Gemalto partners with Chunghwa Telecom to launch new mobile service for consumers
Gemalto, an international digital security firm, has announced that it has partnered with Chunghwa Telecom, the largest telecommunications operator in Taiwan, to launch a new mobile commerce service. The service will be based on NFC technology, allowing users to participate in contactless payments from their mobile devices. The launch of this new service is being supported by MasterCard and four of Taiwan’s leading banks.
Mobile commerce continues to gain momentum in Taiwan as mobile device ownership rises
Mobile commerce has become quite popular in Taiwan, largely due to the growing smartphone penetration. More consumers than ever are beginning to use their mobile devices to conduct the business of their daily lives. Shopping online from a mobile device is becoming a common practice among consumers in Taiwan, and a growing number of people want to use their mobile devices to make purchases in physical stores. As such, the demand for new mobile commerce services has been on the rise.
Consumers can use mobile service to pay for goods and services, including public transit
The new service will be making use of Gemalto’s UpTeq Multi-tenant NFC SIM, which can be used to give most mobile devices NFC capabilities. The services will allow Cunghwa Telecom’s customers to pay for goods and services, including the fare associated with public transit systems. These payments can be made by swiping a mobile device near an NFC reader, which will collect information and authenticate a transaction.
Gemalto will work to make NFC-based mobile payments more secure than they have been in the past
NFC technology has formed the backbone of mobile commerce for several years. There have been security concerns regarding the use of this technology, however, as mobile commerce has become a popular target for some malicious groups. NFC can be exploited to access consumer financial information, but Gemalto has extensive experience in security matters and ensuring that this information is not compromised. The company may be able to help make the new mobile commerce service secure and popular among consumers in Taiwan.
Smartphone penetration in China has surpassed 66%, with more than 3 million mobile point-of-sale systems set up throughout the country. The vast majority of these systems are equipped with NFC technology and can only be used by devices that are NFC-capable. Currently, these devices are still relatively rare in the global market. While some device makers have plans to launch NFC-enabled smartphones in the coming years, others are looking to bring NFC capabilities to current devices without having to force consumers to wait for or purchase new devices in the future.