FIME's Japanese operation has been accredited as a MasterCard test laboratory for mobile handsets, according to a press release. The testing focuses on confirming the compliance and interoperability with the EMVCo contactless approval process.

FIME is an advance secure chip testing provider.

"With Japan being a center for mobile innovation, the ability to save time and money throughout the certification process is of great value to Japanese manufacturers," Alex Chen, sales director at FIME Asia, said in a statement. "Vendors in the region can access FIME's global expertise quicker than ever before and tap into our knowledge of the regional ecosystem's variations and complexities in order to achieve this approval quickly and effectively."

Commenting on the marketplace, Chen said: "With contactless card payments gaining momentum globally, the mobile ecosystem is readying itself for mass market rollout. In Japan, the payments ecosystem is evolving rapidly, so it has been a big priority for us to expand our local offering even further to help drive mobile payments innovation in Japan. To further support this aim, FIME has also expanded its official consulting and service capacity to support the work of various industry bodies including GlobalPlatform, NFC Forum, Softcard and others. This enables FIME to act as a single touchpoint for our vendor partners' complete testing needs. Standards, specifications and compliance bring stability and trust to the payments ecosystem, and we are privileged to support our Japanese partners in achieving the cross-industry accreditations that their products need."