What is the NFC of the mobile for, key for the transport card or the electronic DNI

A world in which it is no longer necessary to fish the wallet out of the bottom of a bag to get the transport card during rush hour on the metro. A world where you have everything on your mobile: ID, car key, tickets, etc. This is possible with NFC that many mobiles have already had for several years, but whose technology has not yet been fully exploited.

NFC is the acronym in English for Near Field Communication and it is a technology wireless communication which has the property of producing short distance (maximum 15cm). produces a high frequency data exchange between two devices by means of induction and at a slow speed of 106, 212, 424 or 848 Kbit/s since Wi-Fi Direct or Bluetooth are used for heavier information. In turn, it can be given in two ways:

• active: Both devices generate their own electromagnetic fields so they can transfer information to each other. Like when we charge a mobile by placing it on the back of the other.
• passive: Only one of the devices creates an electromagnetic field, as is the case with Contactless cards.

Use for the transport card or the electronic DNI

The technology to say “goodbye” to the transport card exists, but the development of applications and infrastructures is necessary that are compatible with it. We still cannot use only the mobile in transport, but the Community of Madrid has invested millions of euros in a project to make this possible soon.

At the moment the closest thing we have is the Transportation Card application. However, it only uses NFC technology to recharge or consult the card and avoid using the machines in the subway, but not to use the mobile as the card itself. In addition, the application only available for androidalthough they are currently conducting tests with iOS users to extend compatibility to this operating system which, according to the most recent data compiled by ‘Statista’, covers 16.7% of the Spanish market.

As for the DNIe There are already applications capable of reading the DNI information, but, again, it only works with Android mobiles. In turn, it is also necessary to have possession of the ‘ID 3.0‘ At least they are the ones that house the chip for the NFC.

In these applications you can host data such as full name, place of birth, address, photograph and even the digitized signature. However, the process to add it to the application is more complicated than just bringing the mobile closer, otherwise anyone could download your information. The steps to add it are as follows:

• Download the application, it can be ‘Example DNIe Data Reading’ which is a State app
• Click on ‘Read data’ at the bottom right
• ‘Add new DNI’ and then press ‘+’
• Enter the ICAN number
• The app activates the NFC of your mobile and you must bring it close to the DNI until you find the place of the chip.

This class of applications they only show the data that is already visible in the physical DNI, so its functionality would be to be able to add the data more easily in Administration processes. To do this, it will be necessary to download the application ‘Panel access to the Administration, unique DNIe login’ that gives access to procedures of the Tax Agency, DGT, Social Security and others. To add the DNIe, you just have to follow the steps above and also provide the PIN, which is the key of the DNI that we configure when obtaining or renewing it.

Other uses of NFC

In addition to those mentioned above, some uses that are in experimentation or that are already in operation are:

• Electronic car keys. iOS has already incorporated the Apple Car Key option to add smart keys to the mobile wallet.
• mobile payments
• Identification at bank tellers
• Automation of actions with key rings or NFC tags, so that the mobile performs a predetermined action when making a connection
• Synchronization between devices
• Access content instead of using QR codes