An alliance aimed at accelerating the adoption
of near field communications (NFC) for contactless payments has
been forged by the European Payments Council (EPC) and the GSM
Association (GSMA).
of near field communications (NFC) for contactless payments has
been forged by the European Payments Council (EPC) and the GSM
Association (GSMA).
Two highly influential bodies, the EPC
represents 8,000 banks in the European Union (EU), the European
Economic Area and Switzerland while the GSMA is the global
representative of 750 mobile phone operators.
represents 8,000 banks in the European Union (EU), the European
Economic Area and Switzerland while the GSMA is the global
representative of 750 mobile phone operators.
In a joint release the EPC and GSMA said they
envisage that cross-industry cooperation will enable banks to
deliver better mobile payments services to their customers,
supported by mobile operators’ infrastructure.
envisage that cross-industry cooperation will enable banks to
deliver better mobile payments services to their customers,
supported by mobile operators’ infrastructure.
Services will be facilitated by what the two
bodies term a ‘trusted service manager’ (TSM) which will support
the banks and mobile operators in the distribution, configuration
and activation of the bank’s payment application on the universal
integrated circuit (UICC) card within NFC-equipped handsets.
bodies term a ‘trusted service manager’ (TSM) which will support
the banks and mobile operators in the distribution, configuration
and activation of the bank’s payment application on the universal
integrated circuit (UICC) card within NFC-equipped handsets.
The GSMA and the EPC will focus initially on
defining a contractual framework document detailing the minimum set
of requirements for a TSM to interface with banks and mobile
operators.
defining a contractual framework document detailing the minimum set
of requirements for a TSM to interface with banks and mobile
operators.
Welcoming the alliance. EU Commissioner for
Internal Market and Services Charlie McCreevy said: “Bringing more
competition to the payment services market has been my aim and
agreements such as this show the possibilities that new
technologies and innovative approaches offer in this regard.”
Internal Market and Services Charlie McCreevy said: “Bringing more
competition to the payment services market has been my aim and
agreements such as this show the possibilities that new
technologies and innovative approaches offer in this regard.”
Separately, the GSMA announced that seven
mobile operators – AT&T, FarEasTone, KTF, Orange, SFR, Softbank
and Turkcell – are running trials of UICC-based contactless mobile
payment services and a further seven plan to begin trials in the
near future.
mobile operators – AT&T, FarEasTone, KTF, Orange, SFR, Softbank
and Turkcell – are running trials of UICC-based contactless mobile
payment services and a further seven plan to begin trials in the
near future.
The trials form part of the GSMA’s
Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative, which is designed to provide a single
global approach to enabling UICC-based contactless payments using a
mobile phone.
Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative, which is designed to provide a single
global approach to enabling UICC-based contactless payments using a
mobile phone.
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