Singapore is on its way toward becoming a leader in NFC payments. NFC mobile security provider Gemalto announced that its Trusted Services Manager solution, hosted in the company's Singapore TSM data center is now live. Gemalto is a partner with Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority, the regulatory body that oversees "infocomm" in that island nation. The IDA is trying to bring NFC services to Singapore through a consortium of local mobile operators, banks and third-party service providers.

This is the first time mobile operators and a range of other service providers have combined their resources to launch nationwide NFC services to the general public using a single, comprehensive TSM solution, Gemalto said.

TSM solutions connect consumers' financial and payment services with their mobile services. Gemalto's TSM manages that provisioning of payment credentials to users’ devices in real time, the company said.

"This pioneer launch of an all-inclusive platform allows mobile operators, financial institutions and all the other service providers in Singapore to easily plug [in] and get on board to offer secure NFC services," said Tan Teck Lee, Gemalto's chief innnovation and technology officer and Asia president.

Lee said NFC-capable SIM cards are already being deployed in Singapore. The NFC infrastructure is ready and, through the TSM data center, Gemalto is able to support customers as they ramp up large-scale deployment of mobile NFC services.

"We are happy to see this landmark program go live as planned," Lee said.

Along with Gemalto's TSM service, IDA partner StarHub, a Singapore telecommunications company, unveiled its NFC payment app. The company's "SmartWallet" offers users three contactless payment cards on an NFC-enabled smartphone, and allows them to make purchases at more than 20,000 merchant locations in Singapore.

"We are excited to make the NFC digital wallet a reality with the launch of our SmartWallet smartphone app," said Chan Kin Hung, head of marketing and products at StarHub.

The company said additional payment functions such as ticketing, loyalty points and mobile top-up will be included in the SmartWallet over time

StarHub said the SmartWallet and its contactless payment and lifestyle services will be commercially launched later this month. To use the services, customers with an NFC-enabled smartphone will need to convert to a StarHub NFC SIM card and subscribe to the free StarHub NFC value-added service. They will also need to download the SmartWallet app from Google Play.

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