NFC: Secure Transactions
via Mobile Phones

From telephone to jack-of-all-trades

With smartphones, you can pay for purchases in the supermarket, buy tickets, obtain discounts as regular customers, or get information about tourist attractions while out and about: All this will soon be possible thanks to Near Field Communication (NFC).

Data security must be guaranteed

Users are very interested in the possibilities of NFC technology. At the same time they also harbor fears about the security of their data. These concerns are perfectly understandable and comprehensible – but unjustified. NFC payments actually guarantee the same security as conventional payment methods. This protection is based on secure chip modules, which G&D has been developing and selling for a number of years, and which are used in credit cards and SIM cards today. These secure elements, as they are called, are used to authenticate the user to the service provider. Since the early days of contactless technology, G&D has made advances in developing corresponding NFC hardware and software as a pioneer of secure payment.

G&D supplies the mobile network with secure systems which transfer valuable applications such as tickets, hotel keys, payment cards, and electronic driver’s licenses to the secure element of the cell phone. G&D also manages these applications on request on behalf of mobile network operators, banks, or other service providers.

At the Mobile World Congress 2011, G&D together with NXP closed a significant gap. Both companies have developed software for secure interfaces between cell phones with android operating systems, NFC functionalities, and security elements such as SIM cards. This solution can also be transferred to other cell phones. With this solution, NFC can now be securely integrated into cell phones. This represents a real breakthrough for the future with the secure use of NFC services.

NFC on the verge of breakthrough

In addition to its almost unlimited spectrum of applications, NFC’s attractiveness is dependent on its user-friendliness. Standing in a long queue could soon be history: according to a study by American Express, payment via NFC is 60% quicker than with cash and 50% quicker than with debit or credit cards. This means that NFC could be widely and quickly introduced. Juniper Research has already estimated that there will be 300 million NFC-enabled smartphones on the market by 2014, and 500 million by 2015.

Following on from NFC's detailed testing over the past few years in a number of pilots, 2012 could be the breakthrough year for NFC with commercial launches in several countries. G&D experiences that many of its customers are now ready to go commercial with NFC.