China’s UnionPay working with Gemalto on building a secure mobile NFC payment ecosystem

BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, is collaborating with China’s UnionPay to build a secure mobile NFC ecosystem. UnionPay is China’s leading payment scheme and has the world’s largest network of payment cards, with more than 3.5 billion cards issued to date, as well as being a key advocate in China’s mobile payment eco-system. According to ABI Research, China’s mobile commerce market is expected to become the world’s largest by 2014, with an estimated US$8 billion worth of transactions conducted via NFC.

“With over 50 NFC projects implemented, Gemalto is unique in its ability to support UnionPay’s plan to bring convenient yet secure NFC services to all its cardholders in China and beyond.”

The collaboration covers key deployment issues, including TSM interoperability, security and operational guidelines as well as technology standards and specifications. The consultation is paving the way for UnionPay to develop their vision of constructing a future-proof NFC ecosystem for their issuer banks, as well as enable their cardholders to conveniently enjoy secure yet convenient mobile contactless services.

“We believe that mobile payment has enormous potential in China,” Mr. Chai Hong Feng, Executive Vice President of UnionPay said, “UnionPay is a staunch supporter of payment innovation and mobile payment is an integral part of our endeavors. Gemalto has a wealth of experience in NFC and mobile payment deployments worldwide. Therefore, our co-operation leverages the strengths of Gemalto and UnionPay to provide customers with greater payment convenience. As a leading bankcard association, UnionPay will continue to work closely with commercial banks, mobile operators and service providers to drive innovation and build a safe and convenient NFC mobile payment ecosystem.”

“In a recent survey¹ conducted by independent research firm TNS, 93% of respondents in China consider security to be an important concern in adopting mobile payments. Gemalto’s expertise in providing banking-grade security for NFC can provide consumers the peace of mind when using Unionpay’s mobile wallet,” said Suzanne Tong-Li, Senior Vice President of Secure Transactions at Gemalto Asia, “With over 50 NFC projects implemented, Gemalto is unique in its ability to support UnionPay’s plan to bring convenient yet secure NFC services to all its cardholders in China and beyond.”

¹ Online survey with 1300 respondents was completed end 2012 covering Beijing, Shanghai, Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong, Hubei, Sichuan and Shaanxi.

About UnionPay

As the bankcard association, UnionPay is responsible for establishing and operating the UnionPay inter-bank clearing and settlement system and developing the international acceptance network for UnionPay card, as well as promoting the issuance and usage of UnionPay cards. UnionPay strives to develop innovative payment services and provide high quality, efficient and secure services for card holders. To date, the total number of UnionPay card issued worldwide has exceeded 3.5 billion, with presence in all over China and network extended to more than 140 countries and regions in Asia, Europe, the Americas, Oceania and Africa. UnionPay has also established partnership with more than 400 financial institutions all over the world. For more information, go to http://cn.unionpay.com/ .

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2011 annual revenues of €2 billion and more than 10,000 employees operating out of 74 offices and 14 Research & Development centers, located in 43 countries.

We are at the heart of the rapidly evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work – anytime, everywhere – in ways that are enjoyable and safe. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, payment security, authenticated cloud access, identity and privacy protection, eHealthcare and eGovernment efficiency, convenient ticketing and dependable machine-to-machine (M2M) applications.

Gemalto develops secure embedded software and secure products which we design and personalize. Our platforms and services manage these secure products, the confidential data they contain and the trusted end-user services they enable. Our innovations offer more ways for our clients to enhance the convenience and security of people’s digital lives.

Gemalto thrives with the growing number of people using its solutions to interact with the digital and wireless world.

For more information visit www.gemalto.com, www.justaskgemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.