MasterCard has moved to reassure users about the security of making payments via a mobile phone following concerns raised during the high-profile launch of services such as Google Wallet. “Among all the news, there have been questions around the security of NFC payments as a whole, not specifically related to Google Wallet,” according to Sadiq Mohammed (pictured), MasterCard’s vice president and business leader, emerging payments, writing in a blog.  Companies such as MasterCard, which is a launch partner for the Google Wallet service, need to build confidence in security before mobile payments can take off at a mass-market level. Hence, it is unsurprising when Mohammed writes that the subject of security is “front and center with our Paypass technology”. Users equipped with NFC-enabled mobile handsets can use MasterCard’s Paypass terminals to make payments.

Mohammed lists five “layers” of security associated with MasterCard’s m-payments technology.  NFC’s “very short range” means consumers have to consciously decide to make a payment. “We don’t want payment happening accidentally”, he said. Secondly, the company requires that the Paypass app on a handset is within a tamper-resistant chip, the secure element. And the technology generates dynamic data every time it is used so if hacked it has no value for a replay attack. And some electronic wallets offer an option for consumers to enter a code prior to accessing the wallet, as a further layer of security. Finally, Mohammed points out any mobile payment transactions are carried on the same network  “that supports billions of card transactions today, and the consumer is afforded that same protection as card-based transactions”.