The Wave is the industry's first audio jack plug-in NFC payment solution and the only to receive certification from a major payment company like MasterCard. Based on OTI's patented NFC technology, the compact Wave dongle is device agnostic, easily plugging into any smartphone, tablet or PC, allowing users to pay with their device while enjoying real-time benefits from loyalty programs and other incentives as delivered by the corresponding application. It opens up a whole new world of mobile device applications, while alleviating the burden of a wallet full of credit cards.

"Receiving certification from MasterCard provides essential validation of our technology platform and opens up significant greenfield opportunities for our Wave solution," commented Ofer Tziperman, OTI's CEO. "We can now begin to target large-scale implementations with banking institutions and payment card providers, as well as projects involving public transportation, institutional memberships, and loyalty and rewards programs.

"As the first major player in the payment industry to certify OTI's Wave, MasterCard provides validation of our NFC solution -- now the payment industry's only certified NFC audio-jack add-on solution. We expect other major payment companies to follow suit and provide certification in the near future.

"With NFC-enabled applications expected to grow at a 35% CAGR to $34.5 billion by 2016, it's clear the payment industry is rapidly adopting NFC technology. NFC is becoming increasingly recognized as the fastest, most efficient, most versatile and secured method for payment transactions, and this certification by MasterCard positions us to capitalize on the major industry shift."

OTI's Wave has three key features that make it a perfect solution to be offered by banks to their clients:

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI): The Wave provides PKI authentication via the add-on audio jack device. The authentication capability allows certificate authorities and banks to ko ks to ensure customer' secure access to accounts across all devices and channels.

NFC: The Wave turns any smartphone, tablet or laptop into a NFC secured payment device. It connects to the Smartphone's operating system (OS) via the audio jack, allowing for PIN code authentication and over the air (OTA) capabilities such as reloading electronic cash, remote personalization, firmware updates, and new applications.

Java OS platform: The Wave runs on a Java OS over a secure element and is open for third-party development.

The Wave is suitable for many applications and markets including: mobile payments (debit, credit, e-purse), e-ticketing for transportation and events, PKI support, loyalty and e-coupon programs, healthcare applications and access control.

OTI's Wave can be used for electronic payment transactions even when disconnected from a customer's device (i.e. for mass transit gates, vending machines, etc.). When the pre-paid balance is running low, the Wave can simply plug into a smartphone to add additional money into the Wave's ePurse.