What is near field communication (NFC) technology?

What’s near field communication (NFC) technology?

NFC is clever technology that lets devices like phones and card terminals connect when they get close to each other.

NFC can be used for lots of things. But powering contactless payments for your debit or credit card, as well as digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay, is probably its most common use.

Just like a traditional card reader reads debit or credit cards, your device needs NFC to process payments. It’s the secret ingredient that lets your phone connect with debit and credit cards, and makes contactless transactions a breeze.

You’ll also need a Stripe account to start accepting card payments. Get started by tapping on ‘Get set up’ under ‘Accept card payments’ in the ‘Get paid’ tab in your mobile app. If you’ve already got an account, it’s easy to start accepting contactless payments too – find out how.

To be absolutely certain, it’s best to have a read of your device manufacturer’s help articles (you should be able to find these on their website). Here’s a quick tip though: if you can pay for things using Apple Pay or Google Pay, then your device probably supports NFC.

You’ll find NFC in your device’s settings menu, usually labelled as ‘NFC’, ‘Contactless payments’ or ‘Connections’. Make sure all the right options are switched on there.

If it still isn’t working, check your device manufacturer’s help articles.