Near Field Communications World » GlobalPlatform

GlobalPlatform investigates the usability of NFC phones equipped with multiple secure elements

Sarah Clark — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:56:23 +0000

The market is beginning to move towards a situation where consumers could have NFC phones containing multiple secure elements from multiple service providers, says GlobalPlatform, raising a potentially contentious issue regarding the way in which consumers would be able to use the various NFC services on their phone.

GLOBALPLATFORM: Anticipating issues with multiple secure elements

The arrival of a variety of ways to add NFC functionality to mobile phones — via SIMs, embedded secure elements, MicroSD cards and more — could create a scenario where consumers are equipped with a phone containing multiple NFC secure elements supplied by a range of service providers, according to a new white paper, 'GlobalPlatform's Requirements for NFC Mobile: Management of Multiple Secure Elements'.

This then raises the issue of how transactions are handled if, for instance, the user has one payments mechanism stored in a MicroSD card and one stored in the SIM. If both were active all the time, when the user used his phone to make a payment at the point of sale, it should be clear which application could then attempt to make the payment.

In the white paper, GlobalPlatform proposes two ways to address this problem — but both raise additional issues of their own:

Architecture without aggregation. In this scenario, only one secure element would be active and able to perform a transaction at any one time. The consumer would be responsible for deciding which secure element was active and, whenever he wanted to use the NFC functionality on his phone, he would need to ensure that the secure element which stored the application he wanted to use was active.
Architecture with aggregation. Here, software in the NFC-enabled device would be able to access each of the various secure elements and would be able to automatically activate the required application, without the consumer having to provide a specific instruction.

While the task force doesn't go into the issues raised by these two scenarios, it does point out that "at this stage, the two business models are incompatible" — and here at NFC World we are concerned that the problems could go further than that.

A frequently cited advantage of near field communication technology is its ease of use. Requiring users to choose between secure elements each time they use their phone, as described in the first scenario, would therefore be a step backwards for the industry.

An automated system, meanwhile, would be more user-friendly but also raises issues of its own. Who, for instance, would be responsible for developing and providing software able to work with all the secure elements on a phone? And how many security-conscious secure element providers would be willing to enable software they didn't own or control to access the information required to provide consumers with a fluid and seamless user interface?

The arrival of add-ons able to provide NFC functionality to existing mobile phones has done much to begin to push forward the adoption of NFC over the last year. Could it be that, as one problem seems to have been solved another one has taken its place?

"It is without doubt that there will be a movement towards the use of NFC phones equipped with multiple secure elements in the future, however it is not an issue for today," Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform's technical director, told NFC World.

"The aim of this paper is to share our insight on how NFC services could be deployed and provide a rational for which technical architecture should be supported," he added. "When the time comes, we will work closely with the industry to identify which model is most suitable, or even if another is needed, and offer the required technology to support market requirements and implementation."

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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GlobalPlatform adds Trusted Service Manager Working Group

Sarah Clark — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:40:39 +0000

SIM and smart card standards body GlobalPlatform has launched a Trusted Service Manager (TSM) Working Group.

The working group was created in response to market demand, says GlobalPlatform, and will focus on analysing the interfaces between TSMs and mobile network operators in order to define a common and secure messaging specification.

The specification will detail how TSMs will communicate with mobile operators in order to interact with the secure element on a mobile handset, with the goal being to ensure that convenient and creative services can be delivered to the end user.

While the working group's initial focus will be on specifying a standard language for communications between operators and TSMs operating within the banking sector, the specification will be designed so that it is also usable across a number of additional market sectors such as public transportation.

"It is vital that a common language is defined to ensure efficient communication between the key players within the NFC ecosystem to enable contactless payment services to be deployed and managed on a mass market scale," explains Visa's Marc Kekicheff, vice chair of GlobalPlatform and leader of its Mobile Task Force. "There has already been significant interest and contributions from GlobalPlatform members, which represents the entire NFC landscape, as well as new members eager to participate."

Last May, GlobalPlatform released a detailed white paper, 'The GlobalPlatform proposition for NFC mobile: Secure element management & messaging', which detailed the roles and responsibilities of each player in ensuring the secure delivery of multiple applications sent over-the-air to the secure element on a mobile phone.

"Creating the GlobalPlatform TSM Working Group and addressing in a messaging specification some of the challenges in the white paper is a logical next step for the organization, says ActivIdentity's Eric Le Saint, chair of the GlobalPlatform Systems Committee. "The TSM working group has the capability and expertise to effectively progress this activity."

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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First Data to offer Tyfone’s SideTap NFC MicroSD cards, will run first trials in US from mid-2010

Sarah Clark — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:29:02 +0000

The cards "will be sold where consumers buy memory cards today, including retail merchants and major network operators as well as new locations such as mass transit kiosks and financial institution branch locations," says First Data, and "SideTap MicroSD cards may also come pre-bundled in handsets."

WORKING TOGETHER: A BlackBerry with SideTap transacts with a First Data contactless terminal

First Data has signed an agreement with Tyfone which will see the payments processing giant offering the start-up's MicroSD format NFC solution to customers.

"This is a significant partnership as First Data is committed to mobile commerce and is a leader in the payment industry serving more than five million merchant locations, 2,000 card issuers, and millions of consumers worldwide," says the official announcement.

"The partnership enables a neutral mobile commerce solution to be deployed to millions of consumers," it continues. "Tyfone's technology will support First Data's provisioning role, of a trusted service manager (TSM) using SideTap cards as a neutral secure element... First Data and Tyfone will soon begin the process of working with issuers to enable them to offer mobile contactless payments to their customers. Trials will begin as early as mid-2010."

The news follows Tyfone's announcement earlier this month that it has now completed pre-production testing and is gearing up for mass production during the second half of 2010 and Visa's announcement in February that it is to begin field testing DeviceFidelity's MicroSD NFC solution from the second quarter of this year.

"First Data chose Tyfone's SideTap memory card because it best serves the needs of consumers who want to use contactless payment options with over the air access but still want to retain the memory card functionality of their MicroSD card," says First Data's Dom Morea.

"The move to contactless payments is gaining traction," Morea explains. "Consumers have a strong preference for such technology and merchants are using contactless payments to reduce waiting times, increase customer loyalty, and boost sales."

"While the technology may first be released for the US market it has worldwide appeal and is not restricted by geography," he told NFC World. "A fully payments-capable MicroSD with an integrated antenna and memory capabilities is a large milestone towards providing mobile commerce capabilities to the significant population of existing and future mobile phones that are MicroSD capable."

"Tyfone is a technology leader in mobile solutions and brings hardware and software expertise in MicroSD technology, secure element integration and antenna design," Morea continues. "First Data brings expertise in security, payment account provisioning, personalization and account management."

SIDETAP: Tyfone offers secure NFC and memory on a MicroSD card

First Data will offer three versions of Tyfone's SideTap MicroSD card to customers, each able to support both Mifare transport ticketing applications and any GlobalPlatform-compliant payments application such as credit, debit, closed loop, prepaid and gift cards:

The standard SideTap memory card, which offers an initial 1GB of user memory as well as the contactless payments functionality.
SideTap Lite, which includes OTA provisioning capability but has no additional user memory.
SideTap Ultralite, a low cost option without additional memory or OTA capabilities, aimed at closed loop applications.

"We expect that these cards will be sold where consumers buy memory cards today, including retail merchants and major network operators as well as new locations such as mass transit kiosks and financial institution branch locations," say the partners. "SideTap MicroSD cards may also come pre-bundled in handsets."

"For consumers, a SideTap MicroSD card is expected to cost about the same as a standard MicroSD card of the same capacity," they add.

"With over 60% of the mobile phones being sold today with memory slots, memory cards are widely used in the mobile eco-system, making it an ideal form factor for issuers to add contactless payment," explains Dr Siva Narendra, Tyfone's chief technology officer. "However, consumers are unlikely to swap between memory card for payment and storage in their phones. So our SideTap cards integrate storage and contactless payments in the same memory card to enhance consumer’s experience."

"Mobile phone users are familiar with memory cards, many of which are bought directly from their mobile network operators," Narendra adds.

"The promise of MicroSD card-powered technology to drive contactless payments is profound, with the ability to very quickly enable mobile transactions for businesses and their customers," adds Henri Ardevol, general manager of secure transactions at NXP, whose SmartMX chips power the SideTap devices.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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Banks get serious about NFC

Sarah Clark — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:58:48 +0000

OPINION: Interest in near field communication is gathering pace in the financial services sector, fuelled by the arrival of NFC-enabled microSD cards and a recognition that there is a business model to be found — so long as you look for it hard enough.

In the UK, Barclaycard's partnership with Orange now looks set to lead to a commercial launch of NFC services before the end of 2010. And, with the results of Citi's trial in Bangalore now in, it's clear the company has now set its sights on a commercial launch and is determined to find a way to bring NFC to market.

The Mobey Forum, meanwhile, has published a detailed white paper explaining the options open to banks and GlobalPlatform has addressed how to ensure a card issuer's brand identity can be maintained within a consumer's mobile wallet.

Since we began publishing NFC World in October 2008, we have reported on nearly 100 NFC pilots around the world. It now looks as though, finally, key market players are getting ready to put that experience into practice...

Sarah Clark, Editor

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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GlobalPlatform sets out branding guidelines for multi-application mobile wallets

Sarah Clark — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:11:29 +0000

The standards body's new Contactless Services technical document sets out how a card issuer's brand identity will be maintained within a consumer's mobile wallet.

SPECS: New document focuses on management of multiple contactless apps in a single secure element

SIM and smart card standards body GlobalPlatform has released a new technical document which focuses on the management of multiple contactless applications within a single secure element such as an NFC SIM, a microSD card, an embedded secure element or a contactless card/sticker.

The Contactless Services document, Amendment C to GlobalPlatform's Card Specification v2.2, addresses how consumers will manage their mobile contactless services and how they will select which application they would like to activate. The document outlines how the mobile phone interface can be tailored by the card issuer to meet its needs and those of service providers, including the storage of commercial logos to enable simple brand recognition on a mobile phone screen.

"This is an important enhancement for securely and effectively delivering NFC services to users," says Giesecke & Devrient's Karl Eglof Hartel, chair of the GlobalPlatform Card Committee. "It successfully overcomes some of the barriers that were restricting NFC technology realising its full potential."

"From a commercial perspective, for example, it is vital to have the technical capability to display logos to support brand recognition and awareness, while also guaranteeing the highest level of security and offering service providers a clear separation of domains for application management," he added.

"As a result of the card committee’s efforts, Amendment C to GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.2 delivers to the NFC marketplace a neutral platform that enables service providers to directly interact with an end-user," Hartel explains. "In addition to creating new business opportunities at all levels across the NFC ecosystem, GlobalPlatform believes that the technology will create a fundamental transition in consumer habits. For example, today's process of choosing a payment card from a wallet will be replaced by the selection of a contactless service via the screen of a mobile handset."

Readers can download the full Contactless Services technical document from GlobalPlatform's website.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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NFC Forum joins up with GSMA, EMVCo and Smart Card Alliance

Sarah Clark — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:58:23 +0000

The NFC Forum has signed a series of agreements, with the GSM Association (GSMA), EMVCo and the Smart Card Alliance, designed to enable it to work more closely with each of the associations on the development of the NFC market and near field communication-based solutions.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the NFC Forum and EMVCo will see the card payments standards body sharing technical information with the NFC Forum so that a certification programme can be put into place for the use of NFC devices to make payments at the point-of-sale and also for them to act as POS terminals.

The partnership with the GSMA will see the two organisations sharing information and collaborating on joint marketing activities, such as seminar sessions, white papers and presentations.

The NFC Forum and the Smart Card Alliance, meanwhile, will team up on a number of joint marketing initiatives, including educational programs for vertical markets such as retail and transport. Other programs under discussion include presentations at each other’s events and meetings, a joint event targeting the retail market in the US and the provision for regular information sharing between the NFC Forum Marketing Committee and Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council.

"The ongoing global deployment and adoption of NFC technology requires our close cooperation and interaction with all the key players in the NFC ecosystem," said Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. "As the leading voices representing payment card companies, mobile operators, and the smart card industry, respectively, EMVCo, GSMA and Smart Card Alliance are valued partners in our efforts to bring the ease and power of NFC technology to mobile users around the globe."

The NFC Forum has already established liaisons with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the Mobey Forum. The GSMA and EMVCo, meanwhile, are also already working with GlobalPlatform on the development of a cross-industry NFC certification process.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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GSMA, EMVCo and GlobalPlatform to develop cross-industry NFC certification process

Sarah Clark — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:14:28 +0000

The three associations will design a model which will allow certification processes to be put in place to ensure that any NFC payments application will work on any platform.

WORKING TOGETHER: GlobalPlatform will lead the joint effort to develop a certification process

Card payments standards body EMVCo and telecoms association the GSM Association have agreed to work with GlobalPlatform to define a common certification process that will enable mobile network operators and the payments industry to develop cross-industry certification schemes for NFC services.

"When fully developed and operational, these schemes will work together to ensure that any certified payment application will work with any certified UICC [SIM] platform, reducing the incidence of certification failures when new application/platform combinations are subsequently added for testing," say the associations. "The result will be significantly reduced testing and development costs and a faster time to market. Additionally, no further certifications will be necessary when loading applications with less stringent security requirements onto new UICC platforms."

GlobalPlatform has been chosen to lead the initiative due to its cross-industry technical expertise. "We believe that the creation of the model will increase overall market confidence," says Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform's technical director. "Although industry bodies such as MNOs and payment organisations will remain responsible for certifying technology compliance, GlobalPlatform hopes that adherence to the model and relevant security configurations will become commonplace."

The agreement has been welcomed by a number of trade associations and standards bodies.

"This initiative fully supports the objectives of the EPC as regards the creation of a standardised and interoperable environment for mobile payments," says Dag-Inge Flatraaker, chair of the European Payments Council's M-Channel Group. "The composite certification will improve the timeliness of the approval process and ease related procedures for banks and payments service suppliers. This initiative allows the banks to manage and control the security of their applications when operating in the mobile payments environment."

"Dissociating the certification of the platform from the application is a great initiative to not only accelerate the development and deployment of applications, especially in multi-issuer environments, but also avoid technology fragmentation," added Michel Canitrot, chairman of the board for the SIMalliance. "It is a guarantee for the issuer that, whatever the platform, the application will be deployed seamlessly and securely. NFC is typically a use case where this guarantee is essential for mass market deployment."

"A common type approval approach for contactless mobile payment UICCs will avoid redundancy and conflicting efforts between different parties with approval authorities and interests," explains Brian Byrne, chairman of the EMVCo board of managers. "We see this as a natural extension of EMVCo's commitment to provide a globally interoperable acceptance environment for secure payments. Our participation is aimed at ensuring the resulting type approval process is not only cost-effective and efficient, but that it is secure and flexible enough to meet the requirements of the payment and telecommunications industries."

"Developing a UICC certification model for NFC services that is cost effective and results in a short time to market will be critical for the commercial rollout of mobile NFC services worldwide", concluded Alex Sinclair, chief technology officer of the GSMA.

GlobalPlatform has also working on a compliance programme for NFC SIMs. Test suites, which can be used to develop testing tools that ensure NFC SIMs meet GlobalPlatform standards, are being released to GlobalPlatform members now.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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Sagem Orga adds Java Card functionality to MyMax NFC stickers

Sarah Clark — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:42:25 +0000

Sagem Orga and Twinlinx are introducing a mobile contactless sticker based on Twinlinx's MyMax NFC sticker and Sagem Orga's Java Card technology.

Twinlinx's My-Max sticker combines an NFC transmitter with a security chip and Bluetooth functionality. Because it can communicate with both contactless readers via NFC and with the phone via Bluetooth, My-Max has the ability to add full NFC capability to any Bluetooth handset, including over-the-air provisioning and management.

The new SIMply Mobile Wallet sticker developed by Sagem Orga and Twinlinx will be available with a choice of secure contactless cards/chips that can be embedded in the sticker, enabling it to be used in different scenarios.

Initially, Sagem Orga's Java Card JMV Pro CL will be used as the secure element in the sticker, allowing users to directly interact with the Java Card through a mobile application. Features include:

A multi-application environment compliant with GlobalPlatform and allowing various services to be delivered
Support for MasterCard and Visa payment applications
Compatibility with ISO 14443 and Mifare technology
Support for Public Key Infrastructure cryptography

"The joint solution of Sagem Orga and Twinlinx is paving the way for the development and mass deployment of NFC applications, for example in transport, payment, access control and smart posters," says Didier Sérodon, Chief Technology Officer at Sagem Orga.

"We believe that the Sagem Orga Java Card contactless chip brings significant value to our MyMax NFC mobile sticker,” added Jacek Kowalski CEO of Twinlinx. "The flexibility of a Java Card and the compatibility with GlobalPlatform will open up the NFC market and new ways of offering services in a secure way, including the potential to issue 'white stickers', where applications can be added after issuance,” he added.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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Telefónica O2 joins GlobalPlatform

Sarah Clark — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:51:50 +0000

Telefónica O2 Europe has become the latest company to join GlobalPlatform, as the smart card standards body's Mobile Task Force initiative gathers steam.

"On the back of our successful Near Field Communications (NFC) trial 'O2 Wallet' in 2008 and recent 'O2 Money' initiative which enables users to manage their money and receive real-time balance updates via their mobile phone, we recognize the value in knowledge sharing to benefit the mobile services industry as a whole," says Neill Whitworth, Head of SIM and OTA at Telefónica O2 Europe. "We support the work of GlobalPlatform and firmly believe that the presence of a secure and interoperable smart card infrastructure will drive the wider adoption of innovative mobile solutions globally."

As an Observer Member, Telefónica O2 will be able to participate in GlobalPlatform's Advisory Council, track the work of its technical committees and influence the direction of other task force activities.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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GlobalPlatform launches transportation task force

Sarah Clark — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:44:15 +0000

GlobalPlatform has set up a Transportation Task Force with the aim of actively contributing to the evolution of smart ticketing solutions. Ultimately, the goal is to develop a standard travel media that will offer multi transportation network ticketing solutions which provide a variety of additional services to passengers, including everything from bike rental to banking services.

The task force is being led by Michel Barjansky, Innovation Manager at the Engineering Department of French transportation organisation RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP).

The Transportation Task Force will work with GlobalPlatform's existing Card, Device and Systems committees to modify and advance its existing specifications in order to address specific requirements highlighted by the transportation industry. In particular, it will work closely with GlobalPlatform’s Mobile Task Force which has established links with StoLPaN, ETSI, the GSM Association, European Payments Council, Association Européenne Payez Mobile, Ulysse and the Mobey Forum.

The task force will begin by publishing a white paper that will explain how GlobalPlatform specifications enable the usage of a third party media, such as a mobile phone, for transactions, for enhancing mobility by facilitating the co-existence of different local transport applications on the same media and allowing transport operators to enrich services by offering new applications throughout the lifecycle of the solution.

“The transportation industry has identified the value smart card technology can bring to their networks such as efficient e-ticketing distribution," says Barjansky. "As a secure multi-application smart card specification provider representing payment systems, the telecoms community and transport operators, we believe it is important that GlobalPlatform contributes to this evolving landscape from an independent, cross-industry perspective. By participating now, GlobalPlatform can support the convergence of the transportation market with other sectors to create exciting and convenient services to passengers.”

“GlobalPlatform has an established, secure and flexible smart card infrastructure that transcends markets and supports multi-application, multi-actor and multi-business model implementations," added Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform’s Technical Director and Technical Advisor for the Standardization and Technology Department at Gemalto. "This means that a transport operator deploying an e-ticketing solution today can benefit from our experience and knowledge by using GlobalPlatform’s latest and most sophisticated technology, which will save significant time to market as well as research and development costs.”

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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