Stakeholder preferences for mobile payment security platforms: Understanding trade-offs between sim, embedded and cloud-based secure elements

Authentication and identification for mobile payment transactions is typically provided by the secure element. While the SIM-card has long been the only option for locating the secure element, recently alternatives emerged like embedding the secure element into the device or offering it through the cloud. This paper elicits factors that influence stakeholder preferences for these three technical options. Exploratory interviews suggest a wide range of decision-making factors. Our results show that besides the basic security and performance traits of the technical options, other factors can only be understood when framing based on concepts of multisided platforms. The case of secure elements for mobile payments represents a highly complex illustration of platform competition that takes place on three different levels of the technical architecture.