OT-Morpho Joins APAC-Focused mPayment Authentication Standards Group

OT-Morpho has become a member of the Internet Finance Authentication Alliance, a consortium aimed at establishing authentication security standards for digital payments.

The IFAA membership could give France-based OT-Morpho a strong presence in the Asia Pacific market, particularly in China. The IFAA was founded in 2015 by regional heavyweights Ant Financial and Alibaba, ZTE, Huawei, Samsung, and CAICT, with Alibaba applying its specifications to its Alipay mobile payment service.

In a statement announcing the development, OT-Morpho suggested that its role will be to provide expertise in the area of embedded secure elements. Such eSEs have long been a specialization of Oberthur Technologies, which recently merged with Safran Identity & Security to form OT-Morpho. Commenting on the appointment, IFAA Board Chairman Feng Chunpei said “the addition of eSE support thanks to the contribution of OT will be an essential element in the next phase of our specifications.”

The move comes amid the emergence of mobile payment platforms like Alipay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay, and attendant concerns about protecting users’ sensitive financial data.