Java Card Forum

The Java Card Forum is an industry association of companies from the smart card, secure operating system and secure silicon industry, working together to promote and develop Java as the preferred programming language for multi-application smart cards, secure devices and other execution environments.


Why Java Card is used by ST in their next generation payment solution

STMicroelectronics has unveiled STPay-Topaz-2, its next-generation contactless payment card system on chip (SoC). With Java Card providing the engine for critical aspects including multi-application coexistence, payment logic, and security, the new SoC’s arrival is a major advancement for the card industry and consumers. There is more flexibility to support a wider variety of payment brands, while a new auto-tuning feature ensures reader-independent connection quality for an enhanced user experience. In addition, advanced cryptography strengthens security and prepares the platform for upcoming, stronger industry standards.

ST has already supplied more than three billion STPay ready-to-use solutions to the payment market. STPay-Topaz-2 now introduces a specific feature which allows preloading the greatest quantity of payment applets per orderable part number in the market, which simplifies inventory management for card manufacturers. This innovation includes a unique product versioning which embeds the latest and most popular payment applets worldwide, including both VSDC2.8.1g1 and 2.9.2 Visa applets.

“Contactless payment has been a huge hit with consumers and the technology must now move forward as card suppliers strive to meet growing customer demand and more diverse market requirements,” said Bruno Batut, Banking & ID Business Unit Marketing Director, Connected Security Division, STMicroelectronics. “STPay-Topaz-2 can consolidate the largest set of payment apps on one orderable part number to simplify inventory management for card manufacturers, paving the way for further expansion in contactless payment popularity. We’ve also added auto-tuning to ensure the best tap-anywhere user experience and upgraded security ready for future standards including the forthcoming EMVCo C-8 kernel.”

The STPay-Topaz-2 is based on the ST31R480 secure microcontroller (MCU), manufactured in ST’s secure and certified facilities in France. The secure MCU achieved EMVCo certification in November 2024 and recently completed Common Criteria EAL6+ certification.

This STPay solution is ready for the payment industry’s adoption of stronger digital security, ranging from RSA/3DES encryption to advanced encryption standard (AES) and elliptic curve cryptography (ECC): it is designed to comply with the forthcoming EMVCo C 8 kernel. The platform also meets GlobalPlatform and Java Card standards, making it suitable for payments, loyalty programs, and custom applications.

With enhanced wireless performance, STPay-Topaz-2 also simplifies antenna integration for card manufacturers and enables efficient connectivity even with smaller antennas, providing greater design flexibility.

STPay-Topaz-2 samples are available immediately, with production already launched.

For pricing and sample requests, contact your local STMicroelectronics sales office.

Please visit https://www.st.com/en/secure-mcus/banking-id-transport.html for more information or watch this video: https://youtu.be/3FzpA4KIgdY


Java Card enables innovative biometric cards

To further improve the performance and production effectiveness of biometric payment cards, Infineon Technologies AG and its strategic partner Fingerprints™ are developing the all-in-one solution SECORA™ Pay Bio.

This turnkey solution will come with a pre-certified Java Card operating system including Mastercard and Visa bio-applets. It will enable a cost-efficient, scalable production based on state-of-the-art card manufacturing equipment.

SECORA™ Pay Bio will extend Infineon’s well-established SECORA™ Pay turnkey solution family (all based an Java Card technology) to address the fast growing segment of biometric banking cards. SLC39B is Infineon’s advanced system-on-chip (SoC) cryptoprocessor with integrated power source, large memory size and diverse peripherals as well as best-in-class contactless performance. The company’s BCoM is a tailored innovative dual-interface Coil on Module (CoM) for SECORA™ Pay Bio, which integrates Fingerprints’ advanced sensor and Infineon’s upcoming Secure Element into a single package. With the inductive coupling technology, no wire-connection between the card antenna and the module is needed. This allows to significantly improve the robustness and long-term reliability of biometric payment cards. With its innovative concept and enhanced capabilities, SECORA™ Pay Bio will make touchless payments more convenient without the need of  low transaction limits.

Java Card technology as a flexible smart card platform combined with GlobalPlatform card management features ennables fast innovation. With the standardized Java Card API, that separates the application layer from the operating system layer, payment networks can focus on the application design, whereas platform providers innovate at the operating system and chip level. The integration of new interfaces to sensors or libraries to extract and match fingerprint information does not result in a complete re-design of the system, but results in new Java Card APIs that can be used by all players in the industry. All this allows interoperability in the market andwill provide added value for all players in the value chain.

More information is available at Payments-in-Motion.


Why STMicroelectronics and G+D Mobile Security have chosen Java Card technology for their In-Vehicle system-on-chip solution for Secure Car Access

STMicroelectronics has announced a new platform to accelerate the introduction of digital car keys giving consumers keyless access to vehicles via their mobile device.

In addition to strengthening security, digital car keys can deliver greater owner conveniences, including customizable usage privileges while continuing to secure the vehicle. Activities such as car sharing, fleet management, and vehicle rental gain benefits such as easier key issuance, usage controls, and access for valeting and servicing.

Based on the most recent ST Automotive grade Secure Element hardware, the global solution, developed in collaboration with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), supports the latest Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) Digital Key release 3.0 standard, ensuring the highest security and protection currently available.

Leading automotive brands can now quickly build standards-based, secure car-access solutions that deliver added value for vehicle owners and users,” said Laurent Degauque, Marketing Director, Secure Microcontrollers, STMicroelectronics. “Our solution based on automotive Grade embedded secure element ensures state-of-the-art protection to lead widespread market adoption of digital keys for connected cars.”

“As a long-standing partner in security and connectivity for the automotive sector, G+D contributes a wealth of experience in the field of access control for cars”, says Mario Feuerer, Global Vice President Product Management Connectivity at G+D.“Our G+D Digital Key® application, based on the new ST chip platform, is highly resistant to attacks and features smart and convenient customer access solutions based on NFC, Ultra-Wide-Band and BLE.”

ST’s STSAFE-VJ100-CCC in-vehicle system-on-chip solution is based on CC EAL6+ certified, automotive-grade 2 ST33K-A secure IC, integrating Java Card applications. The SoC stores credentials and other sensitive information, and performs cryptographic operations required to implement CCC Digital Key Release 3 use cases like owner pairing, key sharing, key termination/deletion. This provides a robust foundation for customers to build their digital car-key solutions.

More about ST’s digital car access systems can be found here.

More about G+D’s digital car key solutions can be found here.