Very exciting news this week – Gemalto’s Trusted Service Manager (TSM) solution has been chosen to secure the Isis mobile commerce platform. If you have been following the recent buzz about Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payments and services over the past year, chances are you have heard of Isis. It is the joint venture between AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless that aims to bring secure NFC mobile payments and services to consumers.
Isis is different from other mobile payment ventures because it’s a neutral platform – retailers, card issuers, transit providers, even enterprises can utilize it without giving their customer data to Isis. Where does Gemalto fit into all of this? In one simple word, security. As the TSM, we build a secure bridge between Isis and the payments or service providers. Gemalto will securely provision and place consumers’ information – whether it is for payments, loyalty, transit, smart posters, or others – onto their mobile device. They can then perform mobile payments or use services securely.
This is what Ryan Hughes, chief marketing officer of Isis had to say about our new relationship:
“We selected Gemalto for its long-standing relationships with financial institutions and mobile operators, which includes experience in securely provisioning services over the air and issuing sensitive financial information to the consumer. Gemalto’s dedication to security is unmatched in the industry and will provide the Isis Mobile Commerce Platform with the necessary infrastructure to ensure consumer and merchant confidence in the Isis Mobile Wallet.”
So, what are some of the activities Isis will enable on mobile devices? Contactless mobile payment gets most of the press, but it is just one of the options. Indeed, Isis will allow consumers to make payments at the retail point-of-sale (POS) simply by holding their mobile device close to the contactless reader. But, there are also many other services Isis can enable to make consumers’ lives more convenient. In fact, these other services beyond payments are actually expected to be the fastest growing segment for NFC technology, according to ABI Research.
Some examples: smart posters can be a great use of the Isis platform, as retailers and others can set it up so consumers can receive coupons, tickets, and other promotional materials simply by holding their mobile device close to the poster. It’s also easy to create mobile device-based loyalty programs where consumers redeem rewards right at the POS. And, Isis is for more than just retail. Imagine having your employees wave their phone in front of a reader for secure access to the office, or mass transit users storing their tickets on their phone – this is all possible with Isis.
Watch the Gemalto blog over the next few weeks, where we will expand our discussion on Isis, our role as the TSM, and what it means for the future of mobile payments and services.
