Toronto-based Carta Worldwide has launched a technology pilot of Host Card Emulation (HCE) for NFC mobile payments with Spain's Banco Sabadell.

The pilot will test EMV-based proximity transactions at existing contactless POS terminals without the need for additional integration and upgrades. Because it uses cloud technology, HCE does not require NFC card credentials to be stored or managed on a mobile device.

"The most notable feature of this pilot is how easy it is for users to add their credit cards to their phone without having to manipulate any physical secure element or rely on third-party service providers," Albert Figueras, Banco Sabadell's director of credit cards and consumer finance, said in a statement.

"HCE technology will accelerate the deployment of NFC-based mobile products at a fraction of the cost of traditional models that are currently in market," Brian Semkiw, Carta's CEO, said.

Carta’s NFC/HCE payment system works with devices running Android OS KitKat 4.4, and supports NFC-based High Value Transactions (HVT) which are authenticated through mobile PIN entry.

The system provides full lifecycle support for credit, debit and prepaid cardholder credentials and transactions, Carta says. It also includes EMV data preparation, personalization, provisioning and credential management via a secure cloud server, Carta says.