Palaiseau, France – FIME, a global consulting and market integration tester for smart devices and secure chip-based applications, has certified Qatar National Bank’s contactless mobile payments system for compliance with MasterCard® PayPass™ specifications. The pilot project, which began roll-out in March this year, is Qatar’s first near field communication (NFC) payments initiative.
The contactless mobile payments programme provides Qatar National Bank’s (QNB) customers and merchants with a convenient and quick way to make and accept payments through the use of NFC-enabled handsets and point-of-sale (POS) contactless terminals. The mobile payments project is part of a phased implementation plan where QNB will work closely with project participants to deploy contactless POS terminals in Qatar’s leading NFC cities.
FIME’s ISO 17025 accredited laboratories performed on and off-site test evaluations on mobile handsets, Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) and POS contactless terminals to confirm compliance with MasterCard PayPass specifications and provide the necessary certification.
Abdulla Nasser Al Khalifa, assistant general manager, Retail at QNB, comments: “Developing and launching a nationwide contactless mobile payment pilot required a multi-disciplinary approach due to the various stakeholders involved. Testing and certification was therefore vital in ensuring interoperability and standardisation. With its global experience and regional presence, we were keen to work with FIME to engage with the various stakeholders and ensure products could be confidently brought to market and form part of a trusted contactless mobile payments infrastructure.”
Pascal le Ray, general manager at FIME, comments: “When developing a mobile contactless payments ecosystem, it is important that each technology element fully integrates to create a secure and interoperable payment environment for the customer. With vast experience in the contactless payment market, FIME is able to act as a central point to a range of stakeholders and offer guidance through its consulting, testing and certification services, ensuring the successful delivery of products.”
Regarding FIME’s offering in the Middle East, Pascal continues: “FIME has been establishing its commercial presence in the region for over a year now and is looking forward to expanding its offering to provide local support to domestic payment schemes and migration to mobile and contactless payments.”
FIME is an independent company specialising in consulting and integration testing services for smart devices and secure chip-based applications within the telecom, e-payment, transport, e-identity and logistics sectors. Its international team works with manufacturers, banks and authorities within these markets throughout the research and development lifecycle to provide expertise on sector requirements, functional and security features and industry regulation.
Since 1995, FIME has established global ISO 17025 accredited laboratories which provide official testing and certification services to validate a solution’s compliance and security before launch. FIME’s technical ability ensures a customer’s solution is secure, interoperable and achieves the highest level of industry standardisation.
With over 200 employees and operating across America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India and Asia, FIME has worked with leading international schemes such as American Express, First Data, JCB, MasterCard and Visa to bring pioneering and convenient chip-based services to end users.
