E-Business
CellTrust Prepares NFC Provisioning APIs Using SecureSMS
CellTrust Corporation has announced that it is preparing patent-pending, NFC-provisioning APIs using SecureSMS, in anticipation of NFC technology rollout which will begin next year.
NFC (Near Field Communication) is a short-range wireless communication standard that bundles a contactless chip with a contactless reader inside the mobile device. With NFC technology, consumers can simply wave or tap their phone within a few inches of a reader to transfer information to their mobile phone or to complete a mobile payment or transaction.
Sean Moshir, chairman and CEO of CellTrust said: “CellTrust’s SecureSMS NFC solution will make it easy for carriers and banks to implement and integrate NFC. We believe the cost savings for mobile operators will be substantial, since they will be utilizing their existing SMSC infrastructure.”
CellTrust’s technology addresses the security gaps that exist with basic SMS, paving the way for NFC-enabled mobile devices to be securely used as an “electronic wallet.”
Designed to make life much easier for the end-user, provisioning NFC will require the carrier to send sensitive and confidential information to the mobile subscriber’s handset. While a few methods exist to provision NFC, CellTrust believes SMS is the optimal choice because it uses the mobile communications control channel, which is separate from voice and data and operates regardless of the voice or data being used. The control channel has high resiliency, low bandwidth requirements and was designed for carriers to send specific commands and instructions to the handset via SMS. It is important to note that standard SMS is not secure and can be spoofed. Provisioning NFC with CellTrust’s SecureSMS APIs addresses spoofing with a fully authenticated, government-grade, highly encrypted, tamper-proof process, which also enables message sizes up to 5,000 characters.
“At Juniper Research we forecast that 1 in 6 subscribers globally will have NFC phones by 2014. NFC is all about ease and convenience for users although the first question from users usually relates to security. This announcement by CellTrust is an important development to quell peoples’ security concerns and enable the rollout of NFC enabled mobile wallets,” said Howard Wilcox, Senior Analyst, Juniper Research.
NFC has the potential to be a significant, pervasive technology, but the lack of NFC chips in existing handsets and security concerns have held the industry back from wide-scale integration of mobile payments on NFC-equipped devices. CellTrust’s NFC solution could be a key driver in finally bringing mobile payments to NFC devices and unlocking the market potential for this technology.
CellTrust’s SecureSMS NFC APIs use Short Message Service Center (SMSC) and allow carriers to use their existing investment in SMS infrastructure while provisioning NFC, therefore a new NFC platform is not required. Carriers can easily integrate with the SecureSMS APIs and send secure commands and instructions to the handset to provision NFC with all types of transactions, including adding and deleting credit cards.
SecureSMS also gives mobile network operators an added level of security for OTA (Over-The-Air) configuration and provisioning of mobile devices compared to today’s standard SMS infrastructure, which is not tamper proof and can be spoofed.
Gartner predicts that by 2028, 75 percent of enterprise software engineers will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) code assistants, up from less than 10 percent, currently.
According to a Gartner poll of 598 global respondents conducted in the third quarter of 2023, 63 percent of organisations are now testing, deploying, or have previously implemented AI code assistants.
AI code assistants provide for more capabilities than only code development and completion, notes the research firm.
According to Gartner, the use of AI code assistants can lead to higher work satisfaction and retention, resulting in lower turnover costs.
Philip Walsh, senior principal analyst at Gartner, comments: “Software engineering leaders must determine ROI and build a business case as they scale their rollouts of AI code assistants.
“However, traditional ROI frameworks steer engineering leaders toward metrics centred on cost reduction. This narrow perspective fails to capture the full value of AI code assistants.”
Gartner notes that software engineering leaders must “reframe the ROI conversation from cost reduction to value generations”.
Walsh adds: “Calculating time savings on code generation is a good place to begin building a more robust value story. To convey the full enterprise value story for AI code assistants, software engineering leaders should connect value enablers to impacts, and then analyse the overall return to the organisation.”
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that the planned national ID card will be issued to applicants by their banks.
NIMC said it is working with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to deliver the cards to applicants.
“The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards,” the agency said at the weekend update on its official X handle.
KEY FACTS ABOUT THE PROPOSED NEW GENERAL MULTIPURPOSE NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD
- The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multipurpose card (GMPC) , eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
- The single GMPC has multiple use cases:…
— NIMC (@nimc_ng) April 12, 2024
It said applicants need to request their cards with their NIN “through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks”.
“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS,” NIMC said.
“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated center or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants,” the update read.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that the new national Identity card, powered by AfriGo Card, is a single card with multiple services.
NIMC made the clarification against the confusion and criticisms that have trailed the AfriGo Card , touted as a National Domestic Card Scheme.
NIMC is launching the AfriGo Card, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS), and has had appointed SecureID, a Lagos headquartered company to manufacture the Card Scheme
Making clarification on the card, Kayode Adegoke, head of Corporate Communications of the NIMC, said the General multipurpose card (GMPC) will eliminate the need for multiple cards.
“The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multi-purpose card (GMPC), eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
“The single GMPC has multiple use cases: Payments/Financial, Government intervention/services, travel, etc.
“The National Identity Management Commission is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System to deliver the payment and financial use cases.
“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS. Applicants for the card will have to request with their NIN through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks.
“The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks, in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards.
“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated centre or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants,” he said.
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