The Four Phases Of Successful NFC Implementation

By Ben Carsley, Managing Editor (@BC_PYMNTS)

According to a Frost & Sullivan report, by 2015, 53 percent of all mobile phones will be NFC-enabled. That same year, the total market value of NFC globally is projected to reach $145 billion.

So while NFC as a payments tool may be taking longer to ignite than many once imagined, there’s no doubt that the technology is spreading across the mobile ecosystem. And according to Underwriters Laboratories (UL), that’s a good thing for the safety and security of mobile payments.

Such is the stance that UL argues in its recent New Science Transaction Security Case Study: NFC Implementation Model. Released this spring, the report breaks down the inherent advantages of NFC as a technology, and outlines a four-phase process for successfully using NFC as a payments tool.

According to Dirk Jan van den Huevel, managing director at UL Transaction Security, UL has invested in bringing together Mobile Network Operators, Service Providers and Trusted Service Mangers for one simple reason: NFC transactions add security and simplicity to consumers’ lives.

“Mobile payments are as secure as payments with an EMV card (chip card) and so much more secure than payments with a magnetic stripe card. However, security is never achieved without effort,” he said.

“This is why UL is actively involved in the development of mobile payments, to ensure that transactions can be made with your mobile phone in a secure way.”

How does UL break down NFC implementation into four key phases, and how have they been involved in the first significant pilot of an NFC-powered mobile wallet in the U.S.?

To find out, download UL’s complete case study here.