NFC for identity verification

What is NFC technology?

We use NFC technology, a wireless connectivity technology, for identity verification. To understand why it is the most secure method for onboarding your customers, it is good to understand a bit more about the background of this technology.

Near Field Communication

NFC stands for Near Field Communication, a wireless connectivity technology that creates communication between two electronic devices that are 4cm or less apart. NFC allows two-way communication for users to exchange digital content, connect with other electronic devices and make transactions. It allows for secure and simple data exchange in a couple of seconds.

Most devices like smartphones and smartwatches have an NFC antenna. The NFC technology is nowadays worldwide used for contactless payments, ticketing, physical access and identity verification. If you used your smartphone or watch to pay at a counter, you used NFC. Similarly, if you used your bank card contactless, you used NFC as well.

NFC or RFID

Near Field Communication and Radio Frequency Identification are both wireless communication technologies that look familiar but do have differences. NFC technology is a subset of RFID, a way to save information from a larger distance and collect readable information on an RFID tag in objects. An RFID tag has one-way communication for saving and sending information. NFC tags can perform in passive mode, and read the information in active mode but also can communicate peer-to-peer.

Frequency ranges

RFID can operate at three different radio frequency ranges or for different uses:

Low Frequency (LF): 125-134 kHz, with a range of up to 10 cm;
High Frequency (HF): 13.56 MHz, with a range of up to 30 cm;
Ultra High Frequency (UHF): 856 MHz to 960 MHz, with a range of up to 100 m.

NFC operates within the High Frequency (HF) range only. The two-way communication with NFC technology can be used for more complex and secure interactions. Almost all modern smartphones have an NFC antenna and can be used as a remote reader device. To be able to communicate, NFC tags need to be at a shorter distance from each other.

The radio field generated by the device to communicate with the NFC chip or tag has three roles:

Give power to the chip to operate - the chip in your ID card or passport does not have a battery. It is powered by the reader.
Sending information to the chip.
Receiving information from the chip, using the power transferred to it by the reader.

The transfer of power to the chip is the same technique you use for charging your phone or watch wirelessly.

NFC | RFID

Wireless Communication Technologies

On a daily basis, people use NFC and RFID technology to make payments with smartphones or smartwatches. And to securely verify identities remotely. RFID tags are more used for asset tracking.

Near Field Communication

Distance 4cm or less
Two-way communication
Different operating modes

Radio Frequency Identification

Distance up to 100 m
One-way communication
Asset and inventory management

Why NFC technology for identity verification?

NFC technology can be used for identity verification in a completely digital way, remotely, in a few minutes, with no need to visit a branch or do manual checks.

First, it is important that the hero in your customer onboarding flow, the end-user, has already all the equipment that is needed to complete the journey. To create a journey that's as simple as possible, the end-user uses a smartphone and an identity document.

We've worked with 2.600+ phone models and have worldwide ID document coverage of 170+ countries

The coverage of NFC-capable phones and chipped identity documents is very high. We also have an optical fallback to make sure there are no reasons to exclude people from your fully digital onboarding journey.

The chip is standardised as part of Doc 9303, Machine Readable Travel Documents, by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (part of the United Nations). The information on the chip is digitally signed by the issuing country and has protection against cloning.

ReadID provides the complex cryptography that is needed to verify the authenticity of the chip and the information on the chip. It provides a smart and simple way to verify the authenticity of the identity document within seconds (passive and active authentication). We can detect if a chip was copied (clone detection).

NFC has better conversion, much better

Our customers have created conversion percentages of over

Why Inverid's NFC Technology?

Inverid has gathered all the usage data that is processed through our free personal app ReadID Me and customer apps. No personal data is stored! With all that information we can provide an identity verification flow that is tailored to the type of phone and to the specific type of identity document. We know what countries have chipped documents, what protocols they support, and how NFC chips can communicate with different types of phones.

All this creates a very friendly user flow, leading to the highest conversion in the market without compromising security. The chip technology inside identity documents is 100% secure.

Let’s talk about your challenge.

Are you interested in adopting ReadID within your own identity verification solution? Let’s talk, and see how our software fits within your bigger picture.

Contact a specialist Try our ReadID Me app