MasterCard is currently conducting more than 25 host card emulation (HCE) projects in 15 countries, the payments network has announced, with multiple issuers now moving close to commercial deployments.

“In offering an alternative to the secure element (SE)-based approach to digitize card credentials into mobile devices, MasterCard Cloud Based Payments creates a foundation for rapid global deployments of mobile payment services,” MasterCard says.

“Hundreds of licencees have embraced the framework to ensure thoughtful design and secure deployment of mobile payments, and more than 25 pilots and programs are under way in various locations including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.”

“Our pilot was a great opportunity for us to partner with MasterCard in our first HCE solution launch in the market,” explains Albert Figueras, retail banking director at Spain’s Banco Sabadell which began testing HCE in March 2014. “The project provided useful information that enabled us to define the Sabadell Wallet and to offer our clients the best experience in mobile payments.”

“Since the announcement of HCE specifications, Santander has been working to deliver mobile payments for customers in all our geographies,” adds José María Fuster, head of innovation at Santander.

“During the coming months, we will see new payment services being launched as part of Santander’s innovation roadmap, offering our customers new, more convenient and more secure payment experiences that take advantage of new capabilities from mobile devices.”

“UniCredit Group strongly believes that HCE truly represents one of the best available technologies to make the mobile payment experience even easier on a large scale, says Alberto Naef, head of global marketing at Italy’s Unicredit Group.

“As such, UniCredit Group and MasterCard are working together to develop a project based on HCE technology, which will prove of paramount importance, not only in Italy, but also in all the other countries where our group is present.”