Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd and NFC technology provider FeliCa Networks Inc. announced a new partnership on a chip technology for handsets that will support mobile wallets using two competing mobile wallet technologies.

In December, Japan's three largest wireless carriers announced a plan to work together to migrate from FeliCa, a contactless standard developed by Sony prevalent in Japan, to international standards for NFC technologies, referred to as NFC A/B. 

Services based on FeliCa have been available in Japan for some time; however, the standard doesn't adhere to international NFC standards. Japanese carriers believed that continuing on a different standard might have put them at a disadvantage when sourcing handsets from international manufacturers, and Japanese travelers would not have the ability to use NFC services when traveling abroad.

The combination of the two services on one phone will allow for the continued use of the current contactless infrastructure during the transition to the new standard. Japan currently has the largest mobile contactless infrastructure in the world, the announcement said, and the two technologies together means the NFC-SAM chips will have higher capabilities along with full interoperability with that infrastructre.

"The collaborative efforts combining FeliCa Networks’ excellent operation of the FeliCa platform and Samsung’s world-class semiconductor design and process technology will generate greater value for the mobile payment market," said Taehoon Kim, vice president of System LSI sales amd marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics.

The announcement said Samsung will contribute an NFC controller complying with international standard and the FeliCa SAM chip with advanced security capabilities, while FeliCa Networks will contribute by providing the key technologies to Samsung.

"Integration of both technologies will contribute to further development of mobile NFC business across the globe in the near future," said Hirotaka Sugiyama, President of FeliCa Networks. Sugiyama said FeliCa Networks intends to introduce a variety of NFC solutions along with the new chips.

For more on this subject, visit the Contactless/NFC research center.