STOCKHOLM (01/31/2000) - MasterCard International Inc. and Finland's Sonera SmartTrust Ltd. today announced an agreement to jointly develop and market secure mobile payments for products and services.
The deal will allow consumers with wireless devices featuring Sonera SmartTrust's security technology to use MasterCard's payment products for purchases of goods and services as well as to securely access banking services, the companies said in a joint statement. Also included in the deal are payment products offered by Europay International SA, MasterCard's European partner.
MasterCard and Sonera SmartTrust will enhance the Finnish company's secure mobile commerce technology to make it compatible with MasterCard's payment products, the companies said.
Sonera SmartTrust, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Finland's largest mobile phone service provider Sonera Corp., has developed secure mobile electronic commerce technology based on PKI (public key infrastructure), 1,024 bit RSA Security Inc. encryption algorithm and digital signatures. [See "Secure Mobile Stock Trading Debuts in Finland," Jan. 21.]In cooperation with financial institutions and select mobile phone service operators, MasterCard and SmartTrust plan to implement the mobile commerce solution in key markets around the world, the companies said.
MasterCard currently has around 700 million cards in circulation in 220 countries around the world, according to the statement.
MasterCard International, in Purchase, New York, can be reached via the Web at http://www.smartcard.com/. Sonera SmartTrust, in Helsinki, is at http://www.smarttrust.com/.