Comviva to power the SBI Card Pay service using HCE technology

SBI Card has recently launched the SBI Card Pay service that enables customers to create a virtual card on their mobile phone for their physical Visa SBI credit card. The customers can now simply tap their mobile phone on a Near Field Communication (NFC) - enabled point of sale (POS) terminal to make payments. Besides SBI Card app, the service is powered by Comviva’s HCE Module from its mobiquity Banking suite, that leverages host card emulation (HCE) technology and tokenization to deliver swift, seamless, secure and convenient contactless mobile payments to customers.

To avail of the SBI Card Pay service, customers with an Android smartphone (housing Android OS KitKat version 4.4 and above) have to register their Visa SBI credit card on the SBI Card mobile application. This creates a virtual version of the physical card. Thereafter, customers can make payments at merchants by unlocking their mobile phone screen using fingerprints, the screen lock facility or an MPIN and tapping the phone at an NFC POS. This simple “tap and pay” process has made contactless mobile payments swifter and more seamless for customers.

Hardayal Prasad, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, SBI Card said, “SBI Card Pay is leveraging next-gen technologies like HCE to deliver faster, secure and more convenient contactless mobile payments to our consumers, redefining their payment experience. This new service will accelerate the growth of contactless mobile payments in India and make the country digitally empowered in the field of payments technology.”

Srinivas Nidugondi, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Mobile Financial Solutions, Comviva said, “With the growing NFC POS infrastructure in India and mobile phones becoming de facto wallets for consumers, we expect “tap and pay” to become the future of contactless payments in India. We are happy to say that Comviva is supporting SBI Cards to make this future possible through its mobiquity® Banking suite. The suite leverages HCE and tokenization for seamless and secure contactless mobile payments and to bring the payment experience in India on par with the developed world.”

Security has remained a priority, whilst launching this service. The SBI Card Pay service uses tokenisation to convert a customer’s card information into a device-specific digital token. Hence, while executing a transaction, a digital token is shared and the customer’s actual card information is never revealed to the merchant, thus securing the transaction. In case the customer’s mobile device is misplaced, details of the card remain secure, as it is stored as digital tokens.

Moreover, customer convenience remains paramount. The service is a part of the SBI Card mobile application, which is a one-stop shop for managing credit card account, as well as making payments. Customers do not need to download any additional mobile application for this service. SBI Cards also allows customers the choice to set limits pertaining to per transaction and daily transactions. In case the customer’s mobile device is misplaced and the digital token has been blocked, the physical card can still be utilized.

Comviva’s mobiquity Banking suite provides a comprehensive solution to banks and financial institutions, to not only build, manage and control the omni-channel experiences, but also continuously iterate and engage the consumers, through instant configuration capability, marketing automation, personalization and experimentation engine. This empowers the bank to deliver a hyper-personalized experience, thereby enhancing the customer’s value, and, subsequently, profitably transition to the digital age.

Moreover, the product also delivers agile and secure contactless payment experience to the customer, by leveraging HCE and tokenization. HCE enables the customer to have a digital version of the credit or debit card in their mobile phone and use it at payWave/payPass certified POS machines. This eliminates the requirement of a physical card. Tokenization ensures that payments are executed in a secure manner, as the details of the card are not shared with the merchant, while the transaction is being processed. mobiquity® is a multi-token service provider (TSSP) solution, which is readily integrated and certified for usage with Visa’s VTS and Mastercard’s MDES solutions. It provides support for any other TSP as well, using a single proprietary SDK, across devices.