STMicroelectronics Unveils "Market-First" Matter 1.5-Compatible NFC Chip for One-Tap On-Boarding

STMicroelectronics has announced what it claims is the industry's first near-field communication (NFC) chip to meet the requirements of the new Matter 1.5 standard — which introduced one-tap NFC on-boarding for a range of smart home devices.

"The integration of NFC-based on-boarding in Matter 1.5 is a timely enhancement to the smart home experience," says STMicro's David Richetto of the new standard. "Our market-first ST25DA-C chip leverages this capability to simplify device commissioning through tap-to-pair functionality. This reduces setup complexity, especially for installations that are difficult to access, thanks to NFC-enabled battery-less connectivity. This aligns well with the broader momentum in the smart home market to serve consumers who increasingly prioritize ease of use, interoperability, and security. NFC-enabled Matter devices are positioned to play a key role in driving even greater adoption."

The Connectivity Standards Alliance announced Matter 1.5, the latest version of its cross-vendor Internet of Things communication specification, earlier this month — and while the addition of support for controlling smart cameras and a shiny new long-range sub-gigahertz standard called Suzi headlined, the new standard also promised easier on-boarding. Key to this is support for Near-Field Communication (NFC) tags, allowing compatible gadgets to be connected to a Matter network with just a tap from a smartphone.

For that to work, though, you need Matter-compliant NFC tags — which is what STMicro has launched. The ST25DA-C, an NFC Forum Type 4 chip, is said to be the first on the market to support the new standard via the required cryptographic operations, though it's not yet entered mass production: the company says that the tiny DFN8-packaged part is available "for evaluation and sampling" now, with mass production expected to begin some time in 2026.

More information is available on the STMicro website.