Safran Identity & Security has announced its own mobile payment system. Its name, Airpass, may offer a hint as to its technological origins, given that toward the end of last year the company, then under its previous name, Morpho (Safran), acquired a French mobile payment technology startup called AirTag.
In any case, it seems that Safran has long been aiming to develop its own mPayment offering.
In a statement announcing Airpass, the company emphasized its Visa and Mastercard certification, claiming it’s the only such solution to boast of such credentials. Safran also highlighted its security, comparing its encryption to that found in smart cards; and it noted that the system can be used both for in-store and online payments.
“Thanks to whitebox cryptography, we can provide a unique software solution to protect confidential information contained on a smartphone,” said Safran Identity & Security EVP of Digital Security and Authentication, Olivier Méaux. “The type of security offered by Airpass is a necessary prerequisite to boost the development of trusted mobile services, particularly in the fields of banking and retail.”
With major mPayment platforms like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay seeking to expand into online payments as well, and Mastercard having revamped its Masterpass platform in an attempt to target the entire digital payments ecosystem, Airpass is entering a dynamic and competitive mobile payments market. But Safran says it’s working on expanding Airpass’s functionality to allow it to incorporate digital ID documents including, potentially, passports and driver licenses, which could help the solution to stand out as a special kind of mobile wallet.
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