Brazil: On the Brink of a Smartphone Payment Revolution

Starting in the first half of 2014, Brazilians will be able to use their smartphones to carry out contactless payment transactions when shopping. In the first commercial project of its kind in Latin America, Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is working with Claro and one of the country’s largest banks, Bradesco.

The mobile payment project will kick off in the state of São Paulo and will later be expanded to other parts of the country, generating a total countrywide customer base of more than 85 million users. G&D is supplying the SIM cards with secure storage for the payment software, as well as the SmartTrust Portigo mobile wallet for smartphones, which contains sensitive customer information such as credit/debit card numbers and account details.

G&D is also providing the Trusted Service Manager (TSM) solutions to both Bradesco and Claro. G&D’s TSM solutions enable customers to receive Bradesco account holders’ payment card information onto their devices in an encrypted, secure form via Claro’s mobile network.

Near Field Communication (NFC) radio technology makes it possible for two devices to communicate over short distances and is a prerequisite for making cashless and contactless payments with a cell phone. Starting in the first half of 2014, Brazilians will be able to use their smartphones to do just that at more than 200,000 payment points in retail outlets.

G&D’s NFC-enabled SkySIM CX SIM cards provide a secure element for storing the payment application and relevant personal data, such as account information from Visa and Mastercard. The SmartTrust Portigo mobile wallet software allows smartphone users to electronically manage items they would traditionally keep in their back pockets, including payment, identity or loyalty cards.

For Claro and Bradesco, this opens up a vast array of new business opportunities. Claro customers buying a new NFC device already benefit from the preinstalled mobile wallet application. The mobile wallet application can be installed onto existing Claro customers’ smartphones. The Claro branded mobile wallet provided by G&D can be downloaded from the Google’s Play Store. G&D uses Claro’s mobile network to securely transmit Bradesco account holders’ payment card information to the secure element on their SIM card.

“By adopting mobile payment services based on NFC technology Brazil is setting the course for all of Latin America. We are delighted at the chance to furnish both our partners with a secure, overall concept. And in providing our award winning SmartTrust Portigo mobile wallet solution, we are making it real easy for people to make contactless payments with their smartphones,” said Carsten Ahrens, group senior vice president, Server Software and Services (3S) division at Giesecke & Devrient.