Last updated: 22 December 2015
If you’d taken somebody aside ten years ago and revealed that within the space of a decade they’d use their mobile phone to pay for tube fares, buy items in shops and even vending machines, they might not have believed you. Thanks to NFC technology, this is the world we’re enjoying; one in which seamless travel and purchasing are making city life easier than ever before.
We figured it was time to gain an ‘on the ground’ insight into how NFC is revolutionizing the way we travel, consume and work. That’s why we gave city dwellers the task of filming #MyNFCDay, so they can showcase the impact of their NFC-equipped devices on their daily lives.
If you read our post on the five best NFC-equipped transport networks, you’ll know there’s no better place to start than Hong Kong. With travelers equipped with the world renowned Octopus card and more than 66,000 readers deployed, the NFC-related opportunities are endless.
As you’ll see in the first video of our #MyNFCDay series, Octopus cards allow quick travel on all sorts of transport and even enable users to buy some delicious treats…we won’t spoil it for you, click on the video to find out! Watch restaurant owner Lindsay Jang (@YardBirdHK), food bloggers Nicole Fung and Eugene Kan (@ThatFoodCray) and writer Kawai Wong (@WongKawaiKawai) take us on a tour of Hong Kong.
Of course Hong Kong isn’t the only Asian powerhouse of NFC technology. With Asian cities possessing the world’s largest and busiest metro systems, it’s not surprising the continent is rapidly modernizing. In Japan, airlines have fully embraced NFC, which means their boarding process is remarkably speedy, taking only 15 minutes to board a 450-person plane!
In China, the largest MNO has partnered with China UnionPay to launch a NFC payments service in more than 40 cities – including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Then there’s Singapore, where three mobile operators, SingTel, M1 and Starhub, have built a shared NFC infrastructure – and are even offering a MasterCard pre-paid card, allowing customers to make purchases where PayPass is accepted.
Watch the video – and make sure you tune in for the rest of #MyNFCDay series, where we’ll be travelling to Europe and North America.
If you’ve got an NFC phone, why not join in with #MyNFCDay and show us how you’re using your NFC-equipped device to make your daily life as seamless as possible. Simply tweet the hashtag #MyNFCDay or tweet it to us. Alternatively, post a comment with your daily NFC highlights below.
To find out more about NFC technology, click here.
