Paying in the store with your phone or smart watch, using your OV-chipcard at the station, or opening the front door of you flat complex with a digital key. These are all actions we do regularly without even thinking about it. What do these actions have in common? They make use of Near-Field Communication (NFC).
NFC
Near-Field Communication (NFC) is a technology which enables wireless information sharing by bringing two NFC compatible devices close to each other (Coskun, Ozdenizci, & Ok, 2013). After touching occurs, a NFC enabled device can make use of the received data. The advantage of using NFC is the ability to rapidly establish a connection, there no need for pairing devices or entering passwords (Infineon, 2022). Therefore with one touch you can quickly pay in the store, entre the station, and get into you building.
Claryson card
New NFC applications are found every day (Frew, 2022). One of the applications is using NFC for smart business cards. The company Claryson saw this opportunity and started selling smart business cards (Claryson cards). Instead of having tons of paper cards you give away at every new introduction, you have a card with a NFC chip. On the card your personal information (e.g. name, company, email, phone number, etc.) is programmed which can be transmitted through one touch with a NFC compatible mobile device. The information will pop up on the receivers phone and he/she immediately has the option to save the information into their contacts. The Claryson card has multiple advantages compared to the paper business cards (“Claryson,” 2022):
- The card is extremely easy to use. When you bought your card and hold it up to a phone with NFC turned on it works automatically, easy as that.
- Delivered to you with a personalized design. The card has your design on the outside and stores your personal information.
- The card is secure to use. The NFC-chip is secured and you personal information will not be posted online.
- Choosing a Claryson card is a sustainable choice. No more use for all the paper business cards, which saves a lot of paper over the years.
- You signal to others your innovative and progressive by transmitting your personal data through Claryson cards using NFC.
Future of Claryson cards?
In my opinion, the Claryson card gives many advantages compared to the paper business cards which would convince me to use one at the moment. Claryson saw a business opportunity with the emerging technology NFC and acted upon it. However, I do think Claryson needs to keep innovating to stay popular in the future. Momentarily, the cards with passive NFC tags are often replaced by phones which have an active NFC tag. I would advice Claryson to look into new ways to present business cards, for example directly from phone to phone, in order to keep a competitive advantage. What do you think about Claryson cards? And do you think the cards will become obsolete in the future or not?
References
Claryson. (2022). Retrieved from https://claryson.com/
Coskun, V., Ozdenizci, B., & Ok, K. (2013). A survey on near field communication (NFC) technology. Wireless Personal Communications, 71(3), 2259–2294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-012-0935-5
Frew, J. (2022). 7 Cool Ways to Use NFC That’ll Impress Your Friends. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/9-awesome-ways-use-nfc-thatll-impress-friends/
Infineon. (2022, March). What is NFC? Information and Examples. Retrieved from https://www.infineon.com/cms/en/discoveries/near-field-communication/
I really doubt If there is a future for the Claryson cards. Like you describe in your last paragraph, I think phones will have this function really soon, which would make the possession of physical cards unnecessary, just like phones would then be able to replace the OV-chipkaart. Claryson could then look to create an app which could transmit the right information but I doubt anyone would be willing to pay for this service. So I really struggle to see what the business model would be for Claryson and how they can stay profitable, especially in the future when phones will have the option to be used as NFC.