Sony, NXP, GSM Association push mobile payments

AMSTERDAM-Sony Corp. and NXP Semiconductors announced a joint venture to develop a secure chip that uses near-field communications for financial transactions. The goal is to produce a chip that can process different protocols and operating systems for contactless payment.
The two companies will include their own platforms for contactless payments-Sony’s FeliCa, NXP’s Mifare-as well as others in use to create a universal platform, according to the two companies’ announcement.
“This joint venture signals the evolution of interoperable mobile services, regardless of technology platform or geography,” said Marc de Jong, executive vice president and general manager at NXP.
The announcement appears to be aimed at device vendors and network operators who might employ such a chip. Third-party offerings in the space have proliferated, although business relationships between vendors and network operators are still largely in the discussion stage.
The GSM Association, representing 40 percent of the world’s GSM network operators, also announced this week that its members will work towards a common NFC technology to expand the market for contactless payments in mobile phones. One of the goals of the project is to build on the secure billing and identity relationship operators have with their customers through SIM cards. SIM cards could enable network operators to control the use of contactless payments.
Although the two announcements did not reference each other, both clearly focus on the nascent mobile payment market now being crowded by numerous third-parties, including major credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard and startup companies such as Obopay, MobileLime and Secure Wireless Transfers Corp.