May 10th 2011, North America
MEF, the global trade body for the mobile media industry with a dedicated focus on Mobile Commerce, and ASC X9, the US technical group that develops financial industry standards, today announced that they will work together with industry leaders to develop privacy and security standards for M-Commerce. A launch webinar will be held on the 24th of May 2011 which will set out why security is so important for the growth of M-Commerce and outline the work of MEF and ASC X9.
MEF’s M-Commerce initiative will bring brands, financial institutions, content owners/producers, carriers and retailers together to create transparency and increase consumer confidence in mobile transactions. This work is about creating the consumer and merchant confidence necessary for the mobile to develop as the device to enable commerce.
Gary Schwartz, MEF North America Chair and CEO, Impact Mobile said, “Last year we worked with our membership to produce an essential Guide to M-Commerce. This second phase of our initiative will see MEF working with ASC X9’s F4 working group on Security in developing a Mobile Commerce standard which addresses the most pressing issues affecting its adoption.”
MEF believes the most pressing issues facing broad adoption of Mobile Commerce today are:
- Ensuring clear and consistent rules for privacy and security that are easily accessible to consumers
- Promoting transparency in all transactions
- Reducing compliance costs and complications while enabling retailers to keep pace with change
- Guarding against fraud
The Accredited Standards Committee X9 is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop US standards for the financial services industry. Their draft standard, X9.112 Wireless Management and Security – Part 3: Mobile Commerce is expected to be put forward to become the basis for an ISO standard*. ASC X9 is also the US body serving as the technical advisory group to ISO’s Technical Committee 68 (TC68) on Financial Services.
“We’re delighted that MEF is joining X9 and participating in this X9 effort on Mobile Commerce, and is providing information to ensure that the standard set is fit for its purpose and will provide a safe and secure environment for industry and consumers alike,” said Cynthia Fuller, Executive Director, ASC X9.
Rimma Perelmuter, Executive Director, MEF said, “As a global organisation, MEF is committed to ensuring the successful adoption of Mobile Commerce. At present, we have over 80 MEF member companies working on M-Commerce across North America, EMEA and South East Asia committed to this goal. Our work with ASC X9 represents a milestone opportunity for the industry to take the lead in ushering in a new era of M-Commerce security. We invite all forward looking companies to join this timely and essential effort for M-Commerce to deliver on its potential.”
*ISO standards are recognised worldwide and are designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders.
About X9
ASC X9, Inc. operates under its own procedures as well as those prescribed and approved by the American National Standards Institute. Presently, ASC X9 operates 4 technical subcommittees and 20-to-30 technical working groups that develop financial industry technical standards and guidelines. ASC X9 is the USA Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to the International Technical Committee on Financial Services (TC68) under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), of Geneva, Switzerland. In this role, X9 holds the USA vote on all ISO standards of TC 68 or its subcommittees SC2, SC4, SC6 and SC7. ASC X9 standards are widely used and recognized. Many X9 standards are either cited or required by the Federal government for use in financial procedures and transactions. In addition, X9 standards are the basis for many international standards used in facilitating global commerce.