Rambus Acquires Smart Card Software Ltd. To Gain Mobile Payment And Ticketing Solutions

Bell ID and Ecebs will boost Rambus' Cryptography Research Division

Rambus Inc. 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 £64.7 million in cash. 

Founded in 1993 and in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Bell Identification Ltd. (Bell ID) is a Dutch software company that develops smart token management solutions, which include key management and smart card management. The company is a recognized leader in mobile payments. Its technologies 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. 

In 2012, Rambus acquired Ecebs, a leading supplier of smart ticketing systems to the UK transport markets. The technologies and solutions from these two companies will support the Rambus Cryptography Research portfolio of products and services, providing a broad range of secure provisioning and management solutions.

Dr. Martin Scott, senior vice president and general manager of the Rambus Cryptography Research division, said in a statement:
“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,” and also added this: “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.”

Pat Curran, executive chairman of Smart Card Software Ltd., said in a statement: 
“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,” and also added this: “The combined organizations will be able to streamline the usability of advanced payment and ticketing schemes in the most secure manner.”

As part of the deal, 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.

Founded in 1990 and based in Sunnyvale, California, Rambus is an American technology licensing company known primarily for their development of RDDRAM. The company creates cutting-edge semiconductor and IP products, spanning memory and interfaces to security, smart sensors and lighting. Rambus has partnerships with leading ASIC and SoC designers, foundries, IP developers, EDA companies and validation labs. In addition, the company also develops security solutions for cloud computing and mobile devices. 

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