Oberthur and AuthenTec to demo fingerprint-enabled access to SIM-based NFC services

CARTES & IDentification 2011, NANTERRE, FRANCE: Oberthur Technologies, the world’s second largest provider of security and identification solutions and services based on smart card technologies and AuthenTec, a leading provider of security and identity management solutions, have joined forces to create SIM / Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) based designs that make NFC mobile payment via Smartphones faster and more secure.

Both companies combined their expertise in SIM/UICC security and fingerprint identity to jointly create easy-to-integrate solutions that enhance the speed and security of mobile payment transactions.

The first fingerprint/NFC demonstration presents Oberthur Technologies’ NFC FlyBuy SIM card with NFC SIM Adaptor coupled with AuthenTec’s fingerprint scanner in the Motorola Atrix to enable single-gesture, biometrically secured access to mobile contactless services, such as mobile payment, mobile ID, and physical access control.

Oberthur Technologies and AuthenTec worked with INSIDE Secure, a leading provider of NFC technology, to implement control of NFC functions using the fingerprint solution on a FlyBuy NFC SIM card. This easy-to-add yet secure solution will be demonstrated with a mobile payment scenario at the Oberthur Technologies and INSIDE Secure booths at the upcoming CARTES & IDentification 2011 in Paris from November 15-17, 2011.

“Combining AuthenTec’s fingerprint authentication with the security features of Oberthur Technologies’ SIM-based design increases trust beyond the SIM and the mobile device to establish confidence that only an authorized user is presenting a smartphone for mobile payment,” said Cédric Collomb, Cards and Services General Manager, Card Systems Division at Oberthur Technologies.

“The AuthenTec-Oberthur Technologies solution, which incorporates INSIDE Secure’s NFC chipset, can easily be inserted into smartphones such as the Atrix to quickly add NFC capability. We look forward to bringing similar SIM-based, fingerprint-enabled NFC solutions to the market, since we believe they will be key to a broad adoption of NFC around the world.”

“Our collaboration with Oberthur Technologies and INSIDE Secure paves the way for match-on-SIM solutions for smartphones that give greater confidence in the security and protection of NFC mobile payments/applications,” said AuthenTec CEO Larry Ciaccia.

“Fingerprint has a well established track record as a reliable, easy-to-use form of biometric authentication with over 10 million fingerprint-enabled NFC mobile wallets already in use since 2004. By combining our expertise in fingerprint security with Oberthur Technologies’ and INSIDE Secure’s expertise in SIM-based and NFC designs, we will give operators and users the option of easy-to-add yet highly secure NFC solutions for smartphones.”

“INSIDE Secure views the security and convenience illustrated by the Oberthur Technologies -AuthenTec design as important enablers of widespread adoption for NFC applications,” said a high ranking official at INSIDE Secure. “We look forward to our continued collaboration with Oberthur Technologies and AuthenTec on fast and secure add-on solutions for NFC mobile payments.”

The demonstration at CARTES will illustrate how quickly yet securely users can make a mobile payment by simply swiping a finger over AuthenTec’s smart sensor on a fingerprint-enabled phone such as Motorola’s ATRIX. Smartphone users can easily access a credit or debit card of their choice by associating different payment methods with different fingers. This allows them to choose a payment method, authenticate, and activate the selected payment card with a single swipe of a finger, then tap the phone on a terminal to complete the NFC transaction. The Oberthur Technologies-AuthenTec solution helps enable single-gesture payments, making NFC applications more convenient and secure.

Security, speed and convenience are often cited as key criteria for consumer adoption of NFC-capable smartphones, which are forecast to grow to nearly 300 million units worldwide by 2014 according to Juniper Research.