NXP’s strategic partner Wuhan Tianyu wins new ICBC Banking Reader Project

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI), the global leader in secure banking and eGovernment deployments, announced that its strategic partner Wuhan Tianyu Information Industry Co., Ltd (Tianyu) has been appointed as the supplier for the personal-banking reader project by the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

NXP has a long-term close cooperation with Tianyu providing high quality Integrated Circuit (IC) chips for applications in banking card readers. Under the ICBC agreement with Tianyu, NXP will co-design and provide an advanced intelligent identification solution for Tianyu. Driven in part by the increased demand for a more secure online shopping experience by Chinese consumers, the solution design by NXP is expected to change how payments are made in the future.

Mochen Tian, senior director for identification business at NXP said, “The growth potential of personal-banking devices will be driven by the booming online shopping market in China and we are committed to enabling a secure online financial environment for millions of consumers with our new personal-banking reader solution. Together with our strategic partner, NXP reinforces our commitment to offering secure end-to-end solutions for the entire banking market.”

Concerns about identity theft, fraud and privacy continue to grow as individuals conduct their daily lives in an increasingly interconnected world. Currently customers can link their bank cards to settle online transactions through online banking where the transactions are made by keying in their bank user ID, login password and security number from a verification dongle like the U-Key. The NXP personal-banking reader provides a more convenient and efficient mobile payment solution which can verify security authentication data with any professional reader or other devices such as cell phones, computers or set top-boxes which are enabled to read the financial IC card embedded with NXP chips. The reader device can connect to personal computers or mobile devices via a USB port to safeguard online financial activities. In addition, the personal-banking reader device can also connect to mobile phones or tablets via Bluetooth or audio. As such the security verification can be done without the need for an additional U-key dongle.

Chip cards are already extensively used in the banking arena and have been proven to drive down fraud and protect identity. Tian believes the secure and popular IC cards with the NXP secure chip will drive the business potential of personal-banking devices in China. The annual market demand is expected to exceed 10 million as personal-banking readers are seen as the potential replacement to existing products such as U-Key, in response to increasing security concerns. China UnionPay together with several commercial banks have introduced personal-banking reader projects to provide more convenient and secure online shopping and money transfer services to consumers under increasing concerns of identity theft and privacy in a connected world today.

“NXP’s breakthrough personal-banking solutions provide secure connections for a smarter world and our identification technology touches many consumers’ lives every day. The collaboration with NXP to design the ICBC personal banking reader device will provide an advanced smart identification solution which meets the requirements of the agreement between Tianyu and ICBC.” said Junjun Wu, Deputy President, Wuhan Tianyu Information Industry Co., Ltd.

NXP is the world leader in identification solutions and the world’s largest supplier of secure technology that protects bank, credit and public transport payment cards, successfully securing over a billion financial transactions every single day. In 2013, NXP’s Identification business had revenue of over $1.3B, representing 28% of the company’s product revenue.