Russian carrier MTS has selected Novacard, a Russia-based SIM and smart card supplier, as its TSM provider and will launch the new platform at the end of 2014.

The Novacard platform to be introduced by MTS will use TSM architecture developed by Oberthur Technologies and will enable bank and transportation cards to be downloaded to subscribers' SIMs, along with tickets, loyalty cards, coupons and badges.

"With the TSM platform infrastructure, it removes the restriction in the way of mass development of NFC services in Russia," says Vasil Latsanych, VP of marketing at MTS. "We get a link in the NFC ecosystem, a single entry point for quick connection of a wide range of service providers."