E-payments organisation ACI Worldwide and infrastructure provider Sonera SmartTrust have signed a global partnership agreement to market and promote online mobile payment solutions to telecomms and financial institutions.
SmartTrust solutions authenticate consumer purchases and transactions using digital signature technology. ACI solutions capture and route the transactions for authorisation to complete purchases.
The combined solution means that network operators and financial institutions can open new payment channels. Consumers can initiate purchases and transactions on open networks such as the Internet and mobile networks without compromising security.
SmartTrust software is embedded onto a SIM card in a mobile phone. This generates a financial transaction signed by the consumer's private key. It sends the transaction to the network operator or financial institution.
At the receiving end, SmartTrust software validates the signature and passes the transaction to ACI software for authorisation and payment. Once authorised, the ACI software generates a message which is sent back through the same security process and confirms completion of the purchase. The company says the process is fast, secure and transparent to the consumer.
Matti Heikkilä, director of finance industry segment, Sonera SmartTrust, says that co-operating with specialised solution and channel partners to develop, offer and implement secure wireless solutions, is a cornerstone of the company's strategy.
"The global partnership signed with ACI delivers strong expertise in the e-payments market, further promoting our efforts to build secure payment networks for transactions conducted in a mobile environment," she says.