Bell ID acquired by chip maker Rambus’ digital security division

PARTNER NEWS: Tokenization and mobile payments specialist Bell ID has been acquired by chip maker Rambus. Bell ID will form part of Rambus’ Cryptography Research division, which specialises in embedded security solutions including tamper resistance, content protection, network security and secure payment and transaction services.

Bell ID“Rambus’ investment in the Bell ID platforms will help us to enhance the support we provide to our valued customers and partners, further strengthening our position at the forefront of the secure mobile payments ecosystem,” Bell ID chief executive David Orme writes in a blog post. “Our customers will not experience any immediate changes to the way we do business.

“In fact, Rambus will help us to maintain and enhance the support we already have in place. Our head office will remain in Rotterdam and we will continue to offer the levels of service and innovation that our customers have come to expect. I look forward to sharing more updates on our integration over the next few months.”

Full details can be found in the press release:

Rambus acquires secure mobile payment and ticketing solutions

Bell ID and Ecebs bolster Cryptography Research division

Sunnyvale, Calif. – 25 January 2016 – Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) today announced it has acquired Smart Card Software Ltd which includes Bell Identification Ltd (Bell ID) and Ecebs Ltd (Ecebs) through the purchase of all outstanding shares of Smart Card Software Ltd., for £64.7M in cash. As part of this acquisition, the advanced mobile payment platform developed by Bell ID, along with the smart ticketing platform created by Ecebs, will be incorporated into the Rambus Cryptography Research division. Rambus expects the acquisition to be accretive to pro forma earnings within the first 12 months.

“The secure mobile payment and smart ticketing markets are growth opportunities, and the technologies developed by Bell ID and Ecebs complement our CryptoManager platform and will allow  us to leverage our foundational security technology to offer differentiated, value-added security solutions,” said Dr Martin Scott, senior vice president and general manager of the Rambus Cryptography Research division. “We welcome the teams of Bell ID and Ecebs to the Rambus Cryptography Research division and look to continue building comprehensive product offerings for the market to better service our collective customer base.”

“It’s exciting for Bell ID and Ecebs to become part of an organization with a deep foundation in security which can enhance growth and offer even more comprehensive solutions to our customers whilst strengthening its global market and technology profile,” said Pat Curran, executive chairman of Smart Card Software Ltd. “The combined organizations will be able to streamline the usability of advanced payment and ticketing schemes in the most secure manner.”

Bell ID is a recognized leader in mobile payments. The technologies created by Bell ID include a full suite of mobile payment solutions that support cloud-based services using host card emulation (HCE), EMVCo tokenization (TSP), trusted services management (TSM) for SIM-based projects and embedded secure element solutions. Ecebs is a leading supplier of smart ticketing systems to the UK transport markets and has developed software to meet the growing demand for cloud-based, secure ticketing schemes, which can open up lower cost smart ticketing to a wider market. These technologies and solutions will support the Rambus Cryptography Research portfolio of products and services, providing a broad range of secure provisioning and management solutions.

To learn more about Rambus and the Cryptography Research division, visit rambus.com/security.

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