STMicroelectronics partnered with Fidesmo, a contactless service developer and a MasterCard certified supplier, to develop an active NFC total solution for secure contactless payment for wearable technologies such as smart watches.

The contactless payment overall solution is based on ST's STPay-Boost IC chip, integrating hardware security units and contactless NFC controllers that protect transaction security, using STMicroelectronics' proprietary active load modulation enhanced transmission technology to maintain a reliable NFC connection even in devices made of metal.

Fidesmo's MasterCard MDES tokenization platform allows users to load the personal data needed to pay for transactions, thus improving the functionality of the solution. Over-the-air (OTA) technology makes it easy to personalize security units without any special equipment.

Laurent Degauque, Marketing Director of STMicroelectronics Security Microcontrollers Division, said: "STPay-Boost uses our security unit and performance-enhanced active contactless communication technology, which is unique payment solution in the market and meets the design constraints of wearable devices. Fidesmo's personalized platform is a key component in creating a total payment solution that allows equipment manufacturers to use it directly, minimizing engineering development and certification effort."

Kronaby, a smartwatch manufacturer based in Malmö, Sweden, has embedded the STPay-Boost chip into its smartwatch products, offering differentiated features such as no charging and filtering notifications. The system chip with the built-in Fidesmo tokenization platform allows Kronaby watches to support a variety of services such as payment, access control, transportation cards and loyalty rewards.