Near Field Communications (NFC) is a huge growth area at the moment and the technology is being supported in the vast majority of new smartphones across all platforms. However, the classic problem with NFC has always been older and more affordable smartphones don't support the technology out of the box.
However, Barclays have now unveiled Barclaycard Paytag which is an NFC card which can instantly turn any smartphone into an NFC device. Basically, all you do is stick the "Paytag" to the back of your mobile and then you use it to pay for items in store.
Barclays Paytag is available exclusively to Barclays customers and is free to anyone with an existing account with a VISA card.
NFC is spreading to more and more retailers all the time and offers an easy and convenient way to pay for items. For example, if your in McDonalds you can just swipe your smartphone past the reader and you've instantly paid without having to enter a pin.
Those worried about losing their smartphone and having people use their NFC chip will be glad to hear that a maximum amount of £15 can be paid using NFC, although this will be increasing to £20 shortly.
Barclays have also assured customers that Paytag is protected in just the same way as your Barclaycard , so it has fraud protection if it gets stolen or lost !
