[February 12, 2013]

Thales and Miura Help Reduce the Cost of Mobile Payments

Thales, leader in information systems and communications security, and Miura Systems, announce an integrated mobile payment solution that enables merchants to adopt mobile point of sale (mPOS) systems that fully support PIN based transactions, including the use of EMV chip cards.

For years, smaller merchants such as market stall traders, home repair tradesmen and even charities have been excluded from the world of card payments and forced to rely on cash. To address this need, solutions that utilize smartphones to accept payments using traditional magnetic swipe cards and signatures have become firmly established. However, these merchants have had no simple means to step up to the advantages of accepting PIN based transactions and chip based EMV payment cards, until now. The combined solution from Miura and Thales (News - Alert) not only enables merchants to take advantage of the inherent security qualities of these technologies to reduce fraud and simplify compliance, they also qualify for reduced interchange fees which directly benefits their bottom line.

News facts:

• The use of PIN based transactions and EMV cards requires a level of security that has (largely) prevented their use in the context of mobile payments since smartphones cannot be certified to the appropriate standards (PCI (News - Alert) PTS).
• The ultra-portable Miura Shuttle mPOS terminal is a convenient, low cost card reader and secure PIN pad that connects to any smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth or WiFi (News - Alert) to deliver the same security and certifications as familiar in-store point of sale terminals.
• Any payment system relies on end-to-end protection of the transaction from the customer terminal right through to the payment processing infrastructure. Thales has worked with Miura to protect that back-end infrastructure via interoperability with the Thales payShield 9000 hardware security module (HSM).
• The Thales payShield HSM is specifically designed to support all forms of card based transactions and includes enhanced support for key management for mPOS terminals and encryption of cardholder data.
• Payment Service Providers (PSPs) can offer merchants a broader range of mobile acceptance solutions that now extends to the most secure card types and cost effective transaction models. Furthermore, by adopting the Point to Point Encryption (P2PE) capabilities provided by Miura and Thales, PSPs can help merchants to significantly reduce the scope of their PCI DSS compliance obligations.
• Through the integration work performed by Miura and Thales, merchants and PSPs are able to take advantage of proven interoperability and a rapid deployment toolkit to quickly and simply provide their customers with a wider range of payment options and take advantage of the lowest cost transaction model available.

"Our CardEase Mobile application enables affordable on-the-go payments with an easy-to-use secure application. The proven interoperability of the Miura and Thales solution allowed us to both rapidly and confidently build our secure mobile credit card processing solution for chip and PIN."

Andrew Hodges, Chief Technology Officer at Miura says:

"Thales's extensive expertise and resources in the payment market made them a great partner to deliver the high assurance payment processing for our mobile acceptance solution. With this joint offering, PSPs can satisfy their compliance obligations and create a secure, yet flexible and easily managed mPOS infrastructure."

Ian Hermon, mobile payments specialist at Thales e-Security says:

"Mobile acceptance has seen tremendous growth globally over the past year, but there has remained a gap between the payment options available at fixed, in-store point of sale terminal and mobile devices. Furthermore, the fact that mobile acceptance devices have lacked the appropriate security technologies to qualify for lower fee structures has penalized smaller merchant that are accepting card payments for the first time. As a payment technology leader, Thales is working with innovators such as Miura to close that gap by delivering the same high levels of security to the mobile world as have become commonplace in the traditional in-store fixed terminal environment."

Miura Systems is a member of the Thales Alliance for Solution and Application Providers (ASAP) program. Thales partners with leading technology companies and systems integrators to meet the data security needs of security-conscious organizations around the globe. The ASAP program develops technical partnerships to ensure that Thales solutions integrate seamlessly with leading applications and hardware, making it easy to deploy best practice security solutions.

Visit Thales on stand #16, Merchant Payments Ecosystem Conference, InterContinental, Berlin, 12-14 February 2013.

For industry insight and views on the latest key management trends check out our blog www.thales-esecurity.com/blogs

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About Thales e-Security

Thales e-Security is a leading global provider of data encryption and cyber security solutions to the financial services, high technology, manufacturing, government and technology sectors. With a 40-year track record of protecting corporate and government information, Thales solutions are used by four of the five largest energy and aerospace companies, 22 NATO countries, and secure more than 80 percent of worldwide payment transactions. Thales e-Security has offices in Australia, France, Hong Kong, Norway, United States and the United Kingdom. www.thales-esecurity.com

About Thales

Thales is a global technology leader for the defence & security and the aerospace & transport markets. In 2011 the company generated revenues of €13 billion with 67,000 employees in 56 countries. With its 22,500 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design, develop and deploy equipment, systems and services that meet the most complex security requirements. Thales has an exceptional international footprint, with operations around the world working with customers and local partners. www.thalesgroup.com

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