Bell ID's new solution moves secure element to the cloud
Security provider Bell ID has launched a new product aimed at simplifying the provisioning of services that use NFC. The product, called Secure Element in the Cloud, manages the provisioning process in a secure remote environment instead of on the mobile device itself. That could potentially solve a problem that has troubled NFC payment solutions: access and control of the secure element in devices.
"By moving the SE from a physical device to a remote environment, application issuers are able to directly provision their applications to an SE," Bell ID CEO David Orme said. "This enables them to take full control of their relationship with the customer and ensure a consistent brand and user experience across all available channels and services."
According to Bell ID, its SE in the Cloud software has already been commercially deployed and provides the functionality to complete payment transactions through a remote SE using a regular contactless terminal.
During a transaction, the NFC credential is accessed from the remote cloud SE and passed along to the point-of-sale terminal from the device. As far as the POS terminal is concerned, it receives data in the same format as that used in standard card-present transactions.
The solution also allows an application to be blocked immediately, in case of fraud or theft, and even increases computing power and storage in comparison to a physical SE, Bell ID said.
"With our SE in the Cloud software, we offer an easy, affordable and flexible alternative to the complex deployment models used in today's NFC marketplace," said Pat Curran, Bell ID's executive chairman. "This makes mobile NFC services accessible to a much wider audience, including banks, service providers, mobile network operators, payment processors and card personalization bureaus."
Issues with access to the SE have caused friction between mobile wallet deployers. Wireless carriers T-Mobile and Verizon have effectively blocked Google from having access to the SEs on NFC-enabled handsets that use their networks, preventing provisioning of Google Wallet to those devices.
Read more about contactless/NFC.