System and method for transaction security enhancement

A method, comprising:

• receiving a request from a mobile application to verify itself, wherein the request contains an authentication instrument assigned to a provider of the mobile application, wherein the mobile application is executed within a non-secure operating environment on a mobile electronic device;
• communicating with a secure applet that is executed in a secure operating environment on the mobile electronic device, wherein the secure operating environment and the non-secure operating environment are separate and independent from each other, and wherein the communicating includes sending the authentication instrument to the secure applet;
• and
• verifying the mobile application at least in part by using the secure applet, wherein the verifying comprises comparing the authentication instrument sent to the secure applet with a corresponding authentication instrument stored in the secure operating environment.

An apparatus comprising a non-transitory, tangible machine-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program contains machine-readable instructions that when executed electronically by processors, perform:

• receiving a request from a mobile application to verify itself, wherein the request contains an authentication instrument assigned to a provider of the mobile application, wherein the mobile application is executed within a non-secure operating environment on a mobile electronic device;
• communicating with a secure applet that is executed in a secure operating environment on the mobile electronic device, wherein the secure operating environment and the non-secure operating environment are separate and independent from each other, and wherein the secure operating environment and the non-secure operating environment are provided concurrently, and wherein the communicating includes sending the authentication instrument to the secure applet;
• and
• verifying the mobile application at least in part by using the secure applet and without accessing any remote server, wherein the verifying comprises comparing the authentication instrument sent to the secure applet with a corresponding authentication instrument stored in the secure operating environment.