For those who do not have NFC (Near Field Communication) in their phone, the SD Association has now developed an SD card that doubles as an NFC transceiver. The SD Association consists of the people behind the technical development and standards of all SD (Secure Digital) Cards. With recent advancements allowing SDHC (High Capacity) to achieve storage up to 32 GB, and SDXC (Extended Capacity) packing up to 2 TB of storage, the company now has developed the SD Smart, which acts as an NFC communication device for any phone or device into which you put it.
While Visa and Device Fidelity have already been using this system, the standardization now allows other companies to use the SWP (Single Wire Protocol) as a secure layer to transfer encrypted data through NFC systems, such as bank information or identity verification. While all this is heading to a future of the cardless wallet, we are not quite there yet, as this technology does not work well with phones that cannot accept SD card expansions, or that have metal housing that acts as a Faraday cage around the chips (blocking the wireless induction signal). Using SD cards has an advantage over developing SIM cards with NFC abilities, as SIM cards are inherently easy to crack, so would not be safe for personal information as such. If you are a fan of sci-fi and nostalgic PlayStation 1 sounds, have a look at the video provided by the association below, explaining the benefits of the card with pretty pictures.
