Semiconductor company Spreadtrum Communications has revealed that it is working with the Internet Finance Authentication Alliance (IFAA) to jointly promote the framework and development of an iris-based payment authentication system in China.IFAA was launched by a group of firms and institutions including Ant Financial, Alibaba, Samsung, Huawei, ZTE and CAICT (China Academy of Information and Communications Technology). The alliance is very influential in the domain of authentication in China, with their local standard having already been applied to over 90 million mobile phone devices and facial recognition standard having served over 60 million users.In a statement, the partners said that with the continued rapid development of mobile internet, the importance of the security of smartphones has become ever more urgent.”Conventional simplex authentication products fail to meet the pressing demand among consumers for the securing of their personal information and financial transactions. As the most stable, most accurate and safest biological recognition technology available to date, iris recognition is the best next step in terms of upgrading the present security recognition system.”As part of the strategic cooperation, Spreadtrum will join hands with the IFAA to collaborate closely in the area of iris-based recognition and authentication services with special focus on the chips, the system, the software and the operation, while, at the same time, facilitating the standardization of the industry as concerns chip security, environmental reliability, data collection, the algorithm, encryption keys and iris-based authentication in a move to enhance the end-user experience with the authentication process while guaranteeing the security of end-user private information and exchanges of information.Dr. Leo Li, Chairman and CEO of Spreadtrum Communications, commented: “We feel deeply honored to work with such a strong ally as IFAA. Spreadtrum owns an advantage in terms of leading technologies in the field of iris-based authentication. In 2016, in collaboration with our partners we plan to enhance the core services provided by iris-based authentication and the build out of an end-to-end ecosystem for supporting security needs based on Spreadtrum's latest SoC platform, SC9860, providing more professional, more secure products and services with a better user experience.””An industrial challenge calls for an industrial solution,” IFAA board chairman Mr. Feng Chunpei said, “As a mainstream authentication technology platform serving China, IFAA has proactively planned and promoted standards related to iris-based authentication since 2015. With the joint efforts from upstream and downstream firms across the industry chain put in place by Spreadtrum, we expect to promote the application of iris-based authentication, to achieve industry-wide standardization within a short time and to guarantee the security of the financial information of our users.”
Company and alliance developing China’s first iris payment system
