Mobile Connect showcased at MWC Shanghai

From the 15th – 17th July in Pudong, Shanghai Mobile Connect was again in the spotlight at Mobile World Congress Shanghai.

With momentum building of engaged mobile operators and interested digital service providers in Mobile Connect post Mobile World Congress, in March in Barcelona, there was a great opportunity to showcase the secure, convenient log-in solution to a different audience.

South East Asia has been at the forefront of Mobile Connect’s activity to date and addressing the Chinese market at congress highlighted the global relevance and capabilities of Mobile Connect.

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The GSMA’ Personal Data team showcased Mobile Connect at the Innovation City with live demonstrations from a variety of mobile operators ( Telefonica, Vodafone, Telstra, Swisscom, Orange, Dialog, Digi, Celcom, and Mobitel and certain online services such as Mudah and TrustBuddy.

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The highlight of these demonstrations were the three Chinese operators – China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom interoperating for the first time to offer the Mobile Connect service to log-in to an online classified directory.

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Alongside the demonstration was the Mobile Connect Challenge game giving attendees a chance to win an Apple Watch.

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Outside the Innovation City, Mobile Connect was a hot topic in an array of CEO and Chairman Keynote presentations discussing the relevance of the service in a digitally transforming world with focus on mobile identity, security and privacy.

Mobile Connect at the Digital Commerce Summit

On July 14th, experts from the mobile payments industry gathered at the GSMA’s Digital Commerce Summit at Mobile World Congress Shanghai, to discuss the role of mobile in the digital economy and the need for secure, user-friendly identity solutions in order to overcome potential growth inhibitors.

The event was attended by over 300 people and included speakers from a wide range of high profile organisations that specialise in digital identity such as: Axiata, Cybersource, China Unicom, Nok Nok Labs, Swisscom and the GSMA.

A large segment of the Summit was dedicated to Mobile Connect, the secure universal log-in solution, currently being developed by the GSMA and its partners. Speakers discussed how the sudden growth of the digital economy had led to new challenges, particularly in restoring consumer trust in digital services after recent security breaches.

A number of speakers recognised that the market needed an interoperable solution that allows for easy and secure payment of goods and services in order for the digital economy to flourish. It was agreed that such a solution would have to overcome the problem with the current password model; that is, the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords.

The session explored how new technology could facilitate the transition between the old and new methods and of authentication – to this end the use of biometrics as a potential solution was discussed. Yet, speakers were also confident in qualities that were unique to mobile – they agreed that the the SIM, with its natural level of high security, and the long trusted relationship Operators have with their customers, were both of high importance in developing a new form authentication  that consumers will trust.

Download presentations from the event:

  • Digital Commerce at the GSMA – Pierre Combelles, Head of Mobile Commerce, GSMA (English, Chinese)
  • Connected World with Unionpay – Liu Fengjun, Vice President, China UnionPay (Chinese, English)
  • Mobile identity – Payments, identity and commerce services – Jean-Paul Cottet, SEVP, Orange (English)
  • The operator’s role in payment – Fan Jinqiao, CEO, China Mobile Payment Co. Ltd (Chinese)
  • Samsung Pay Happy Pay – Thomas Ko, Vice President, Samsung Pay (English)
  • Mobile Connect – Restoring trust in digital services – Marie Austenaa, VP and Head of Personal Data & Mobile Identity, GSMA (English)
  • Successful Mobile Identity market take up in the banking sector – Adrian Humbel, Head of Security Solutions, Swisscom (English)
  • Mobile Connect service launch for e-commerce and insurance partners – Anthony Rodrigo, Group Chief Information Officer & Chief Digital Services Officer, Dialog Axiata (English)
  • Effective interoperable identity services in the market – Andy Liu, Chief Architect of Mobile Connect, Research Institute, China Unicom (Chinese, English)

Summary Video

Overall Mobile World Congress Shanghai saw 40,000 guests over the three days, many of them experiencing Mobile Connect, which adds to its ongoing growth.

Watch our video of Mobile Connect at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2015: