EMVCo, the EMV standards body collectively owned by American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa, has signed a collaboration agreement with the NFC Forum, a nonprofit industry association that advances the use of NFC technology.

EMVCo and the NFC Forum have agreed to work together to optimize the development and testing processes of Near Field Communication-enabled mobile devices for vendors, through exploring alignment of the two organizations' specifications, and cross-recognition of test results.

The goal of the collaboration is to establish a framework to synchronize NFC Forum and EMVCo specifications, test plans, test tools, laboratory accreditations and the management of contactless product certification. The framework will ultimately streamline the development and testing process of contactless technology for vendors.

In a news release, the companies said their alliance will offer significant benefits to stakeholders involved in EMV-related NFC use cases and products in the contactless payments industry by reducing product time-to-market and decreasing certification costs.

"To enable contactless to reach its full potential and facilitate the delivery of secure payment solutions, we need to create an efficient testing and certification framework that allows products to be swiftly brought to market," said Joe Cunningham, current chair of the EMVCo executive committee. "Alignment between industry bodies is therefore essential to ensure we apply specialist knowledge and a cohesive approach to the creation of this very innovative ecosystem. EMVCo recognizes the importance of our work with the NFC Forum and is committed to progressing activity as a priority."

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