Oberthur and ST team up for NFC MIFARE DESFire SIM card

PARIS, FRANCE: Oberthur Technologies, the world's second largest provider of smart card based solutions, and STMicroelectronics are working together to provide a new highly secure SIM solution that will allow travelers and commuters to use their NFC enabled mobile phones as an electronic ticket.

With the proven success of pre-commercial launches for NFC technology, Oberthur Technologies has enabled its OPERA FlyBuy SIM cards to be used in transport infrastructure services that are based on MIFARE DESFire technology. NFC enables a simple and easy commute for mobile users, as well as a multitude of secure applications in the field of payment, identification and loyalty.

The Oberthur Technologies product is based on the highly secure ST33 microcontroller and on the MIFARE DESFire Library developed by ST. Oberthur Technologies ported its state-of-the-art (U)SIM NFC operating system and completed the development of the transport application. Thanks to this development and to the complete ST33 family, Oberthur Technologies will offer a wide portfolio of MIFARE DESFire-enabled SIM cards to its customers, with free memory ranging from 128KB to 768KB and security level required by EMVCo and Common Criteria certifications.

“The NFC market relies on enhanced security and high memory capacity to support a wide range of services, including payment, identity and transport,” said Cédric Collomb, General Manager Cards & Services, Oberthur Technologies. “We are proud to contribute with ST to the development of this promising market opportunity.”

“ST is delighted to be working with recognized leaders in the NFC arena such as Oberthur Technologies,” said Marie-France Florentin, General Manager, Secure Microcontrollers Division, STMicroelectronics. “The use of ST technology in this new SIM card range demonstrates ST’s strong commitment to provide the widest range of secure devices for NFC solutions, in addition to ST’s own NFC controller chip.”