Does HP Have A Mobile Payments Play?

Hewlett-Packard might be ready to join the digital payments field by expanding its cloud-based payment platform and chip-based payment cards, HP announced Wednesday (Nov. 12).

“HP’s Atalla security software, designed to help merchants protect financial data through the HP Network Security Processor (NSP), has been upgraded to support Apple Pay and other new Visa cloud-based payments methods, such as Visa PayWave,” according to a ZDNet article. “By focusing on NFC-powered transactions, the development reflects both a heightened state of awareness and security in the wake of attack after attack on major retailers worldwide as well as growing interest in mobile payments.”

HP said Wednesday (Nov. 12) that the software provides secure cloud-based payments for mobile devices without needing a built-in secure element, ZDNet said. This move also allows HP to expand its partnership with Cryptomathic to use HP’s hardware security “for generating and protecting EMV card data,” the article said. Bringing EMV technology to all cards by 2015 has been outlined as a goal by most major payment providers to avoid major credit-card breaches like the massive Target security breach.

“Consumers are increasingly adopting mobile-based and other forms of electronic payments, despite the threats to their sensitive payment data,” Albert Biketi, general manager of Atalla, Enterprise Security Products at HP, said in the company news release. “Implementing fundamental payment security technologies to advance innovative electronic payment methods is crucial in both managing risk and staying ahead of the growing number of threats.”

HP also published a report titled “The Security & Compliance Trends in Innovative Electronic Payments Report” about what problems need to be tackled in the electronics payments industry. The report surveyed people in the IT operations, security, and electronic deployment sectors.

“According to the study, 66 percent of respondents labeled user authentication as a key challenge in implementing new payment methods. But only only 38 percent of respondents speculated that consumers will be reluctant to use these payment methods because of privacy concerns,” the report said. “Overall, 75 percent of respondents asserted that their organizations plan to support mobile payments (either through the use of a phone number or embedded tech such as NFC) followed by stored value cards. At the same time, 43 percent of respondents are planning on incorporating e-currencies, such as Bitcoin.”

Still, of those surveyed, only 17 percent said they have launched alternative POS and payment methods that would address the major security issues. But consumers are open to adapting to new payment systems, HP reported in its release, citing a recent study.

“Despite privacy concerns, consumers are quickly embracing new payment systems, including mobile payments, person-to-person payments and e-wallets,” according to the Security & Compliance Trends in Innovative Electronic Payments Report conducted by the Ponemon Institute — also sponsored by HP Atalla.