Research lays groundwork for global mobile financial services standards
new business models consider needs of all key players when sharing secure hardware
Helsinki, Finland, June 17, 2008 --- Standards-based approaches to the provision of mobile financial services (MFS) move a step closer today with the release of research by Mobey Forum examining the challenge of sharing a mobile handset's secure hardware, the so-called secure element.
Prepared by experts representing all the major stakeholders — including banks, mobile operators and vendors — the analysis offers a planning guide for establishing MFS ecosystems that share a critical security resource such as the handset's existing SIM card, or other secure element in the mobile device or on a removable SD card.
The document is a timely contribution to the debate on the convergence of mobile communications and financial services, because it analyzes the application from a broad perspective, including the critical needs of banks and other parties in the transaction chain.
A range of 'shared security' MFS business models ranging from co-ownership of the secure element to renting space, are presented. The research document goes on to analyze the critical issue of enrolment in a multi-application environment. Mobey Forum's analysis targets the creation of mass market friendly business models that are able to provide transparent links between a bank and customers — irrespective of the particular mobile networks users subscribe to. The role of the Trusted Service Manager is widely agreed by the industry to be a crucial enabler for facilitating MFS markets.
"Serious progress towards a global platform for mobile financial services requires very broad industry support, and collaborative business models are at the core of Mobey Forum's work. This new research represents a major step forward for creating financial ecosystems based on the shared use of a mobile phone's secure element," says Liisa Kanniainen, Executive Director of Mobey Forum.
Mobey Forum's document, 'Best Practice for Mobile Financial Services — Enrolment Business Model Analysis ' is available at http://www.mobeyforum.org
Mobey Forum is a non-profit, financial industry forum, whose mission is to facilitate banks in offering mobile financial services. Established in 2000, it now has 48 members including financial institutions, payment processors, mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and technology vendors and companies that want to be actively involved in creating the future of mobile financial services. Mobey Forum Board Members are ABN Amro, BBVA, DnB NOR, HSBC, Nordea, UBS and Rabobank. The organization has doubled in size over the last year, tracking the enormous surge of interest in developing infrastructure for successful and secure mobile financial services.
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Summary of white paper: 'Best Practice for Mobile Financial Services - Enrolment Business Model Analysis' Published June 17, 2008 by Mobey Forum
The paper details Mobey Forum's research into best practice to support Mobile Financial Services (MFS). MFS includes the ability to make daily payments and other financial services with the help of the mobile handset anytime, anywhere and for any reason.
Near Field Communication (NFC) is a new, short-range wireless connectivity technology that evolved from a combination of existing contactless identification and interconnection technologies. Products with built-in NFC will dramatically simplify the way consumer devices interact with one another, helping people speed connections, receive and share information and even make fast and secure payments.
Trust services are a key component of modern financial services. Digital Identity (ID), offered by the consumer's bank, plays a fundamental role in today's society when accessing various electronic services and confirming transactions. Trust services are seen as a key enabler for various mobile financial services including daily banking services and the wide range of mobile payments.
The research addresses the requirements and security needs of the various stakeholders, to create a collaborative ecosystem for offering those services that mandate and require the sharing of the Secure Element (SE) inside the mobile handset. It tackles the challenge where multiple applications share the same hardware platform and are all of critical importance to their respective owners, but recognises the financial institution's payment liability, which then leads to their need to have control over the security solutions throughout their lifecycle.
Special focus is given to creating understanding of the conceptual business models for the enabling enrolment processes to a shared SE and the related business relationships, including maintenance and lifecycle management.
The framework for this research has been to achieve collaborative ecosystem models that are suitable for multi-application, multi-service provider mass-market services. Throughout the research and analysis, consumer needs are viewed as paramount.
The paper identifies ecosystem models that provide clear benefits to the various business stakeholders as well as to the end user. It is assumed that the stakeholders cooperate within MFS (and Near Field Communication or NFC) ecosystems to realise the full business potential and mass consumer adoption. Although the requirements of all stakeholders are taken in account, the main perspective in the research is that of banks and the critical business-, service level and security needs of banks are taken in account while designing the conceptual models.
