This allows Gemalto customers to securely distribute MasterCard and Visa mobile payment services to their end users. The certification validates Gemalto's readiness for supporting banks, mobile operators and other service providers in their NFC deployments across Asia and around the world. The certification establishes official recognition from the major global payment networks of Gemalto's ability to manage sensitive payment credentials at the required level of security and data confidentiality.

The Singapore center is Gemalto's third globally, in addition to existing sites in the US and France. By locating TSM centers across continents, Gemalto can provide business continuity to its customers with up to 99.9% uptime disaster recovery capabilities with the Platinum-level offer. One of the first customers of the data center is KDDI in Japan and the IDA-supported consortium in Singapore. The TSM center is operational now to support Singapore's commercial rollout of NFC services.

"The TSM data center in Singapore will provide the highest level of security, while ensuring high availability with 24/7 service," said Jean-Claude Deturche, Gemalto Senior Vice President Mobile Financial Services. "With markets in Asia ready for massive adoption of NFC services, our certified center in Singapore is ready to serve our customers."