This application discloses a method for automatically activating an NFC application and a terminal, and relates to the terminal field. When a terminal has a plurality of SEs, an NFC application accessed by a transaction instruction is automatically activated. The terminal may include an NFC controller and at least two SEs, and each of the at least two SEs carries at least one NFC application. A specific solution is as follows: The NFC controller receives a transaction instruction, determines a target SE from the at least two SEs according to the transaction instruction, and sends the transaction instruction to the target SE; the target SE receives the transaction instruction, and determines, according to the transaction instruction, a target NFC application from an NFC application carried in the target SE; and the target SE runs the target NFC application, and executes the transaction instruction.