Many industry experts continue to recognize the challenges associated with mobile near field communication (NFC) payments and many of us have questioned why these services are yet to be deployed by the mass-market.
Traditionally, the data needed to make an NFC payment has been stored on physical hardware called a secure element (SE) within a mobile device. The secure environment provided by the SE protects the user’s credentials, ensuring the safety of the data. However, the physical presence of an SE in the device makes it complex and expensive for actors in the NFC ecosystem to interact efficiently.
These inefficiencies have been addressed by the introduction of host card emulation (HCE) technology, which emulates a payment card on a mobile device using software, thus removing the physical barrier. The functionality of the SE is fulfilled in a remote environment which reduces the costs and complexities associated with the traditional NFC model as the need for third-party involvement in eliminated.
We have developed an ebook, Host Card Emulation: NFC’s Missing Link, to highlight some of the key benefits of utilizing Host Card Emulation technology as part of a mobile payments strategy and to explain how Host Card Emulation can overcome the challenges faced by service providers when implementing mobile payment services. Interested to learn more, download the ebook.
