Barnes International and FIME this past week announced that their jointly developed personalization validation tool is now able to test Visa cloud-based mobile payment applications against Visa Cloud-based Payment Contactless Specification VC-BPCS v1.4, according to a press release.

The tool confirms that issuers are personalizing the near field communication host card emulation applications correctly. Additionally, payment tokens are analyzed to ensure they are being processed in line with Visa and EMV requirements. 

The ability to test cloud-based applications is an extension of the tool's functionality, which issuers, card manufacturers and personalization bureaus currently use to validate the personalization of their EMV chip payment cards and secure element-based payment devices, according to the statement. The tool guides users through the validation process, enabling quick and easy access to all of the personalization data required to analyze applications and tokens. Existing customers need only request a software update to gain access to additional features. 

"This upgrade brings confidence to the testing of mobile cloud-based payments," Vincent Poty, head of strategy and corporate development at FIME, said in a statement. "Tokens are used in EMV cloud-based payments to manage risks. The ability to test that this process is working properly is extremely important to issuers as they seek to offer increased security to their customers."