Sometimes on phone reviews I read that a certain model, often one released in a Western market, uses NFC for payment. In my country, mobile payments use QR codes so any phone with a camera can use them. Does NFC have any advantage over such a system?
Just to clarify since it barely came up: NFC can be used for a lot of things, digital payment just being one use case. You can also have “tags” that trigger some sort of automation when the phone is placed there (like on the phone holder in your car, on your desk, on your night stand). You can use it as a key to open doors or locks (bikes). You can transfer your contact information to someone by touching phones together. And so much more.
It’s a universal way to communicate (very) short distances, with the unique property that the reading device can provide power to the item being read if needed. Not a lot of power, but no batteries needed at all for the passive side in many cases.