It seems that others are waking up to the potential for the smartphone to act as an identity hub to access services and register on websites. The GSMA’s Mobile Connect initiative - using SIM-card based authentication - was announced at its big Barcelona shindig way back in March, but last week mobile operator Orange talked about its plans to launch the service early next year - probably in time for the 2015 version of the annual Barcelona gathering.
We certainly can’t help but agree that the smartphone, coupled with strong authentication techniques, can serve as a federated identity device and be used to control and manage access and users rights across a range of business, commercial and personal services. We also feel that creating a secure, encrypted, communications environment between the target site and the smartphone to exchange that information in the background adds a required additional layer of“Hello Show” Orange also revealed plans to enable money transfers from European customers to selected retailers in places such as Senegal and Togo in a cash-to-goods partnership with a start-up called Afrimarket. This looks like a good marriage between the mobile money transfer systems aimed at the unbanked in developing markets, and retail e-commerce platforms.
And while Monsieur Richard talked about the “dawn of a new era of connected objects” and placed the smartphone and the mobile operator firmly in the centre of this brave new world, we think there is room for a Cloud-based secure transaction platform to create the fully trusted environment that should be at the heart of each and every interaction.
By Kevin Taylor 8th October 2014
Related stories around the web
Orange pushes harder on mobile money - Mobile World Live
Orange targets home applications with new mobile-to-TV gadgets and services - ComputerworldUK
Orange CEO hails "dawn of connected era"; unveils new digital services - Mobile World Live
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