Net Work
Alan Winstanley
This month, we look at the rise of mobile payments and how Near-Field Communications
(NFC) can automate some simple tasks. Plus, why electric buses might cause fireworks when
least expected.
I
n the mid-1990s, the mobile
phone (‘cellphone’ in North America)
revolution was beckoning us from
just over the horizon, and phone stores
were starting to pop up like a rash – each
one jostling to sign up customers to an
expensive monthly contract (which is
all there was). I was thrilled to get my
hands on my first phone, a svelte Nokia
8110 ‘banana phone’ sporting a sliding
cover (a first for mobile phones at the
time). A Nokia 6210 arrived a couple
of years later, and its mono screen
afforded rudimentary text-oriented
‘web’ browsing based on WAP, an
unrewarding wireless web protocol
that soon fell out of favour. Being able to
order Nokia 6210 fascias – customised
with your initials! – ‘online’ via WAP
was a big deal at the time, and it was
the precursor to the explosion in mobile
e-Commerce that we see today. Phone
upgrades followed inexorably, the writer
adopting various HTC Android models
along the way, and of course a whole
chapter in telecomm history could
be written about the role that Apple
played in democratising/dominating
cellphone ownership.
These days, a smartphone plays an
almost indispensable part in our culture, whether as a social media device
that owners simply can’t live without; a useful tool that helps control
networked appliances; an up-to-date
Nokia’s 6131 NFC flip-phone, launched in
2007, was the first mobile phone to include
NFC technology.
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map and navigation system; a way to
cast programs to a TV screen; a camera
to take snapshots of something before
you take it to bits; or a wallet to pay for
everyday purchases or store purchased
tickets. (I’ll highlight some neat contactless tricks later in this column.) There
seems to be an app for every need: my
plumber uses his phone as a spirit level
and a flashlight. All major retail stores
seem to have an app of their own, allowing them to stream their retail ‘offer’
straight into the palms of our hands.
I’d like to teach the world to...
Dial-a-Coke
The idea of consumers using a mobile
phone – instead of hard cash – to buy
things dates back over a quarter of a
century. According to a blog post by
the Australian point-of-sale equipment specialist Tyro (https://bit.ly/
pe-jul22-fin), the foundations of ‘cashless’ mobile transactions first emerged
in Finland back in 1997. Cellphones installed in Coca-Cola vending machines
could ‘phone home’ when stocks of the
sugary soda were running low, which
would allow replenishment in a timely
manner. Ultimately, the economics of
this far-sighted idea didn’t quite add
up, but the cellphones were left in situ
while engineers brainstormed other
applications for them – including the
concept of consumers using their own
phones to connect to the machines and
pay for a drink. Thus, the novel idea
of a ‘Dial-a-Coke’ machine evolved.
By tapping a unique ID number into
a phone, a vending machine would dispense a can and deduct the cost from
the buyer’s account seamlessly. It’s
said that the first ever user of mobile
payments was a Finn who bought a
can from a Dial-a-Coke machine at
Helsinki airport in 1997. Soon, one
third of all machine drinks sales were
being made using mobile payments,
and the revolutionary idea was then
extended to car parking and vending
machines in both Finland and Sweden.
As phones gained more powerful operating systems, colour touchscreens,
cameras, GPS and Bluetooth, another
technology would ultimately change
the way we do things for ever: NearField Communications (NFC) offered
device users the ability to ‘tap’ onto
a ‘contact-free’ terminal to exchange
data. In 2004, the Near-Field Communication Forum industry body was
established by Nokia, Philips and Sony.
The principles of Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) had taken shape
many decades before 2004, the year
that Nokia introduced the concept
of an NFC-enabled phone that could
read RFID tags. Their ‘Field Force NFC
Shell’ contained an RFID scanner that
clipped onto certain Nokia models.
In 2005, a Microsoft blog reported
that Nokia trialled a modified 6210
that could scan RFID tags and send
an SMS message in response. Later,
several other Nokia models offered a
bespoke clip-on NFC shell.
According to the website SecureID
News, in late 2005, NFC payments,
parking and a tourism application
were tested in early mobile phones in
France using NFC-enabled Samsung
D500s. (An interesting timeline is
posted at: https://bit.ly/pe-jul22-nfc1).
In 2007, Nokia launched the 6131 NFC
flip-phone, the first mobile phone to
include NFC technology. How Nokia
envisioned users utilising their NFC
phones for ticketing, contactless payments, swapping contacts, sharing
documents and more is shown in a
contemporary promo video at: https://
youtu.be/bxzt3Z3Rn84. (Using NFC to
share contact details this way reminded me of the lovely 1990s Handspring
Visor PDA, which used infrared to exchange contacts with other users. In
practice, nobody really bothered: we
still swapped physical business cards!)
At the same time, UK network operator O2 gave 500 London commuters
new Nokia NFC phones to play with,
in an experiment that tested mobile
payments for Barclays, or for travelling
on London buses using an NFC phone
as an Oyster payment card. After the
event, there was little doubt that the
convenience of using mobile, contactless payments instead of fumbling for
cash or a debit card had won their users
over. Strangely, Apple iPhones were
Practical Electronics | July | 2022
NFC helper apps are available to program them.
An NFC tag can do anything a QR code can, and a
whole lot more. Net Work
first covered the advent of
both QR codes and NFC
tags more than a decade
ago, so these technologies are well established.
For readers who want try
out this technology, in the
A QR code appearing on a British TV advert for viewers to author’s experience, later
scan with their smartphone.
versions of Android (10+)
apps offer more chance of
late to the game and only gained NFC success with NFC tags. (iOS NFC apps
in 2014 when the iPhone 6 and Apple’s have not been tested by the author.)
proprietary Apple Pay came along.
Unfortunately, some useful NFC
tasks such as swapping Wi-Fi netAn ABC of NFC
works have now been disabled, as
TV program makers and advertisers Google now blocks Android developknow it’s easy to scan a QR code, and ers from accessing some key features
they’re now appearing on shows and (eg, Wi-Fi settings). This has frustratads, inviting viewers to scan them (if ed the author’s plan to swap mobile
they’re quick enough!) to learn more Wi-Fi SSIDs with a tap, after settling
about what’s on the screen. However, at his desk in the home office.
readers can also harness their phone’s
The NFC Tools and NFC Tasks apps
NFC technology to automate various for Android (both are needed – other
tasks, by tapping NFC ‘tags’ or stickers apps are available) allow you to read,
that you can easily program yourself. write and program tasks using compatAdhesive NFC labels, hanging tags and ible NFC tags. Ideas include toggling
keycards incorporating RFID chips are
Bluetooth, managing phone call feacommonly sold on eBay and low-cost tures (eg, toggle the speakerphone or
hang up) or selecting Car mode once
you get in the car. Alternatively, you
could toggle the phone’s flashlight,
add a video link, compose a Tweet,
start an email or send a text. A full
feature list is in the NFC Tools ‘Tasks’
menu. Simply create a task then choose
Write... to upload it onto the NFC tag
via your phone. The technology can
also interface with Alexa or Google
Nest, allowing smart appliances to be
controlled. In the author’s case, the
smartphone must be unlocked and
running for NFC Tasks to work. Many
more ideas are provided at: https://bit.
ly/pe-jul22-nfc2
NFC stickers and tags are readily available
online and can be used to automate tasks
or operate smart home devices.
Practical Electronics | July | 2022
Android users can search for NFC
Tools by Wakdev on Google Play Store.
Since the apps and NFC tags are low
in cost, using them to automate tasks
requires very little investment and
they’re worth knowing about. The
Pro version of NFC Tools unlocks
more options.
Cashless is relentless
As many readers know, payment services like Google Pay or Apple Pay
are now heavily integrated into NFC
smartphones, and there is no doubt that
touch-tapping a smartphone to pay for
something has become a convenient
and painless no-brainer. Google Pay
increases security by masking your
payment card number using its own
number instead, so the seller never
sees your actual card details. Store
loyalty cards can be coupled into the
system as well.
The flip-side of using contactless
payments is the risk of us drifting
into becoming a ‘cashless society’.
Sweden is endeavouring to do away
with the need to carry Krone altogether, relying on mobile payments and
cards instead. Like many countries,
Swedes are paying less often in cash.
Even public toilets demand contactless
payments or cards: cash is not accepted when ‘spending a penny’, as Brits
call visiting the bathroom. According
to Sweden’s Riksbank, ‘In ten years,
the proportion paying with cash has
fallen from around 40% to less than
10%, and the ‘Swish’ [Swedish mobile]
digital money system, alongside Apple
Pay and Google Pay are highly popular – cash is now mostly used for
small payments and primarily by
older people’. Thousands of Swedes
have even shunned the handling of
germ-laden cash or cards altogether
in favour of having tiny microchips,
no larger than a grain of rice, planted
under their skin.
In Sweden, a shopper offers contact details in an implanted microchip using a smartphone.
(Image: i24NEWS/ YouTube).
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Trials are underway for the UK’s first autonomous buses in Scotland. The diesel-engined road buses will have a ‘safety driver’ and
passenger services are expected to open by this summer.
The drive towards a cashless culture
has predictably caused ructions with
older Swedes who distrust technology or find it inaccessible. However,
according to one poll, seven out of 10
Swedes would still like the option of
using cash as well as cards or apps, and
moves are under way to ensure cash
is still an acceptable form of payment
– especially as hardware or networks
aren’t always dependable and a backup
form of payment is needed. (As I know
all too well: many years ago, the author
tried withdrawing cash from an ATM
in Gothenburg, Sweden, only to find
it couldn’t connect to the network and
so a visit to a bank was needed, clasping a passport and a bunch of (now
long-obsolete) Eurocheques.)
Back home in England, there’s more
choice at checkouts for cash users,
but this may well change as contactless payments are already overtaking
cash, especially post-Covid. Although
some stores ‘tut’ when asked for itemised receipts for contactless payments,
without one, customers have no way of
checking purchases afterwards, especially if there’s a problem but no proof
of purchase. (For example, a garden
centre charged the writer £11.49 for
a £1.49 packet of seeds).
The subject of car parking has attracted the author’s attention: the writer’s
local authority ticket machines take
either cash or mobile payments using
the MiPermit app. As a nod to those
1997 Dial-A-Coke machines, a ticket
machine ID is typed into MiPermit to
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set up a payment, or locations can be
stored in the app’s favourites. A countdown clock shows the remaining time
on the smartphone and SMS reminders are available. So far, in the author’s
experience, the system has worked
really well. UK readers can visit: www.
mipermit.com/ to check availability
or set up an account online. (Another common UK app is Ringo – https://
myringgo.co.uk/) However, if you don’t
have the correct app already installed,
the machines don’t accept cash/cards,
or there’s no phone signal to download
the app the first time it’s needed, then
you can be in trouble. You may well
face a hefty penalty ticket levied by
unscrupulous operators. This kind of
‘gotcha’ has discredited the whole idea
of cashless parking with some motorists.
Banking on the future
The march towards a cashless society
seems relentless but, as discussed, technology is not infallible. What if your
phone battery is flat, or you can’t get a
signal, or you don’t have the relevant
app installed? What if an ATM is down?
Bitter experience of such failures over
many years, coupled with a healthy
degree of scepticism, means that the
author insists on carrying some form
of backup, whether it’s coins to pay a
car park, another payment card or all
the necessary logins, PIN numbers and
IDs needed to contact a call centre, no
matter how time-consuming that may
be. A charged-up USB powerbank for
the phone is also handy – ‘just in case’.
The trend towards mobile and online
systems has also heavily impacted
the retail banking sector over the past
decade. It is reported that nearly 5,000
(or half) of all bank branches have now
closed in the UK since 2015. At one
time, the writer’s local HSBC branch
employed more than 30 staff, plus a
bank manager who had the discretion
to deal individually with customers or
traders on the spot. As the use of call
centres and online banking grew, staff
numbers dwindled and were gradually cut to just three people. Customers
who called in were encouraged to use
an in-branch terminal to talk with a
back-office call centre, and eventually
HSBC closed both it and two neighbouring branches altogether. The retail
recession has accelerated closures and
many small towns in the locality now
have no bank branches at all, leaving
customers to bank online instead.
You could always give up on the
idea of online banking altogether, and
let someone else do it for you: one
expensive option is to create a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) and let a
trusted person manage your finances
instead (in the UK, see: www.gov.uk/
power-of-attorney – something best set
up by a solicitor), or alternatively ask
a bank about a ‘third-party mandate’,
which allows someone to be appointed to handle banking on your behalf.
Younger folks also have their share
of pressures growing up in a fast-moving and uncertain digital world. As a
sign of the times, today’s youngsters are
Practical Electronics | July | 2022
being trained to use prepaid cards and mobile apps to control personal finances and deal with payment technologies,
ready to face the future more confidently. The GoHenry
service offers specially designed apps both for kids and
their parents, and helps with setting targets, sharing their
progress and managing spending. The GoHenry subscription service is available in both the US and UK, and claims
to have two million users – sign up at: www.gohenry.com
Other news
The UK’s first autonomous buses are taking to Scotland’s
roads in live trials prior to launching a passenger service
this summer. The pilot involves five single-decker diesel
buses, equipped with Fusion Processing’s sensor and control technology, CAVstar, running on pre-selected roads
without the ‘safety driver’ having to intervene or take control, or so it is hoped. The buses are destined to pass over
Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge to the Edinburgh Park Train
and Tram interchange. The scheme is funded jointly by the
UK Government and industry, and the project is keen to
reassure bus users about the merits of these autonomous
vehicles. More details at: www.cavforth.com
Still on the subject of buses, alarming footage is circulating showing what happens when an electric bus has
a meltdown and catches fire. In China in 2021, a row
of five open-sided electric buses was destroyed when a
fault developed in one of them, causing an intense fire
that quickly spread to neighbouring vehicles. See: https://
youtu.be/T71cVhxG_v4
Electric vehicle battery hazards were highlighted in
March when the car-carrier vessel the Felicity Ace, transporting 4,000 luxury VW Group cars, went up in flames
off the coast of Portugal, causing over $400m of losses.
Intense fires in electric vehicle batteries accelerated the
fire, it was reported, and the vessel eventually sank in the
Atlantic Ocean. More recently, in Paris an electric coach
erupted like a volcano when its battery pack failed and
destroyed the vehicle. The footage, taken in April, is on
YouTube at: https://youtu.be/5r-yN8SugWM
Israeli EV battery maker StoreDot, mentioned in previous columns, recently livestreamed a demo of its extreme
fast charging (EFC) ‘100in5’ battery technology during Israel’s EcoMotion Week 2022. The system aims to deliver
[up to] 100 miles of motion from 5 minutes of charge, and
the workshop bench demo shows 0-80% charging in ten
minutes. (Readers can see the lab demo at https://youtu.
be/2gQIGUSsCyA) StoreDot also announced it has won
strategic investment from the Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
British consumers wanting to enter the electric vehicle
An electric bus battery exploded and destroyed the vehicle in
suburban Paris last April. (Image: Vixx/YouTube).
market are increasingly being sold the idea of ‘subscribing’ to their cars, something that sounds nicer than renting.
The new website On.to promises ‘all-inclusive electric car
subscriptions’ with a simple monthly deal that bundles
insurance, charging, servicing and breakdown cover, together with free charging and a 750-miles-a month travel
allowance. Prices range from £379 a month for a tiny VW
Up! all the way to £1,299 a month for a Jaguar I-Pace.
In earlier columns I highlighted Virgin Orbit’s space-launching system which will propel small satellites into space
using a carrier rocket launched from a specially adapted
jumbo jet, a 747 called Cosmic Girl. Thanks to modern
component miniaturisation, heavy-lifting space rockets
are no longer needed when launching small and powerful space satellites or cubesats into orbit. Readers might
recall that Spaceport Cornwall (https://spaceportcornwall.
com) in south-west England has been chosen as one such
take-off site. The UK Government has now confirmed that
two cubesats will be launched from Cornwall this summer
to test GPS, imaging and data processing in space for the
Ministry of Defence. The Government project paves the
way for the UK’s forthcoming Minerva space programme.
That’s all for this month’s roundup – see you next month
for another helping of electronics news in Net Work.
The author can be reached at:
alan<at>epemag.net
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Practical Electronics | July | 2022
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