Co-invented by NXP Semiconductors (News - Alert) and Sony in 2002, near field communications (NFC) technology is being added to a growing number of mobile handsets to enable mobile payments, as well as many other applications. Now BlackBerry (News - Alert) maker Research In Motion (RIM) is also planning to incorporate the technology to turn its smartphones into wallets.

Per Wikipedia’s explanation, NFC allows data exchange and wireless connections between two devices in close proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the U.S.

However, according to a report in Reuters (News - Alert), implementation of NFC for purchases has been stymied by the competing interests of banks, merchants, device makers and even wireless carriers. All of whom are eager to get a cut. “It is a very dynamic ecosystem, there are a lot of people involved, a lot of things that need to happen before a critical mass can be achieved,” RIM's vice president for handheld software products, Andrew Bocking told Reuters reporter Alastair Sharp (News - Alert) in an interview.

Meanwhile, RIM is planning to use NFC technology to gain physical access to offices and government buildings using smartphones, wrote Sharp.

Swiping a plastic card at a reader to gain access to a building or activating the lift is common in many offices and buildings. On Thursday, RIM and HID Global teamed up to enable users of new versions of RIM's Bold and Curve smartphones to tap them against a reader to gain access to their workplace or other controlled area, Sharp wrote..

“This is an industry first and quite a milestone for us because it enables the capability of a mobile device to now have an identity stored in it for use in logical and physical access,” said HID Global chief executive Denis Hebert.

HID Global said that the company’s iCLASS digital keys and mobile secure identity will support  NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphones. The new BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve smartphones activated with iCLASS digital credentials will be compatible with the large installed base of iCLASS readers that are used for applications ranging from physical access systems in buildings, to student IDs, to applications that track time and attendance.