A customer recently purchased an item at a store using a mobile phone to make the payment. Which of the following technologies was MOST likely used to complete the purchase?

Bluetooth is used for short-range wireless connections between devices, but it is not the primary technology for contactless store payments due to its longer range and pairing requirements compared to NFC.

Near Field Communication (NFC) enables short-range, contactless communication between a mobile device and a compatible payment terminal when they are brought into close proximity. This technology is fundamental to mobile payment systems like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

A hotspot allows other devices to connect to a mobile phone's cellular data for internet access, which is unrelated to making a contactless payment at a physical terminal.

Wi-Fi provides wireless internet connectivity over a broader range than NFC but is not typically used for direct, secure, contactless transactions at a point-of-sale terminal.