Watchdata, a player in the field of data security and smart card technology solutions, released the news at the 2011 CARTES in Asia Exhibition and Conference that it has exceeded 3 million unit mark for the commercial rollout of SIMpass™ mobile proximity payment technology. The company says that hanks to the ease of deployment of the Near Field Communications (NFC) bridging solution, SIMpass™ continues to gain interest and popularity in this highly competitive mobile payment market.

SIMpass™ supports integrated transportation and campus applications onto a single mobile device in the payment function, and its low deployment costs and scalability makes it suitable for multi-industries applications. Presently, it has become the mainstream mobile payment technology in China. Utilizing the SIMpass™ product provided by Watchdata, China Telecom officially launched Yang Cheng Tong Card on 24 February 2011 to target at end users in Guangzhou and Foshan. Guangdong residents are now able to travel, dine and shop through mobile payment.

In Dongguan, in addition to transport and supermarket payments, residents are enjoying the convenience of SIMpass™ mobile payment at farm produce markets. There are currently more than 20,000 POS terminals at the markets. The residents just need to carry their SIMpass™ mobile payment-enabled handset to pay for fresh vegetable products and seafood. Apart from being convenient, Watchdata point out that this has also brought forth social benefits associated with environmental health to the farm produce market.

Currently, China Telecom has issued almost 2 million cards in more than 20 provinces in China, including Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangsu. A recent survey conducted by China Telecom shows that 90 percent of SIMpass™ users are actively using this new channel to make payments while 32 percent of subscribers switched to China Telecom simply because of SIMpass™-enabled mobile payment services that offer a more secured and convenient way to make cashless transactions. The nomination of China Telecom in the Asian Sesame Award provides a solid proof of the practicality and readiness of this product offering. It further strengthens Watchdata’s belief that using simple but proven effective technology can bring wider adoption of secured and convenient mobile payment services.

Dr. Sean Gao, Watchdata’s Vice President of Product and Marketing said, “SIMpass™ is a complete mobile payment solution. This year, we will be introducing a new member to the SIMpass™ family – SIMpass-R, with reading functions and this is the continuation of our strength in security and RF (Radio Frequency) technologies. As an important branch of NFC, we will continue to advance in the field of mobile payment by introducing simpler, easy-to-deploy and high-user-acceptability solutions. We are looking to replicate the success of SIMpass™ in China around the world, making it the unifying solution for different stakeholders that would hopefully become a mobile payment standard in the industry.”

More than 80 percent of mobile handsets currently out in the market are compatible with SIMpass™. In order to enjoy mobile payment, end users only need to replace their SIM card to a Watchdata patented SIMpass™ dual-interface SIM card. Through this technology, Watchdata aims to help interested partners and industry stakeholders realize the vision of deploying multi-application capabilities on a single mobile device.

Watchdata is looking into mobile roaming services in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. In the near future, all you need is a mobile handset to enable you to travel freely in these three places to enjoy a whole new mobile payment experience.

About SIMpass™

SIMpass™ is a dual-interface multi-application smart card; it contains contactless and contact interfaces. Through its contact interface, SIMpass™ acts as a standard SIM card to execute communication functions. Via its contactless interface, it is ready to support contactless mobile payment capabilities that include transit, banking, retail, access control, ID and many other contactless applications. When the mobile phone is on, SIMpass™ supports its contactless and telecommunication functions simultaneously. One can make and receive calls or SMS while making contactless transactions. In cases when the phone is turned off or running out of battery, SIMpass™ can still function like a normal contactless card.