Following last years announcement that the UK Home Office was endorsing the OMTPs (Open Mobile Terminal Platform) Advanced Trusted Environment recommendations, last week saw the publication of the Contactless Mobile Phone Payments Best Practice Guidelines, in which both the UK Cards Association and the UK mobile phone industry added their support to the OMTPs guidelines. The announcement further endorses and supports the OMTPs work in establishing the secure hardware foundation necessary for financial transactions conducted via a mobile phone.
With the potential for mobile payments to stretch across many technical boundaries, including web applications and widgets, the OMTP notes that future application developers will also need to consider the guidelines issued by the UK Communications Crime Strategy Group. The best practices document can be viewed here, and the latest version of the OMTP recommendations can be found here.
We have been working on security requirements for mobile devices for a number of years, anticipating the market need to provide a trusted environment from which to conduct secure transactions, says OMTP Director of External Relations, Commenting on the endorsement, David Rogers. With the Advanced Trusted Environment at the heart of a mobile phone, users have a sound basis for their mobile payment security.