G&D secures payment function of BASE digital wallet

MUNICH, GERMANY: BASE mobile subscribers can now make contactless payments using their smartphone at the supermarket, when filling up their car and in restaurants using the "BASE Wallet" digital wallet - and it is just as secure as using a traditional debit or credit card.

This high level of security is made possible by Giesecke & Devrient (G&D). As a partner in security, G&D supplies special SIM cards with highly secure memory for storing the digital Maestro card. Giesecke & Devrient also operates a high-security data center for E-Plus, enabling them to install the payment application on the SIM card, personalize it and manage it over its life cycle.

Owners of NFC-enabled smartphones can now make contactless payments at more than 35,000 locations in Germany provided they have a digital wallet equipped with a payment function, like the digital Maestro card.

"We think that contactless card or smartphone payment will become the norm over the next few years. Of course, we first need to fulfill all requirements for wide public acceptance. Customers want flexible, easy payment, without compromising on security," says Carsten Ahrens, Group senior VP and head of the Telecommunication Industries division at G&D.

And that is exactly what the BASE wallet provides. The NFC-enabled SIM card SkySIM CX functions as a key safety element for saving sensitive information on smartphones. The Trusted Service Manager (TSM) in G&D's high-security data center both manages security on the SIM card while also installing and personalizing the payment application on the SIM card via the mobile phone network.

If they lose their smartphone, customers can have the wallet blocked. The payment application is then immediately deleted by G&D as TSM over the mobile phone network. The card is simultaneously blocked in the bank's background system, as is usually the case with debit and credit cards.