• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, January 29, 2013

A special interest group formed by the standards body NFC Forum now supports the retail industry through a little embedded chip in phones that allows Google to process electronic payments through Wallet, a virtual credit and debit card app.

The standards body formed the group to help developers focus on apps aimed at retail marketing. GS1, the organization behind barcodes, will focus on supporting digital coupons and product information that brands can pass via near filed communication (NFC) technology. It enables consumers to tap a shelved product in a store with a NFC-enabled smartphone to open the phone's browser and searches for the landing page with the specific product information.

As landing pages become more dynamic and personalized, the app can pull in data from the phone and location to customize the information based on prior searches on the browser or information in the phone. The group said it reduces consumer frustration of having to click through multiple pages on a small screen.