Giesecke & Devrient today announced it is providing the key security component for Deutsche Telekom's digital wallet, known as MyWallet.

MyWallet can be used by all Deutsche Telekom mobile network customers with an NFC-capable smartphone, according to a press release. As a security partner, G&D is also supplying the MasterCard PayPass payment application to enable secure electronic payments to be made via ClickandBuy International Ltd's virtual credit card system as the first product in Deutsche Telekom's digital wallet.

G&D and Deutsche Telekom said in the announcement they have created a security architecture for NFC-capable SIM cards that meet the specific challenges of user-friendly payment applications. These SIM cards feature a secure data vault, with the full version offering a data volume of up to 1.3 megabytes. The SIM cards also contain a powerful processor that is capable of loading the required applications within an extremely short space of time, in spite of the encryption and decryption process, the companies said. These applications, such as credit card functions and the data they require, are stored in specially secured areas of the card.

"This assignment came about as a result of the intensive security partnership between our two companies," Stefan Auerbach, a member of the management board and head of the mobile security business unit at G&D, said in a statement. "We have channeled all our leading technological expertise in electronic payment transactions and the SIM card market into this solution. With the SkySIM CX product line, Deutsche Telekom now has access to a future-proof technology platform that will enable a variety of contactless NFC services for consumers to be launched on a flexible basis in future."

"In future, NFC-capable smartphones will become digital wallets," Michael Hagspihl, head of marketing for Telekom Deutschland, said in a statement. "Not only will they make it possible for anyone to make payments easily and securely, they will also be able to store everything that we currently still carry around with us in paper or plastic form, such as concert tickets, membership cards or loyalty cards. In Giesecke & Devrient, we have found a partner that fulfills the high security standards we require from these services."

The NFC-capable SIM card from the SkySIM CX range has been approved by EMVCo, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, according to the press release. Several different NFC applications can be run securely at the same time on the SIM card. The SkySIM CX range also supports the transit applications MIFARE, CIPURSE and Calypso. The SIM cards are available in the form factors 2FF, micro-SIM and nano-SIM and are compatible with 2G, 3G and LTE networks.