Elephant Talk joins mobile wallet revolution with new payments platform
03 June, 2011
category: NFC
Telecom service provider Elephant Talk is launching a mobile wallet platform that will help Apple, Google, Isis and other companies manage the billions of transactions made over their forthcoming mobile payments services, reports Seeking Alpha.
Due out later this year, the plug-and-play service will feature fully-integrated NFC technology, allowing mobile operators to offer contactless mobile payments without having to go through the expense of upgrading their legacy back office systems to NFC, says SA.
Worth potentially billions in transaction fees and subscriptions, Elephant Talk’s service also features security solutions from its subsidiary ValidSoft, which uses the payment device itself – in this case a mobile phone – as tool to fight fraud, reports SA.
Used by Visa Europe in its payment processing platform, ValidSoft’s security solutions prevent fraud by confirming in real-time that the customer’s mobile device is in close physical proximity to the payment terminal, thus proving the transaction valid. If the system does not detect the presence of the authentic mobile device, then the transaction is denied. According to SA, this ensures that data thieves can’t “skim” your payment information from your phone and try to make a purchase at another location.
Furthermore, SA says this process takes place in a separate channel from the transaction itself, providing further protection from fraud. ValidSoft is also working on integrating biometric identification to verify large transactions, such as bank transfers.
Read more here.