Mobile commerce initiative forms with the help of MasterCard and Gemalto
BNP Paribas Group, one of the world’s largest banking organizations, has announced the launch of a new mobile payment initiative based on NFC technology. The organization has partnered with MasterCard for the initiative, allowing customers to utilize their line of credit in order to purchase products from their smartphones. These smartphones will be equipped with NFC-enabled SIM cards provided by Gemalto, a leading security firm. The initiative is meant to provide consumers with an efficient and security way to participate in mobile commerce.
Gemalto SIM cards to give NFC capabilities to smartphones
Mobile commerce is the most common arena for NFC technology. The technology allows for short range data transmission, making it ideal for mobile payments. The problem, however, is that NFC-based solutions are only available to those with NFC-enabled devices. By leveraging Gemalto’s NFC-enabled SIM card, BNP Paribas has taken a step to ensure that its mobile commerce initiative is available to a wider range of consumers. The SIM card is capable of lending NFC capabilities to mobile devices that do not support the technology natively.
Security to be considered a top priority
BNP Paribas will focus on providing innovative services to consumers through its new initiative. The data collected from this endeavor will help the organization develop these services and the trial itself will give consumers the opportunity to declare what services they would like to see in the future. Security is expected to be a major focus for BNP Paribas, as the organization is required to adhere to strict regulations that govern the financial services sector. Both MasterCard and Gemalto also have identified security as a high priority when it comes to mobile commerce.
NFC faces criticism over security issues
NFC technology often receives criticism on the security front because the technology can be exploited by hackers with relative ease. Because the technology is commonly used in the mobile commerce field, this exploitation often leads to the theft of a consumer’s financial information. Companies like Gemalto have been working to introduce more security into the mobile commerce space, but it is difficult to remove the risk of exploitation entirely from any sector reliant on technology in some way.
