Category: Featured News

TIM, a Brazilian carrier, has announced that it is beginning the new program using near field communication.

Wireless carrier from Brazil, TIM, has just revealed that it is launching a mobile payment pilot service that will be based on NFC technology in order to test the effectiveness within the region.

The program is running as a part of a partnership with Banco Itaú, a bank in Brazil.

It is also working with MasterCard, in addition to Redecard (a point of sale manufacturer) and Gemalto, which is a digital security provider. This joint venture pilot project will include a small beta testing group as well as the participation of 100 Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo restaurants.

The carrier has explained that they wish to learn more about the use and behaviors around NFC technology.

This pilot will help them to get to know the way that consumers wish to use NFC technology, what their expectations may be and how it works for restaurants. It will also provide the opportunity to train their employees internally and observe the type of challenges that they may expect as a result of a more extensive rollout.

Based on the results that they experience due throughout the length of the pilot program, TIM has said that it is considering expanding the use of NFC technology enabled mobile payments. This could mean that if the program is successful, the nearly 70 million subscribers at that company will have access to the service as soon as the second half of this year.

According to the TIM Brazil CMO, Roger Solé, “TIM has innovation as a strategic pillar and, once again, comes out ahead with the test of a technology that promises to be an important evolution of mobile. This partnership with Itau and our quest to evaluate the NFC model demonstrates our concern to offer solutions that bring more convenience to customers.”

The NFC technology enabled credit cards will be MasterCard branded. These will be used by the few participants in the pilot program. The over-the air account provisioning will be supplied by Gemalto. They will also be providing their well respected services management solutions. MasterCard PayPass tech will be used for making payments at the restaurant points of sale.

Federal government takes on mobile security for the masses

Mobile security has become such a big issue in the U.S. that the federal government has become more involved in the matter. Earlier in January, the Application Privacy, Protection, and Security Act (APPS) was introduced. The legislation is designed to help protect the personal information of consumers and keep this information from being exploited by advertisers or malicious parties. APPS could have a major impact on application developers as it would force them to be more conscious about the issue of mobile security.

APPS legislation will give consumers more control over their information

According to APPS, application developers will be required to be more transparent in their “consented terms and conditions, reasonable security of collected data, and users with control to cease data collection by opting out of the service or deleting the user’s personal data to the greatest extent possible.” The legislation will, essentially, provide consumers with ways to be proactive concerning their own mobile security.

Legislation could have an impact on app developers

The APPS legislation has been made available for public discussion. Opinion concerning the legislation will be used to make the bill more comprehensive, if need be. While information collected from the general public could affect some of the provisions of the law, APPS will likely still provide consumers with control over their personal information and how it is used or collected by a mobile application.

APPS legislation may put mobile security into the hands of the consumer

Applications like mobile games typically collect a user’s information for marketing purposes. This information is regularly shared with advertisers and other interested parties. Some developers take steps to ensure that this information is passed through secure channels, but there is little more that can be done than informing consumers that their information is actually being collected. The APPS legislation is meant to provide consumers with an avenue to keep their information protected, effectively giving them control over mobile security.