One of the most ubiquitous tools around has to be the SD card.

Simple, small, and contained inside a host of mobile devices, these little cards make ultra-convenient storage vectors in sizes that far exceed their tiny dimensions.

But can these be the basis for a new revolution in mobile payments? The SD Association hopes to make that prove just the case.

More specifically, reports suggest that the SD card could be the bridge between modern mobile payments systems and those devices that don’t already have such systems, particularly older devices.

While at the Mobile World Congress 2016 (MWC 2016) event this week, the SD Association showed off some new plans for the SD card, starting with it as a means to improve security, and carrying on as a means to allow for connection to the Internet of Things (IoT) and even serve as a mobile payments platform.

With an SD card in place, the new concept called smartSD can allow SD cards to generate a token, which can then be used in many security operations, particularly mobile payments.

Since such a measure would be directly associated with the card’s operations, it would allow older devices that may not be able to handle mobile payment software as it currently stands.

This is especially valuable for those older devices that don’t have near-field communications (NFC) capability, and since around 78 percent of the mobile phones on Earth have access to SD cards, it makes particularly sense that the market would have some interest.

Naturally, the lion’s share of that outstanding 22 percent is iPhones, which have never allowed for microSD cards at last report. Here, though, the SD Association projects that adapters and even phone cases can fill in the gap.

Of course, that last is likely wishful thinking. Why would Apple users want to work with special cases and adapters when they could just use Apple Pay? Still, some might, and having an option is always better than having no option at all.

Never know when some disgruntled Apple users may want a new option for their mobile payments use. Getting access to that big pile of market that is using SD cards, meanwhile, is a much greater option. Though here there will be no shortage of competitors, it’s again one more option in a field of same