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Launching contactless payments? Make sure NFC devices meet these standards
Contactless payments (whereby a customer simply taps a card on a reader) are becoming the new norm – especially in public transport, where they make it convenient for passengers to ‘tap and pay’ fares for buses, trains, and ferries. Until now, most contactless payments systems have employed a rectangular plastic card, about the same size as a credit card. International standards are in place to describe how cards and terminals should work to ensure industrywide compatibility and provide security for the card user. One such standard, ISO/IEC 14443, outlines:
- Size and physical characteristics of the identity card
- Radio frequency and signal interface
- Initialisation and anti-collision protocols
- Data transmission protocol
- The device should have a PVC layer for durability in variable conditions and climates.
- The device should contain an anti-metallic layer.
- The device should be at least 25mm in diameter (the greater the surface area, the better the communication between the NFC chip and the reader).
- The device should include a printed serial number to speed the registration process