The German firm Giesecke & Devrient, which provides banknote and securities printing, smart cards and cash-handling systems, has released a new platform that allows a single SIM card to securely execute multiple NFC applications at the same time. The SkySIM CX SIM-card family provides protected areas that can be used for electronic payment and ticketing applications and for customer loyalty programs, the company said in a news release.

The first device in the family recently gained approval from EMVCo, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, the company said, confirming that it meets the requirements for secure payments systems such as American Express ExpressPay, MasterCard PayPass and Visa payWave.

The SkySIM CX family also supports the transit applications MIFARE, CIPURSE and Calypso. The new cards offer up to 1.3 megabytes of memory.

The product gives network operators an opportunity to create new business models, the company said, by setting up highly secure areas on the SIM card — referred to as "containers" — for third-party applications. Service providers can run their own applications in the containers, in return for a fee payable to the network operator.

"The outstanding feature of the new SIM card is not only its functionality but also its security," Axel Deininger, group senior vice president at G&D, said in the release. "The card has been tested and approved by EMVCo as an integral unit, and not a single weak point has been detected. This latest addition to our NFC portfolio enables us to offer network operators a complete secure package comprising hardware, software and services, in the form of SIM cards, a mobile wallet and trusted service management services."

Learn more about contactless/NFC and security.