NFC – Building New Grounds for Identity Verification

Near Field Communication (NFC) is based on the famous RFID technology. In 2002, Nokia was the first company to introduce NFC technology in smartphones. It has been evolving ever since. Today, NFC has numerous benefits for businesses and we are going to discuss one of the most crucial ones in this web dossier. 

Various regulations for customer due diligence and FATF recommendations resulted in KYC and AML procedures which many of the end-users find tedious. Thanks to advanced technology, these systems are now based on AI for accurate and fast results. Nevertheless, there is always a room for betterment, and how would you feel if your business can onboard legitimate customers in less than a minute? Sounds fantastic, right? One of the key advantages that NFC holds for businesses is its efficiency for identity verification. Let’s take a look at what this technology is, how it works and what role does it play in identity verification. 

Rumours say that RFID technology (the parent technology for NFC) was first introduced during World War II. However, the evidence states that Charles Walton filed the patent for RFID in 1983. After decades, companies have worked day in and out to improve this technology and back in 2002, NFC was introduced. As of 2021, the number of NFC-based smartphone users has significantly increased. Furthermore, there is no end to the evolution of near field communication technology according to researchers.

Apart from digital payments and data transfers, NFC technology has many applications that many of you may not know. Keep reading to find out.

How Does NFC Technology Work?

NFC is a small chip that is embedded in government-issued ID documents including passports and ID cards, and credit/debit cards. The chips have all the personally identifiable information stored and an NFC reader (generally in smartphones these days) can fetch information for making transactions seamless.

From Contactless Payments to Contactless Verification

96% of NFC users have employed the feature for something more than contactless payments

Technology has remarkably evolved over time and now, the world has moved from NFC-based payments to contactless verification too. Using near field communication for verifying identities is by far the most convenient way for companies as well as end-users.

Fighting ID Fraud With NFC Authentication

As technology is continually evolving, fraudsters have developed remarkable ways of dodging identity verification checks. One such method is synthetic identity fraud that has gained popularity over time. Imposters use chunks of real information and combine them with some fake identity details to create a new identity document. Identifying this type of fraud is the toughest but using NFC-based identity verification can greatly help the corporate world in fighting ID fraud.

Suggested: Global Identity Fraud Report 2020

NFC for Enhancing User Experience

Customer experience matters the most for business and employing NFC solution for identity verification can help the corporate world in achieving the goal. Consumers have to scan the chip in their government-issued ID document through an NFC-enabled device. The entire process does not consume more than a minute and the convenient process is always an attraction for the end-user. 

Improving Customer Acquisition Rate with NFC

Acquiring customers is 25 times harder and a tedious onboarding process can make it a bigger challenge. Enterprises can increase their customer acquisition rate with an NFC system to verify their identities during customer onboarding.

Industrial Use Cases for NFC

NFC-based identity verification can be of substantial use for many industries. Here are some of the sectors that can fight fraud, onboard legitimate customers and enhance user experience with NFC authentication. 

Healthcare

Unauthorised access to medical records and OTC drugs can be fatal for hospital staff and patients alike. With NFC authentication, hospital management can ensure authorised access to confidential data, whereas imposters cannot access OTC drugs. 

Education

Students are always on the verge of developing new tricks and hacks to dodge attendance marking systems and miss classes. NFC driven attendance measures can help curb the issue. With NFC-based identity verification, educational institutes can make sure students do not surpass the attendance marking system. Students will be bound to show an original ID card.

Hospitality

Using stolen identities for availing hotel discount vouchers is pretty common now. Criminals use fake or forged ID documents to stay and dodge law enforcement agencies. However, verification through NFC will not permit any imposter to reside in the facility. 

Retail

Enhancing customer experience is the ultimate goal of every business, especially retailers. Adding contactless payments is not the end and the retail sector is bound to perform identity verification checks given the current circumstances of ID fraud. Near field communication can assist retailers in making the IDV process least tedious. Contactless payment and contactless identity verification in one go. Could it be any easier?

Banking & Finance

Who needs it more than the businesses dealing with money every day? The banking and finance sector is the primary target of criminals and employing the traditional identity verification process cannot ensure accuracy and robustness. With NFC authentication, banks and other financial institutions can verify identities and onboard legitimate customers only. 

In a Nutshell…

For businesses to onboard legitimate customers only, businesses can greatly benefit from an NFC-based authentication system. Since the majority of smartphone users have NFC-enabled devices, companies have a big chance of validating identities in seconds. From healthcare to the banking and finance sector, almost every industry can benefit from NFC authentication. The process is convenient and takes only a few seconds for completion. 

Need more information on NFC-based identity verification? Talk to our experts and get answers to all your queries today.