Mobey Forum has released a white paper which examines the important role of the secure element in delivering mobile payment services to end users. The paper, which will be of particular interest to senior management and other decision makers in financial institutions, is free to download from www.mobeyforum.org.
Entitled ‘Alternatives for Banks to Offer Secure Mobile Payments', the white paper provides an analysis of the mobile financial ecosystem, its stakeholders, and the value chain positions that can be achieved by banks though different business models. The paper's key focus is on the role of the secure element, a tamper-resistant hardware element located within a mobile device, which is required to securely facilitate mobile financial services, such as near field communication (NFC) and contactless payments. It highlights the features, application and impact of different secure element technologies including stickers, secure micro SD cards, universal integrated circuit cards (UICC), embedded secure elements and trusted mobile bases.
The document aims to assist financial institutions in deciding the role they will adopt in the mobile financial services value chain, providing them with the necessary insight to select a deployment model that aligns with their current business requirements and technical architecture.
Ron van Wezel, Chairman of Mobey Forum and Director of Emerging Payment Streams at Deutsche Bank, comments: "Discussions in mobile payments can become highly technical, confusing the issue for business managers who require clear and easily accessible information to inform decision making. With this new white paper the Mobey Forum offers the necessary business detail on one of the most hotly debated topics in mobile payments."
The white paper also contains valuable information to help financial institutions decide if they want to implement contactless payments and NFC enabled services immediately, using widely available secure elements such as secure micro SD cards and stickers, or invest in solutions that are still advancing, for example UICC technology.
Liisa Kanniainen, Executive Director of Mobey Forum, concludes: "Although both consumer and merchant feedback from NFC payment pilots has been extremely positive, highlighting the fast throughput, convenience and innovative loyalty services available, the advancement of mobile contactless payments has been more challenging than expected. The main reason for this is the complicated and fragmented ecosystem, which requires new business relationships to be formed between financial institutions, mobile network operators, handset vendors, merchants and other service providers.
"This white paper promotes collaboration and is intended to reduce the complexity of the ecosystem by educating readers on how the secure element will empower the various stakeholders, and offer new and creative commercial opportunities. By defining precise value chain positions, and outlining the range of secure element technologies available, the paper will also help financial organisations to identify the most interesting partnerships and implementation models open to them."