Smart launches new mobile commerce firm

Smart Communications Inc. announced yesterday that it has established a new company, Smart Money Holdings Corp. (SMHC), to license its fully integrated mobile commerce platform to international mobile operators.

"The formation of a separate organization reflects the stage of growth of this area of Smart’s operations. With the licensing of the platform, it is necessary to create a focused and dedicated team to service the needs of multiple operators," said Napoleon Nazareno, Smart president and CEO.

"The platform has given Smart a competitive advantage in a demanding market, and I am sure that overseas operators will recognize this success and the potential of this system for use in their own countries," he added.

Designed to meet international mobile commerce and banking standards, the mobile commerce platform runs on multi-layered security architecture, aside from the standard GSM security features. The platform offers operators a wide range of opportunities to develop mobile commerce applications based on a proven and highly secure architecture.

The first version was launched for use by Smart in December 2000 and has since been upgraded with increased functionality and security. Although the platform is based around GSM technology, it is configured to support different systems, including 3G.

Ian C. Wilson, SMHC CEO, noted that "this platform is the most complete and versatile offering in the market today, having been designed to support various types of transactions and with a full consideration of the business processes involved. It has attracted considerable interest from operators in many different countries, particularly as it provides a system that can be offered in a significantly reduced time to market. The fact that the platform was conceived by an operator, and has been so successful already, also gives us a pedigree that is lacking in systems designed by other software companies."

Last November, Smart entered into an agreement with SmartTrust, the leading developer of infrastructure solutions for secure mobile e-services, to jointly market the mobile commerce platform for international operators. The technical and implementation aspects are supported by SmartTrust using its widely accepted delivery platform, wireless internet gateway and wireless internet browser.

Smart has been actively promoting mobile commerce usage in the Philippines by introducing innovative services such as mobile banking, easy-to-use menus using progressively improving SIM Tool Kit (STK) and wireless browser technologies, and the electronic wallet card, Smart Money.