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(extract from the 2008 Winter Review magazine)
A major trial in two French cities could help to define the international standards for mobile contactless payment.
While mobile contactless payment is starting to gain traction around the world, Europe is perceived by some commentators to be lagging behind. That may all be about to change if the results of the "Payez Mobile" trial in France are as positive as expected.
The trial, which began in November 2007, is the result of a collaboration between numerous organizations under the umbrella of the Pegasus group: six major French banks, four mobile operators and several key technical suppliers, including Gemalto, which is providing SIM cards and its Allynis secure application management systems. These are being used to ensure that the various applications installed on the user’s SIM card are isolated from each other – an essential security consideration for the financial institutions involved.
The participants in the trial are 1,000 customers and 200 sales outlets in the cities of Caen and Strasbourg. They’re testing a mobile contactless system that uses existing bank card infrastructure and NFC technology. One or more payment applications (one for each bank) are installed on the customer’s SIM card, and they can then use their cellphone to make payments in participating shops. For payments of more than €20, customers have to enter a PIN on their cellphone keypad; for smaller amounts they can choose to pay without using a PIN .
The key benefits for the customers are speed, simplicity and security. The stores enjoy quicker checkout lines, the savings that result from the reduced need to handle cash, and the positive associations they reap by being seen to be using technical innovations that benefit customers. An interim study by the Pegasus group found that the customer satisfaction rate was over 90%, with the ‘all-in-one’ approach and ease of use standing out as the most popular features.
With positive results like this, it seems highly likely that Payez Mobile will be rolled out across the country in the near future. The organizers of the trial believe that by 2012, several million French consumers will be using contactless mobile payment.
Beyond that, the work done in setting up Payez Mobile is also contributing to the definition of an international standard for contactless mobile payment. To that end, international organizations such as Visa and MasterCard have been involved from an early stage to ensure compatibility with their systems.
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NFC
ecosystem Five French banks are now using Gemalto’s Allynis service as part of the "Payez Mobile" trial for contactless mobile payment. Read more... |
May 27, 2008 |
Contactless Mobile Payment: Five Major French Banks Use Gemalto's Secure Services for the "Payez Mobile" Program [ 
version ]
Gemalto has supported NFC technology standards from the start.
Contactless payment: Payez Mobile
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