An NFC payment is one of the contactless payments made by holding a card, phone or wearable within a few centimetres of a payment terminal, and the main entry describes how such payments are processed, authorized and limited. NFC stands for near-field communication, the short-range radio technology that carries the data between the device and the terminal.
The two terms are close to interchangeable in everyday use, with a difference of emphasis. Contactless payment is the name used by card networks, banks and merchants for the product, whatever the device. NFC payment names the technology and is used most often for payments made with a phone or watch, where a wallet app presents a tokenized card to the terminal, as distinct from tapping a plastic contactless card. Both follow the same EMV contactless specifications and look the same to the merchant's terminal.
NFC is one of several ways to make a mobile payment. The main alternative at the point of sale is the QR payment, which needs only a camera and a screen or printed code. NFC also works in the other direction: with tap to pay software, a merchant's own phone acts as the terminal.