GlobalPlatform sets out branding guidelines for multi-application mobile wallets

The standards body’s new Contactless Services technical document sets out how a card issuer’s brand identity will be maintained within a consumer’s mobile wallet.

SPECS: New document focuses on management of multiple contactless apps in a single secure element

SIM and smart card standards body GlobalPlatform has released a new technical document which focuses on the management of multiple contactless applications within a single secure element such as an NFC SIM, a microSD card, an embedded secure element or a contactless card/sticker.

The Contactless Services document, Amendment C to GlobalPlatform’s Card Specification v2.2, addresses how consumers will manage their mobile contactless services and how they will select which application they would like to activate. The document outlines how the mobile phone interface can be tailored by the card issuer to meet its needs and those of service providers, including the storage of commercial logos to enable simple brand recognition on a mobile phone screen.

“This is an important enhancement for securely and effectively delivering NFC services to users,” says Giesecke & Devrient‘s Karl Eglof Hartel, chair of the GlobalPlatform Card Committee. “It successfully overcomes some of the barriers that were restricting NFC technology realising its full potential.”

“From a commercial perspective, for example, it is vital to have the technical capability to display logos to support brand recognition and awareness, while also guaranteeing the highest level of security and offering service providers a clear separation of domains for application management,” he added.

“As a result of the card committee’s efforts, Amendment C to GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.2 delivers to the NFC marketplace a neutral platform that enables service providers to directly interact with an end-user,” Hartel explains. “In addition to creating new business opportunities at all levels across the NFC ecosystem, GlobalPlatform believes that the technology will create a fundamental transition in consumer habits. For example, today’s process of choosing a payment card from a wallet will be replaced by the selection of a contactless service via the screen of a mobile handset.”

Readers can download the full Contactless Services technical document from GlobalPlatform’s website.

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