Mobile payment system for wearables announced

STMicroelectronics (ST), G&D and FitPay have used ST’s security chip to create what is said to be the first secure hardware and software solution that is pre-approved for use by device manufacturers with the aim to develop integrated tokenised payments from Mastercard or Visa.

The solution reduces the barriers to implementing card payments on mobile devices and enables wearable-device OEMs to concentrate on product development. It gives users the flexibility to load multiple payment cards from various banks and from different payment networks onto the wearable, making contactless payments easy, independent of the end device’s operating system.

A secure operating system (G&D), payment application management software (FitPay) and hardware components needed to support a mobile payment application are included and fully integrated around ST’s ST54E security chip (embedded Secure Element, eSE) that handles cryptographic processing and tamper-proofing. Alongside the ST54E, the reference design contains the STS39230 NFC booster that supports contactless connection to the payment terminal and allows a small-sized antenna, an LIS2DS12 MEMS accelerometer that enables gesture-activated payment, Bluetooth Smart ICs, a USB battery charger and an energy-saving microcontroller from ST’s STM32L4 line.

“Wearable devices are transforming the payment experience, and FitPay, ST and G&D are making it easier to develop payment-enabled wearables,” said FitPay CEO Michael Orlando. “This reference design from ST demonstrates a fully integrated payment solution for manufacturers.”

G&D’s mobile payment solutions support payments at contactless-enabled merchant locations around the world. The company’s executive vice president, Axel Deininger, said, “The integration work we have done together with ST and FitPay to create this reference design overcomes the critical roadblocks to delivering the freedom of mobile payments for consumers worldwide.”

“The market has been waiting for a turnkey reference design that greatly simplifies the way device OEMs interact with the payment ecosystem and this effort fits the bill,” said Laurent Degauque, marketing director, Secure Microcontroller Division, STMicroelectronics. “It provides everything needed for wearables to become the devices that will make mobile payments ubiquitous, simple, safe and secure.”