Ecosystem Scenarios for Cloudbased NFC Payments
Pardis Pourghomi and George Ghinea
School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics
Brunel University
London, UK
UB8 3PH
[email protected] Introduction to NFC
NFC is designed for short distance wireless communication
NFC is complementary to Bluetooth and 802.11 with their
long distance capabilities
Easy and simple connection method
Enables the exchange of data between devices over the
distance of up to 20 centimetres
Provides communication method to non-self powered
devices
Examples of using NFC enabled mobile phones
Download music or video from a smart poster
Exchange business cards, Pay bus or train fair, Parking
tickets, Pay at Kiosks, Pay and purchase at Point of Sale
Terminals
Access controls in office, hotels, airports, print receipts to
printer
What is a Secure Element (SE)?
SE is intended as an attack resistant microcontroller
Combination of hardware, software, interfaces and
protocols embedded in a mobile handset that enable secure
storage
Provides a secure area for the execution of the applications
and protection of the payment assets (i.e. payment keys,
application codes, payment data)
Can also be involved in authentication process
What is a Secure Element (SE)?
Operating system running on the SE must be able to install,
personalize and manage multiple applications
The SE is essential in NFC transactions and
ownership/control of it may yield commercial or strategic
advantage
SE types: Stickers, removable Secure Memory Card (SMC),
Universal Integrated Circuit Card is (UICC), Embedded SE
(eSE)
NFC ecosystem players
Consumer: is the party that is considered as the end user
in an NFC ecosystem.
Merchant: is considered as the consumer matching part.
Secure Element issuer (SEI): is the party that issues the
SE in an NFC ecosystem. It is also controlling the SE in
which it decides how the storage of an SE should be used.
Secure Element provider: SE provider is the
manufacturer of the SE. It has a direct relationship with SE
issuer and service provider.
Service Provider (SP): is the party that issues the
payment application and deploys data element to
consumer. SP is also responsible for managing the payment
application which is stored in SE.
NFC ecosystem players
Mobile Network Operator (MNO): is responsible for
providing the GSM network for data transmission. In our
case, the MNO is the SE issuer (SE in the form of UICC).
Trusted Service Manager (TSM): The role of TSM is to
integrate several SEs and SPs.
Acquirer: The main role of the acquirer is handling
financial payments by clearing and settling transactions
through the financial institutions.
SE management
SE management in a mobile multi-application environment
is very challenging
SP and SE issuers have n to n active relationship
Partners may have limited control over the service
environment
Current card issuance models cannot support the dynamic
post issuance personalization process (lack of SPs control
on SE)
Mobile wallet + Cloud computing
Is there a need for cloud?
Would NFC do the job on its own?
There is a need for a clear right to go market strategy for
mobile payments
There is not much agreement in the minds of mobile wallet
stakeholders
Which technology will finally get accepted by consumers and
merchants?
PayPal, Telefonica/O2, and Best Buy have announced wallets
that are using cloud technology cloud wallets
[email protected] Brunel University, UK
NFC wallet & Cloud wallet
NFC Wallet
Cloud Wallet
A chip is required stored in the
phone
A mobile app is required
Logging
A mobile app is required
Logging
Client registers with the SP
(cloud)
Phone can be scanned on the POS Registered info are stored in an
offline database
Beneficial for busy environments
e.g. train stations
Pre-paid account is required
Improves the loyalty experience
of clients
Required info (e.g. credit card
details) is pulled out from the
database when client aims to
make a payment
Different apps can be integrated
into a single app
Beneficial for merchants no
need to change their current POS
terminals
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NFC Cloud Wallet model Overview
1) Customer scans his NFC enabled phone on the POS to
make the payment
2) The payment application is downloaded into customers
mobile phone SE
3) The POS communicates with the cloud provider to check
whether the customer has enough credit
4) Cloud provider transfers the required information to the
POS
5) The merchant either authorizes the transaction or rejects
customers request
6) The merchant communicates with the cloud to update
customers balance
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NFC Cloud Wallet model General idea
Additional Security (optional)
When NFC enabled phone sends a
request to the cloud provider to
get permission to make a payment
(step 1), the cloud provider sends
a SMS requesting a PIN number to
identify the user of the phone
Customer sends the PIN back to
the cloud provider as an SMS
Verification
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Ecosystem scenarios: Direct Link between POS and MNO
Extension to NFC cloud wallet model
Assumptions:
The SE is part of the SIM (UICC)
The cloud is part of the MNO
The MNO manages the SE/SIM
(GSM)
Banks, etc. are linked with the MNO
MNO is the only party which
manages confidential data stored in
the cloud
More info: Pourghomi, P., Saeed, M., Q.,
and Ghinea, G. A Proposed NFC Payment
Application, In International Journal of
Advanced Computer Science and Applications
(IJACSA), volume 4, Number 8/2013, pages
173-181. The Science and Information
Organization Ltd, 2013.
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Ecosystem scenarios: Unlinked POS and MNO
Assumptions:
The main SE (virtual SE) is
part of cloud managed by
MNO
A secure tamper resistant
component is in mobile
device used for
authentication (phones SE)
The MNO manages the
SE/SIM (UICC)
Banks, etc. have
connections with MNO
Vendor trusts MNO
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The virtual SE V.S. phones SE
Virtual SE (stored in cloud):
Securely store personal data such as debit and credit card
information, user identification number, loyalty program data,
payment applications, PINs and networking contacts
Phones SE:
Stores authentication data such as keys, certificates, protocols and
cryptographic mechanisms
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Research challenges
Integration of financial institution(s) with MNO
Integration of cloud with MNO
Design secure transaction protocols according to payment
scenarios
Further exploration of cloud architecture (SP perspective)
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Thank you for your attention!
Question time
Contact: pardis.pourghomi@brunel .ac.uk
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