Promoting Cyber Face

Life is in the fast lane and mobile commerce helps race against time. Mobile
commerce has certainly made life easier for the people living in the fast paced
urban life. But is it possible without compromising on security? The security
concerns regarding mobile commerce have made customers anxious about the
technology. In this regard, Verity Technologies, a mobile services company in
the domain of authentication and identity services, claims it is possible with
its new product SLIM-A biometric authenticator.

SLIM (Security, Lifestyle, Internet and Mobility) is expected to provide
cyber identity to the rural masses and facilitate audit trails of all economic
transactions, dramatically altering the business and social landscape.

The Tech Aspect

The SLIM interacts with any Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. A customer who
wants to avail this service has to enroll himself into the Verity Technologies
website to get his unique SLIM smart card, which cannot be copied or cloned for
fraudulent transactions. Since this card itself is a biometric card with an
embedded fingerprint reader, a separate fingerprint reader is not required. Phil
Steeples, director of technology, Verity Technologies, says, "The technology was
initially developed to deter casual theft of mobile handsets but subsequently
upgraded to be the de-facto device for mobile personal authentication."

Lifeline Card

The SLIM acts as a multi-functional card through which issuance of passport,
driving license and other identity cards can be made far more easy and simple.
It helps in making secure payments over mobile phone and locks down handsets to
deter theft and safeguards sensitive data.

Anuradha Bansal, CEO, Verity Technologies says, "Keeping pace with
far-reaching changes in the Indian ICT sector, we have developed products that
are uniquely positioned to harness the power of mobile medium to deliver
customer value around entertainment and financial services."

Though SLIM is a product (a smart card), customers pay for the authentication
and transaction services of the company, not for the smart card as is the case
of mobile phone subscribers who pay for VAS offered by the service providers
every month, but not for the SIM card every month.

Market Opportunity

At present the company targets verticals including micro finance, mobile
phone OEMs, credit card issuers, and Internet commerce sites. Verity also plans
to tie-up with banks, e-governance organizations to expand the reach of this
service to potential customers. The market for this kind of a product is huge
and the company wants to garner the maximum share of this market.

Verity believes that it can capture big market because of its simple-to-use
technology. These agents themselves carry high-end mobile phone handsets that
run the micro-finance applications.

Kannan K

kannan@cybermedia.co.in