Sonera SmartTrust Ltd. and eQ Securities Ltd. today announced the launch in Finland of a secure stock trading service for mobile phone users based on PKI (public key infrastructure), digital signatures and strong encryption.
Called eQ Free, the service is scheduled to be expanded to other markets by the end of this year, beginning with Germany. The technology is applicable on any GSM (global system for mobile communications) mobile phone network in the world, the two Finland-based companies said in a statement.
Billed as the world's first secure mobile brokerage technology, eQ Free will allow users to buy and sell stocks as well as access additional market information via their mobile phone handsets, according to the statement.
Although a handset capable of viewing WAP (wireless application protocol) content is preferable, the service can also be accessed via most new GSM handsets, the companies said.
The security technology for the service was developed by Sonera SmartTrust, a wholly owned subsidiary of Finland's largest telecommunications operator Sonera Corp., while the stock trading service is offered by eQ Securities.
Security is based on Sonera SmartTrust's PKI technology, 1,024 bit RSA Security Inc. algorithm for encryption and a digital signature residing on the mobile phone's SIM (subscriber identity module) card. The SIM cards are provided by Setec Oy, a Vantaa, Finland-based company.
Sonera SmartTrust, in Helsinki, can be reached at +358-2040-63031, or on the Web at http://www.smarttrust.com/. eQ Securities is at http://www.eqonline.fi/.