The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, today announced that Forum Chairman Koichi Tagawa will address attendees at the National Retail Federation's 2014 Annual Convention & EXPO, in a panel discussion on January 14 entitled "Win, Lose or Draw - Outlook for Retail Payments." The event takes place at the Javits Center in New York City.

In this session, industry leaders will discuss the evolution of payments and payment technology, evaluate the benefits of various approaches, and review available platforms and processes with the goal of identifying those most likely to succeed. Chairman Tagawa, who has many years of experience with mobile payment, will provide his insights on payment technology. Payment is a key use case for NFC, which is also employed in many other retail applications, such as loyalty, couponing, and point-of-sale offers using NFC tags.

Underlining NFC's prominence in retailing, many NFC Forum member companies are exhibiting at the NRF event, demonstrating their commitment to implementing NFC solutions in the retail sector. NFC Forum members also work collaboratively in Payment and Retail Special Interest Working Groups (SIGs) to encourage broad deployment of NFC technology by defining and promoting NFC solution use cases.

"NFC provides added value to retailers and their consumer goods manufacturers in many ways, including payment solutions, loyalty programs, and one-to-one marketing opportunities," said Chairman Tagawa. "I look forward to sharing the insights the Forum has gleaned from our Retail SIG and the commercial solutions that have been deployed around the world."

About Near Field Communication Technology

NFC technology makes life easier and more convenient for consumers around the world by making it simpler to make transactions, exchange digital content, and connect electronic devices with a touch. A standards-based connectivity technology, NFC harmonizes today's diverse contactless technologies, enabling current and future solutions in areas such as access control, consumer electronics, health care, information collection and exchange, loyalty and coupons, payments, and transport. NFC technology is supported by the world's leading communication device manufacturers, semiconductor producers, network operators, IT and services companies, and financial services organizations. NFC is compatible with hundreds of millions of contactless cards and readers already deployed worldwide.

About the NFC Forum

The NFC Forum (http://www.nfc-forum.org) was launched as a non-profit industry association in 2004 by leading mobile communications, semiconductor, and consumer electronics companies. The Forum's mission is to advance the use of Near Field Communication technology by developing specifications, ensuring interoperability among devices and services, and educating the market about NFC technology. The Forum's 190 global member companies currently are developing specifications for a modular NFC device architecture, and protocols for interoperable data exchange and device-independent service delivery, device discovery, and device capability. The NFC Forum's Sponsor members, which hold seats on the Board of Directors, include leading players in key industries around the world. The Sponsor members are: Broadcom Corporation, Google, Inc., Intel, MasterCard Worldwide, NEC, Nokia, NXP Semiconductors, Qualcomm, Renesas Electronics Corporation, Samsung, Sony Corporation, STMicroelectronics, and Visa Inc.

The NFC Forum Public Relations
Ruth Cassidy, +1-617-957-8494
ruth.cassidy@nfc-forum.org