This press release identifies a partnership between Sequent, CPI Card Group and NXP to enable tokens that go beyond payments to include access control, public transit, parking and other solutions:
“Sequent Software, the platform bringing cards to mobile, has launched the first Token Service Platform (TSP) to support all types of cards including credit, debit, prepaid and access control credentials.
Compatible with all major credit and debit card networks, Sequent Token Service Platform allows banks to deploy a single solution to support their entire credit and debit card portfolio plus profitable private label and prepaid cards.
‘Tokenization is an essential security component of emerging mobile payments and every issuer of plastic cards must be enabled to issue tokens for their entire card portfolio in the near future,’ said Hans Reisgies, Sequent Chief Technology Officer. ‘Sequent Token Service Platform gives issuers ownership of this foundational technology, and brings all their cards to mobile without having to rely on multiple third party providers.’ “
Through a partnership with NXP Semiconductors this solution now makes it possible to implement MIFARE DESFire and MIFARE4Mobile transactions at public transit locations, even when the hardware secure element is lacking in the mobile device:
“NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI), the leader in Near Field Communication (NFC) solutions and Sequent Software, the platform bringing cards to mobile, have announced a collaboration to increase the use of mobile devices in transit, access control and hospitality applications. Sequent has licensed NXP’s MIFARE DESFire and MIFARE4Mobile V1.01 and integrated them into the Sequent Platform, allowing consumers to access potentially millions of credentials for use in real-world environments with their mobile devices.
“Our new agreement with NXP allows us to tap into the huge installed base of MIFARE® and provide a massive amount of card-based applications into mobile devices. It opens up opportunities for transit agencies, hotels and other organizations to effectively leverage mobile devices as the cards and keys of their customers,” said Hans Reisgies, CTO at Sequent. “From now on, consumers will always be able to have these cards with them, securely stored on their smartphones so they can easily ride trains, enter office buildings, open hotel room doors, validate at parking ramps and make payments.”
Sequent’s Token Service Platform (TSP) supports hardware secure element security and other security appliances in connected devices. This enables them to offer more widely the use of MIFARE-based credentials, also on smartphones that do not have a native MIFARE implementation on the secure element. With this flexibility, Sequent can support more card types and emulation standards, making them available in the smartphone apps consumers already know and use and this greatly simplifies and fosters efficiencies in a wide variety of industries”
CPI Card group will bring this solution to banks in North America:
“CPI Card Group, Sequent’s strategic partner in North America now offers this service to its customers. “Our customers already have access to Sequent’s market leading mobile technology platform, and the development of the Token Service Platform further strengthens our overall value proposition in this emerging market”, said CPI’s President and CEO Steve Montross. “We are focused on providing innovative payment products and services that meet our customer needs today and in the future. Sequent’s mobile technology enables us to do this,” concluded Montross.
“Banks and processors looking for differentiation and control over customer data in the age of mobile payments should deploy their own token service to protect their business relationships and customer data,” said John Kirst, Sequent Chief Revenue Officer. “Sequent gives them a robust, network agnostic solution that makes their apps ‘top of wallet’ and ‘top of app’ on mobile connected devices for transactions anywhere.
Using Sequent TSP, issuers can support issuance of all card scheme-based cards to their apps and not have to independently manage issuance for each card scheme. In addition, banks can use this platform to issue private label cards to merchant partners and their apps. It opens the door for banks to partner with retailers in card issuance thereby giving them not only top-of-wallet effect but also top-of-app.”
It will be interesting to determine if banks recognize the increased value such a solution enables since as of today, only American Express has publically stated it has an interest in utilizing tokenization for solutions beyond open loop payments.
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group
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