PayPal to be an NFC partner in 2011?

Near Field Communication is a feature of Android OS that arrived with Gingerbread (2.3). The practicality of NFC in our day-to-day lives is still to be questioned, but it undoubtedly represents a unique piece of technology that has enormous potential.

As more carriers and credit card companies test out NFC for daily use, it will become clear exactly how effective the technology can be. Rumor has it that PayPal could be one of the first committed partners with Google and could even start NFC payments in the second half of 2011. Laura Chambers, who is Senior Director of PayPal Mobile, said that a commercial NFC service in late 2011 is feasible and that Google could represent a viable partner. 

Such a partnership would seem like a natural fit, given the amount of transactions PayPal handles on a daily basis. It would represent a big step forward for the NFC technology that has the potential to change the way we pay for goods and services.

What do you think about the potential of NFC? Would a PayPal partnership make you more likely to try it out? [Business Week]

Sean Brunett