Author: Jaikishan Verma, Senior Research Analyst
30 April 2025
Growth in Contactless Payment Infrastructure: Rapid development in the contactless payment infrastructure across the world has been a major and significant driver for increasing the NFC market. As a result, financial institutions, payment service providers, and merchants have embraced the use of NFC-enabled terminals in enabling fast and secure transactions. Furthermore, it has been a trend because this consumer practice is more driven by what is perceived as hygiene, avoiding contact payment, especially after the pandemic. Governments and other regulators also support this by increasing transaction limits or promoting digital payments. Making NFC feature in wearables, smart cards, and mobile wallets takes it further in applications, such as retail, transport, and hospitality. With global investments in contactless infrastructure still going on, NFC adoption will grow steadily across developed and developing markets.
According to a new report by UnivDatos, The Near Field Communication (NFC) Market is expected to reach USD million in 2033 by growing at a CAGR of 11.59% during the forecast period (2025-2033F). The NFC device market is expected to expand at a substantial rate in the years to come, primarily due to the increasing utilization of contactless technologies, mobile payment systems, and IoT-enabled smart devices. The income of the consumer is fast changing-from all-time high acceleration of convenience, speed, and security into interacting, where NFC technology is fast emerging as a game-changing component of dynamic environments such as retail, transport, health care, and consumer electronics. This demand for NFC-enabled solutions continues to fuel growth across the globe due to smartphone penetration, coupled with the increasing proliferation of wearable devices and smart cards.
Moreover, cashless economies as well as digital transaction promotion by both the government and financial institutions have made a conducive environment for increased adoption of NFC. Other equally important factors driving this market are the technological innovations concerning the inclusion of NFC in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem and smart home applications, which will ensure seamless communication and automation.
In line with the rising demand for contactless payments and adoption of Near Field Communication (NFC) following are some of the key updates:
In 2023, the Reserve Bank of India announced three new features to launch conversational payment on UPI. Additionally, to promote contactless payments, the RBI has announced plans to facilitate offline transactions using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
According to IDTechEx, around 200 million NFC-based devices are deployed across the globe, of which 85% are mobile phones and tablets.
Based on type, the global near field communication (NFC) market is bifurcated into non-auxiliary and auxiliary. Of these, non-auxiliary systems have held a sizable market share. Non-auxiliary systems have enjoyed a considerable share of the market by being able to get integrated directly into smartphones, smart cards, and other portable devices without the need of requiring any additional hardware. Such systems will offer higher convenience and cost effectiveness, and ease of deployment. This would also make them preferred across several industries, such as retail, banking, as well as transport. Further, the growing acceptance of NFC-enabled mobile devices and wearables is increasing the demand for non-auxiliary solutions. Their seamless connectivity with high-security features makes them best suited for contactless transactions, identifications, and real-time data sharing.
According to the report, the Rising adoption of mobile e-commerce across the globe has been identified to be a key driver for market growth. Some of how this impact has been felt include:
Rapid growth of the mobile-based e-commerce has provided a significant boost to the NFC market. As companies are focusing on offering NFC-based payments for seamless transactions, many of the mobile companies are collaborating with the payment companies in order to offer NFC-based payments from their cellular devices as well as from tablets. The e-commerce and retail sector has benefited majorly from these updates, as ensuring faster transactions leads to lower queuing as well as reducing the hassle of operating with cash and deposits within the stores and supermarkets. Many of the e-commerce and quick commerce delivery providers are also moving towards NFC-based payments in order to expedite their transactions and help customers offer a smooth and seamless user experience. In line with this, many of the companies are also aligning their offerings with the NFCs that would be conducive to the market growth. For instance,
In 2024, Paytm, a payment service provider in India, announced to launch of its NFC-card-based soundbox. This is the first two-in-one mobile QR payment device that also accepts NFC card-based payments apart from the digital payment solutions.
In 2025, Mastercard announced that it is testing a new service that enables customers to tap their NFC cards to their smartphones to complete c-commerce or other card-not-present transactions.
Considering all the shifts, the demand for NFC-enabled payments in the e-commerce sector is further anticipated to grow and help the industry grow in the coming years.
Market Size, Trends, & Forecast by Revenue | 2025−2033.
Market Dynamics – Leading Trends, Growth Drivers, Restraints, and Investment Opportunities
Market Segmentation – A detailed analysis by Type, by Application, by Operating Mode, by Region/Country
Competitive Landscape – Top Key Vendors and Other Prominent Vendors
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