Visa and ANZ bank has launched a microSD trial in Australia. It’s not a unique trial. According to an article, US banks have already tested the solution. By now, players are considering three options in the NFC industry.
< Secure Element Type >
Source: Smart Card Alliance
1. Embedded type
Apple and Google prefer this type for managing a SE(Secure Element) directly.
2. MicroSD based type
This type has been tested by financial authorities such as banks and credit card companies for progressing an independent service.
3. USIM based type
Carriers drive this solution as a main method to establish the NFC ecosystem.
These options basically depend on who gets the access control to the SE which stores all kinds of users’ data such as a card number and an e-voucher. Every plaeyers in the NFC industry know the importance of the issue and try to put it into a preferred area for their interests. And the real problem is that there is no rule for multiple SE. In fact, it is not an issue of protocol but a policy that players should solve together.
Now, the NFC market is at an early stage. If the NFC services is not interoperable, users may not trust the service itself. NFC is a very useful technology which makes people’s lives more convenient. But because of the problem of a policy between related parties, the full functions have not been supported such as the example of Nexus S. Google has blocked the line called SWP(Single Wire Protocol) which enables USIM to connect to a NFC chipset. If a card company issues a mobile card based on microSD, the NFC service can conflict with each other.
I hope players agree with the thought that the top priority is collaboration for distribution of infrastructure and service interoperability. Though NFC follows a standard protocol, there is still a lot of differences between players in a service layer. It may take more time for the NFC industry to activate than several experts forecast.
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Reference Site about SE and TSM(Trusted Service Manager)