The future of contactless payments: EMVCo virtual keynote at Contactless World Congress

The EMV Contactless Kernel Specification will both simplify and advance global contactless payment acceptance whilst enhancing security, improving transaction speeds and supporting more reliable data transmission, EMVCo’s Brian Byrne and Jonathan Main explain in this keynote presentation for Contactless World Congress.

EMVCo logoThe presentation was streamed live on 7 September 2022 as the opening keynote session of Contactless World Congress and included a questions and answer session hosted by NFCW editor Sarah Clark.

It begins with an introduction to EMVCo’s work developing specifications to facilitate worldwide interoperability and acceptance of EMV payment transactions on chip cards, mobile phones, wearables and beyond across the global payment card ecosystem.

The speakers then share in-depth insight into:

  • How the forthcoming EMV Contactless Kernel Specification will address industry demand for simpler contactless payment acceptance.
  • How EMVCo is working to bring elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) security to chip-based payments
  • How the introduction of IQ demodulation will improve transaction speeds by offering greater flexibility in where a card or device needs to be positioned in order to be read by a payment terminal.
  • What potential future developments in wireless technologies are on the horizon and how they will create flexible, convenient payment experiences.

During the Q&A session, the speakers answered questions relating to the availability, implementation and impact of the EMV Contactless Kernel Specification, technologies including software POS contactless acceptance solutions and biometrics and issues that EMVCo is exploring in relation to longer-range contactless technologies such as ultra wideband (UWB), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and WiFi.

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About your speakers

Brian Byrne, EMVCoBrian Byrne is the Director of Engagement and Operations for EMVCo. His responsibilities include leading EMVCo’s industry engagement strategy, optimising relationships with associates, subscribers, regulators and other key external stakeholders, and overseeing day-to-day EMVCo business activity.

Brian is a payments veteran with close to 30 years in a variety of industry roles. Before taking on his current position Brian led the product acceptance function for Visa. Prior to this Brian spent five years in the Visa chip team where his remit included being Visa’s primary representative on the EMVCo Board of Managers. Brian helped steer EMVCo through a number of organisational changes including the addition of new equity members and the creation of the EMVCo Associates Programme.

Brian holds an MBA (Honours) from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Queensland.

Jonathan Main, EMVCoJonathan Main currently serves as Chair of the EMVCo Board of Managers, representing Mastercard.

Jonathan is currently a Vice President in the Cyber & Intelligence Solutions group in Mastercard, which is responsible for the development of EMV-related specifications and products. Jonathan has worked in mobile commerce for over 20 years, and during that time has been involved in many industry and standards bodies developing specifications related to mobile commerce.

Jonathan holds degrees in electronic engineering and mathematical sciences from the University of Adelaide in Australia.

How to watch this presentation

This 1h16m presentation and the 21-page slide deck featured in it are available free of charge to NFCW Knowledge Centre members.

This resource is available free of charge to NFCW Knowledge Centre members. Log in or join for free to get immediate access.

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This item is part of Contactless World Congress.