Apple launches NFC tag payment function, but it may not be easy to popularize in China

On May 14, Transact (Mobile Payment Technology Exhibition Conference) opened in Las Vegas. At the meeting, Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple's Apple Pay business, announced that the iPhone will support the new NFC function. The user does not need to download the App, just an NFC label sticker can trigger the NFC payment function of Apple Pay.

In order to further promote this function, Apple has begun to cooperate with brands such as Bonobos clothing store and Bird scooters. For example, in a clothing store, the NFC tag is placed directly on the hanger, and the user pays through this tag. This function can help users achieve simpler self-service shopping. If a user wants to use a scooter, he can use Apple's hardware device to approach the NFC tag on the car to pay without special downloading of the application.

This feature will be officially launched later this year, and it is estimated that more partners will be attracted in the future, so Apple can also take another step towards the goal of "replacement of the wallet".

The so-called NFC is "near field communication". Devices with this function can exchange data when they are close to each other. This technology is evolved from the integration of RFID (non-contact radio frequency identification) and interconnection and intercommunication technology. It works by integrating the functions of inductive card reader, inductive card and point-to-point communication on a single chip.

In fact, this method of NFC did not originate from Apple, and because it is difficult to popularize and the usage rate is not high, manufacturers are not too cold about it. Although there was a short-lived popularity, it was immediately cancelled by many mobile phones and only retained in a few brands of flagship phones.

And Apple, which has a large global user base, has not given up on this function, but it is actually excusable. In practical applications, NFC can realize multiple functions such as electronic payment, data exchange, and anti-counterfeiting. Apple's deep cultivation of this function may be to combine its own payment system to create a new type of user consumption and business model.

Especially when facing the Chinese market, Apple needs to find a unique way. After all, this once brilliant company in the field of mobile phones has reached the point where it can increase mobile phone sales by cutting prices. Although Apple still has advantages in other businesses, its effects will take longer to see. In terms of 5G, although Apple is preparing and reconciling with Qualcomm, the baseband that Apple plans to independently develop will not be put into use until at least 2025.

So in the short term, Apple needs to find a business that has a significant effect to increase revenue. For Apple, which wants to take the software and service route in the next stage, payment is a more valuable entry point to promote its own business.

However, in the Chinese market, Apple's NFC function may not be popular. In foreign countries, many users still rely on bank cards, credit cards, etc. for payment, so NFC is very attractive to them. In China, QR codes have already occupied the mobile payment market. NFC has become a niche function. Not only can QR codes be used for payment, they have become popular in many fields. In addition, this method is rooted in In national-level applications such as WeChat and Alipay, the habits of Chinese users have also been cultivated. It seems unrealistic to allow them to use NFC payment extensively.

However, the QR code is not once and for all. For example, when we usually take the bus or pay, if the memory in the mobile phone is not enough or the network is not good, it will take a lot of time. In this case, NFC is much faster. Therefore, although it is unlikely that the NFC payment method will be rapidly popularized in China, it is still more promising if it is used as a supplementary method for QR code payment.