Gemalto and INSIDE Contactless Announce Availability of NFC Solutions Fully Compliant with Latest ETSI Standards

AMSTERDAM & AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, and INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in advanced open-standard contactless chip technologies, today announced availability of a Near-Field Communications (NFC) solution fully complying with the latest ETSI standards. The solution also meets the new GSM Association “Pay-Buy-Mobile” mobile handset requirements based on the Single Wire Protocol (SWP). The new Inside MicroRead® NFC chip, combined with the Gemalto latest UpTeq 300 m-NFC SIM card embarking a Common Criteria EAL4+ security certified chip, gives handset makers and mobile operators the first fully compliant, interoperable, full-speed SWP solution – tested at 1.6 Mbps – to support proximity payments, transport and ticketing.

“The GSMA is already recommending that its member mobile network operators begin ordering SWP handsets to ensure that consumers can enjoy the convenience of mobile payment and other NFC-related services as soon as possible.”

Both companies had the vision and leadership to develop near field communications solutions and champion them to become ETSI standards supported by the GSM Association. Gemalto originally developed the Single Wire Protocol, which provides a standard interface and secure communications channel between the SIM card and the embedded NFC chip, brought by INSIDE Contactless.

“Inside has been a pioneer in the field of NFC and after years of continued effort, it is gratifying to see this exciting technology finally coming to market,” said Bruno Charrat, chief scientist for INSIDE Contactless. “The GSMA is already recommending that its member mobile network operators begin ordering SWP handsets to ensure that consumers can enjoy the convenience of mobile payment and other NFC-related services as soon as possible.”

Gemalto and Inside have been participating in seven “Pay-Buy-Mobile” pilot programs around the world. In particular, both companies kick-started Asia’s first mobile contactless SIM-based NFC trial in Taiwan. As part of a trial involving more than 200 users, FarEasTone, a leading wireless service provider in Taiwan, found that 90 percent of people felt positive toward this new service, 80 percent of people were satisfied that the service is secure and 40 percent said they would switch their monthly spending to a mobile credit card service.

“Offering open, standardized solutions is key to the sustainable take-off of mobile contactless services,” added Jérôme Sion, director of mobile contactless activities at Gemalto. “Following a number of successful pilot programs around the world, always very well received by consumers, we are now entering the time of broad commercial NFC business. Gemalto gathered a unique knowledge from these early deployments and is able to immediately set up a number of field-proven services to support these large operations.”

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2008 annual revenues of €1.68 billion, and 10,000 employees operating out of 75 offices, research and service centers in 40 countries.

Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere—has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.

Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. To complete the solution we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.

As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information please visit www.gemalto.com.

About INSIDE Contactless

INSIDE Contactless is the global leader in open-standard contactless payment and Near Field Communication (NFC) semiconductors and software that power the next generation of payment, transit, identity and access control applications. The company’s intelligent, microprocessor-based platforms offer the flexibility to be embedded in smart cards, mobile phones and other consumer electronic devices, documents, badges and other items to support a wide range of innovative contactless applications and bring new levels of convenience to users. INSIDE has delivered more than 300 million contactless platforms worldwide to customers and partners that include many of the leading payment card and mobile phone manufacturers, systems integrators and financial institutions. With a portfolio of 60 families of patents, including several essential NFC patents, the company has played a leading role in NFC and contactless innovation. INSIDE is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, Seoul and Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.