Security Shapes This Year’s CARTES Program

“Security” is an underlying theme at all the CARTES conferences and expositions this year. Why this special focus on security, and why this year?

In our digital society, securing digital information and transactions is an important and growing challenge for governments, businesses and individuals alike. Over the past few years, we’ve seen the frontiers of the smart security industry expanding beyond SIM cards to include wider applications such as: IoT, M2M, cloud computing and mobile security. This evolution is raising challenges and opportunities for using smart security devices, solutions and services to enhance the usability of digital services while protecting privacy and combatting fraud. The smart security industry’s mission is to leverage its years of experience and expertise in security to respond to the needs of these new sectors. CARTES conferences and exhibitions provide an expert overview on the technologies and methodologies that are being used to build solutions to thwart ever-increasing security threats.

Most consumers probably feel that online payment is relatively secure – tens of billions of dollars are transacted each year on line. Do you think consumers are as aware of the concerns for mobile payment?

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The weakest link in the mobile payments security chain may not be the technology or the hardware, but rather, the consumer. According to many industry reports, between forty and sixty percent of smartphone owners do not even password-protect their phone. While the efforts to secure mobile payments are ongoing, many consumers neglect to take basic security precautions. Consumer education is essential to increase the adoption of mobile payments. There are many consumer benefits for the use of mobile payments that are secure and protect user privacy. CARTES conferences and exhibitions are the ideal platform to present industry best practices and educational campaigns for consumers, merchants and policymakers regarding mobile payments.

Does the solution for mobile payment security lie with better technology, or with better education of retailers and consumers about threats and safe use of mobile devices or payment?

The digital security industry has developed solutions for identification, authentication, access control and digital signatures for services including mobile telephony and electronic payments. When it comes to security, the manufacturer’s claims are not sufficient to gain the confidence of consumers. The successful deployment of mobile payment services will undoubtedly also require several stages, including consumer information, education and confidence-building, before consumers will use the technology on a wide scale. It is not possible for the industry to see an immediate switch to mobile forms of payment from long-standing credit and debit cards.

The collaboration among the various players in different markets, such as banks, mobile phone operators, telephone and payment terminal manufacturers and service suppliers or aggregators, will be crucial to promoting widespread consumer adoption.

One of the most important issues now lies ahead of us; that mobile device operators, banks and transport providers succeed in coming to an agreement on economic models. Other keys to success include retailers and of course, users. The new services must create value for all concerned. In particular, retailers need to be equipped to promote all the services facilitated by the technology. CARTES’ mission is to bring together all these international mobile payment stakeholders and facilitate their cooperation in enhancing mobile payment security and protecting consumer privacy.

Isabelle joined COMEXPOSIUM, the group that manages CARTES events, in 1996. As sales director of the SIAL Group, she developed SIAL into one of the leading food trade shows in France, Canada, China and Abu Dhabi. Prior to joining the Industry and Digital Division of COMEXPOSIUM in 2011 to direct CARTES events, she was most recently director of COMEXPOSIUM’S Great Britain office in London, where she increased British participation in the company’s shows including Emballage, Intermat, SIAL and SIMA.