Research in Motion or RIM, has received approval from Visa for its new mobile payment solution. The technology, called Secure Element Manager (SEM), enables mobile payments on BlackBerry smartphones and also any other device equipped with near-field communication (NFC) technology.
“The approval from Visa of RIM’s SEM solution is an important step in that it will enable carriers to support Visa issuing banks and financial institutions,” Frank Maduri, a senior director at RIM, said in a statement. “We now offer carriers a robust solution with around-the-clock global support that works on any NFC-capable device, and meets the stringent technology and usability guidelines for Visa.”
Visa’s approval will be another feather in RIM’s hat as its range of Blackberry 10 smartphones is set for launch. The new operating system and range of phones will be released on January 30 and will hope to increase RIM’s control of the smartphone market share. There have been several leaks on the Internet and all of them indicate that RIM’s new offering is one that we can finally be excited about.
Big players like Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile will be carrying the new range of handsets, and RIM said its carrier partners around the world are fairly pleased with what they’ve seen. Back in late 2012, over a 150 carriers had begun testing out the device, which also went ahead to receive a security certification from the U.S. Government.
by RTT Staff Writer
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