STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson and Visa International signed an agreement last week to develop secure wireless e-commerce solutions.
The partnership is designed to develop mobile e-commerce and drive open standards for payment transactions over wireless networks. The companies plan to cooperate on payment solutions and leverage open standards such as Wireless Application Protocol, Bluetooth, SET Secure Electronic Transaction and EMV protocols to address different market requirements.
One area Ericsson and Visa will develop is a payment solution for mobile e-commerce using Ericsson’s Bluetooth-enabled wireless wallet. The wireless wallet, which can serve as a conventional wallet for bills and coins, contains multiple smart card readers. A smart card inserted into the wallet can communicate with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile terminal, and consumers can use their mobile phones for Internet shopping using the smart card in the wallet for payment. Bluetooth is a short-range radio frequency protocol that allows devices to interact remotely.
Other projects Ericsson and Visa will undertake include participation on standards committees, market testing of prototypes and payment solutions, joint business development activities and the development and adoption of other secure payments solutions.
