Attido Mobile’s PassWallet, developed to allow Android and BlackBerry users access to Apple’s Passbook files, can now transmit and receive data from the mobile wallet using Near Field Communication technology in NFC-equipped Android devices. Both PassWallet and Passbook store coupons, loyalty cards, tickets, gift cards and other digital content, and they traditionally have enabled access only through two-dimensional bar codes.
The addition of NFC connectivity is the result of Attido’s work with Skycore, which developed the CodeReadr data-capture platform.
A quote from SkyCore CEO Rich Eicher that appeared in NFC World:
“Beaming NFC passes has the potential to eventually offer a fast, secure and seamless tap-to-validate process for passes. As the technology matures and becomes broadly available, we expect consumers will find convenience in a simple tap.”
This may be a simple novelty play, though incorporating NFC into PassWallet eventually may help expand the utility of the platform by allowing true two-way communications between NFC devices, something devices supporting quick-response and other bar codes cannot easily do. But if Apple saw a market demand for its Passbook wallet to support NFC, its iOS devices already would support the technology. In other words, NFC-enabled PassWallets will have limited use for some time, other than perhaps exchanges of wallet data between NFC-equipped Android phones.
Click here to read more from NFC World.