February 16, 2012 – By 2016 there could be 550 million mobile handsets with near field communication (NFC). What will you do with yours? Orange Business Services has produced an infographic that shows consumers six ways NFC will change our world. “If you think NFC is limited to making small, cashless payments, think again,” says the telecomms company.

NFC has been the next big thing for some time now. But now it seems we’re finally getting somewhere, according to Orange. There has been progress with rollout of payment terminals, and the major handset vendors have NFC in their roadmap. This liberating technology could transform many day-to-day processes including ticketing, secure entry and authentication.

“Banks and credit card companies are deeply involved in developing NFC-based payment systems. But smart cards are relatively dumb. What’s really smart is integrating NFC in your mobile handset: your iPhone then becames your wallet.”

You won’t need to print off tickets when you have an NFC-enabled handset. Wave our phone, enter your PIN and you’ll be able to use to walk into event, catch the plane and take the train. UK music festival will support NFC mobile payments from 2013.

In the future you won’t need to visit a rental firm to grab the keys – they’ll just email a code to your phone. Wave it about the car lock and you’re off. Over 60% of manufacturers plan to put NFC in cars.

A wave of your NFC phone will let you easily obtain extra information in your language when you are at the museum or curios about an exhibit. The Museum of London is the first to offer NFC-enabled exhibits.

With NFC you won’t need to fill in forms when you visit the doctor. A wave of your phone and all your medical records will be available to your chosen health care professional. 50.000 Dutch nurses now use NFC to track and manage home health care visits.