NFC (Near Field Communication) is a wireless technology that works only at very close range, within about 10cm. It uses the 13.56MHz band, and speeds run from 106 to 424kbps depending on the variant. It is the foundation for mobile payments such as Osaifu-Keitai, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, as well as transit IC cards like Suica and PASMO. A tap works because the card or chip draws power from the electromagnetic field of the reader, which is why contactless cards need no battery of their own.
NFC comes in three main variants. TypeA and TypeB dominate outside Japan and cover most overseas contactless credit cards and transit cards. TypeF is the FeliCa method developed by Sony, and in Japan it is what Osaifu-Keitai and Suica use. FeliCa completes a transaction in roughly 0.1 seconds, which suits situations like ticket gates where people must not have to stop. One common misconception is that Apple Pay and Google Pay are "TypeA/B and therefore unrelated to FeliCa." iPhone 7 and later models sold in Japan, along with domestic-market Android phones that support Osaifu-Keitai (FeliCa), handle both FeliCa and TypeA/B, so Suica and iD work through Apple Pay and Google Pay.
On the telephony side, NFC was also used for exchanging contacts between handsets: hold two devices together and the card data transferred, a role once played by infrared communication. The feature that provided this on Android, "Android Beam," was discontinued in 2019, and later sharing features moved to sending the data itself over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. As of 2026, the everyday uses of NFC are payments, ticket gates, and reading information embedded in posters and cards.
Security benefits from the extremely short range of under 10cm, which makes interception from a distance difficult. Skimming risk is not zero, however, and cases with shielding material are sold for those who want them. The bigger practical exposure is losing the handset itself: stopping the payment functions can require a separate procedure from suspending the mobile line. See also what to do first when a smartphone is lost.