of backend API calls — tokenization, authorization, settlement — that happen in the second after two devices touch. Providers in payments, identity, and access control expose APIs that provision NFC credentials, verify taps, and reconcile transactions, so the standard is the physical front door to a lot of digital plumbing. As mobile wallets and device-to-device flows grow, NFC remains the tactile edge of systems that are, underneath, entirely API-driven.