EMVCo adds reduced range testing process for contactless payments acceptance on standard NFC devices

EMVCo has introduced a dedicated testing approval process designed to promote a more seamless experience when smartphones and other handheld mobile devices are used to accept contactless payments.

TapToMobile, also known as softPOS, Tap on Phone, Tap on Mobile, Tap to Phone and Tap to Pay, allows merchants to accept contactless payments directly on near field communication (NFC)-enabled consumer and enterprise devices, without the need for an additional connected device, dongle or attachment.

The quality of the TapToMobile user experience is dependent on NFC read ranges, which determine how close and precisely positioned the payment device needs to be to the acceptance device for payment information to flow.

While traditional terminals have a high read range, consumer and enterprise devices – which were not designed with payments as their primary function – are more limited. To address this challenge and promote a good user experience, EMVCo has defined minimum acceptance criteria and developed a supporting ‘reduced range’ approval process to evaluate the performance of consumer and enterprise devices for contactless payment acceptance.