Gemalto to Provide Security for Taiwanese NFC Program

Chunghwa Telecom has hired Gemalto to secure its Near Field Communication payments program.

CHT, Taiwan’s largest mobile operator with 10 million subscribers, will use Gemalto’s UpTeq NFC SIM-embedded software to protect contactless payments. Gemalto’s product also enables CHT to deploy and manage additional NFC services.

CHT’s initiative has been approved by Taiwanese regulators, and is supported by local banks including Cathay United, Chinatrust Commercial, E.Sun Taishin, and handset makers NTC Corp., Samsung and Sony.

CHT subscribers will be able make contactless payments at more than 20,000 MasterCard PayPass point of sale readers across Taiwan including supermarkets, department stores and a fleet of taxis. The pilot also supports additional NFC services such as multiple credit and prepaid cards, loyalty cards, coupons, and ticketing.

“It is part of our strategy to ‘seed the market’ by equipping all of our subscribers with the UpTeq NFC SIM so we are ready for mass deployment of mobile contactless service,” says Joseph Kuo, Director of Value Added Services for CHT, in a release.

Gemalto’s other recent moves include signing a deal with the Merchant Customer Exchange to use Gemalto’s mobile payment platform as part of MCX’s mobile wallet. Gemalto has also partnered with MoneyGram to expand its international reach.