NFC chip-maker NXP Semiconductors N.V. and security company Giesecke & Devrient announced they're partnering to let G&D integrate NXP technology, specificially its MIFARE technology, into secure SIM products. According to an announcement of the arrangement, G&D will now be able to provide mobile network operators with enhanced NFC solutions for mobile ticketing and payments.

MIFARE is basically NXP's proprietary technology for contactless applications using NFC. It's the most widely used technology platform for contactless applications, NXP said. Public transportation operators in more than 650 cities around the world have selected the technology to handle contactless ticketing. By licensing it for their SIM products, G&D will now be able to offer MNO solutions that include ticketing for transit and events, and customer loyalty.

"The strong presence of MIFARE in public transit and other key applications mandates that G&D enhances its SIM offering with highly demanded functionality,” said Axel Deininger, group senior vice president and head of G&D's secure devices division. “With the MIFARE functionality, we can provide a broad variety of instantly deployable use cases for our MNO customers.”

“MIFARE provides a fast track for mobile network operators to launch new NFC-based products and services, and G&D will play a key role in achieving this. The NXP license comes with the inherent ability to perform over-the-air (OTA) activation of the MIFARE functionality on G&D’s secure SIM cards." said Henri Ardevol, VP and GM of secure transactions for NXP Semiconductors "This helps mobile network operators to offer MIFARE as a default feature and thereby enlarge the overall market opportunity for mobile transaction services based upon the key technologies that G&D supplies." 

In other words, the announcement is important for mobile payments because it's a partnership between two of the big players in the space (NXP co-invented NFC and G&D's SIM cards are used everywhere) and means that MNOs have the option to offer an assortment of ubitquitious services, such as ticketing. 

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