SIMalliance Releases Guide on NFC Deployment

SIMalliance, a global, non-profit industry association that simplifies secure element (SE) implementation to drive the creation, deployment and management of secure mobile services, has issued a guidance for NFC service providers on how to choose the most suitable deployment model.

The checklist and matrix maps key deployment criteria, which include market reach, application, security and technology considerations, against four major NFC deployment technologies—HCE, SIM-secure element (SE), embedded SE (eSE) and hybrid models.

This framework allows the organization to recommend the deployment models and technologies that are most capable to deliver against every criterion.

Founded on the idea that there is ‘no one size fits all’ approach to NFC, SIMalliance believes that the most suitable technology or combination of technologies depends on the requirements of specific use cases and the service provider’s preferences.

Hervé Pierre, chairman of SIMalliance, commented: “The past year has been both critical and progressive for NFC; multiple types of complementary deployment technologies are now widely acknowledged and high-profile deployments indicate that mass market NFC services are getting closer.”

He continued: “It is SIMalliance’s view that different NFC technologies complement each other by bringing different qualities to the ecosystem and further convergence is likely, leading to many future types of hybrid models, which have not yet been defined. In this changing landscape, the ‘right’ deployment technology varies depending on the use case and service provider.”

Members of SIMalliance represent about 86 percent of the global SIM card market, with members including Watchdata and Gemalto.