First Data initially launched its Trusted Service Manager (TSM) solution to power the first commercially launched mobile payments program at scale. With the mobile payments industry making significant strides in the past year, our TSM solution is ready to drive further adoption and acceptance of mobile payments.

First Data believes in the value proposition of employing near field communications (NFC) for payments.  NFC is a secure wireless technology that enables data transmission between two objects when placed within a few inches of each other. In addition to security, NFC enables a mobile payment experience that fundamentally similar to what consumers know and understand today.  We have worked for a number of years with a variety of industry players to ensure it is highly secure and intuitive for end users.

We are entering the age of Universal Commerce where mobile payments’ integration into our daily lives will soon become a reality. With support from strong players in the market and given the EMV mandate that is expected to help NFC, adoption from merchants, financial institutions and consumers is on the rise. Given this landscape, our TSM solution becomes even more important; both to the industry and to First Data.

Our Approach to TSM

We have always taken a partnership approach to building the TSM ecosystem and specifically designed our TSM, and other mobile-commerce-enabling solutions, to make the NFC payments ecosystem easier for the end consumer and for ecosystem participants. Mobile payments are a natural extension to our traditional role in the payments ecosystem. With our TSM, we continue to provide services (whether in the cloud or on-device) to enable Universal Commerce for our clients and their customers.

First Data also supports non-NFC solutions such as services initiated at the POS via QR code. Overall we think there is room for many technologies and business models to coexist in the mobile payments space and First Data is capable of servicing you with whichever approach you choose.

Mobile Wallets

First Data has been a key partner in helping Google create a commercial-scale partner ecosystem that is essential in bringing mobile wallets and payments to the industry. First Data provides its TSM solution to enable Google Wallet, and other wallets, to let consumers tap and pay with their mobile phones. First Data continues to power the recently announced version of Google Wallet that now allows a wider range of payment cards to be used through the wallet.

First Data expects that the current services and future opportunities with Google and other partners will increase as mobile wallets adoption grows, and it is ready to support new solutions as they enter the market.

The Future of the our TSM

Our TSM solution has recently received Discover qualification. This illustrates our readiness to support commercial launches of mobile contactless payment programs, according to security requirements for the Discover Zip application. This qualification enables us to further support financial institutions in the deployment of their NFC services on mobile devices.

The future of mobile payments is bright and the role of our TSM solution in it is vast. We look forward to supporting the rollout of a variety of mobile wallets and mobile payment solutions in the market.

Chris Cox is vice president of product development for mobile solutions at First Data.