Thales, leader in information systems and communications security, andCreditCall, the award-winning payment services provider, announce that Thales payShield 9000 hardware security modules (HSMs) have been deployed to secure CreditCall’s CardEase Mobile application, enabling affordable on-the-go payments for smaller merchants.

Until now smaller merchants and mobile businesses 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. CreditCall’s CardEase Mobile application enables merchants to use a smartphone or tablet together with a low cost card reader to accept both EMV chip and PIN and magnetic stripe credit or debit card payments on-site.

Thales payShield 9000 HSMs are a critical component in securing the CardEase Mobile solution. Designed specifically for the payment industry, payShield 9000 HSMs secure devices running card issuing and payment processingapplications. The CardEase Mobile application integrates Thales payShield HSMs with card readers from Miura and Spire to enable a point-to-point encryption (P2PE) zone to be established between the card acceptance point and the internet-based payment gateway. The key management provided by payShield 9000 is critical to securing customer data in a P2PE solution, both to defend against external data extraction threats and to protect against compromise by a malicious insider. With robust role-based access controls, tamper-resistant security and easy-to-use management capabilities, Thales HSMs offered CreditCall the highest level of security in the industry.

CardEase Mobile works in conjunction with a merchant account which can be obtained from payment processors such as Elavon and Sage Pay.

Jeremy Gumbley, Chief Technology Officer at CreditCall says:
“Thales and CreditCall are working together to improve industry-wide cardholder data security. Thales was an obvious choice for us – a best-in-class solution with wider support and recognition in the payments arena than any other provider. Hardware solutions are pivotal in making security viable in mobile environments. You need to be able to police and control your encryption keys independently from the rest of your infrastructure. We’re passionate about providing true security rather than merely a fig leaf of security.”

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 due to the lack of appropriate security technologies available until now for mobile devices. As a payment technology leader, Thales is working with innovators such as CreditCall 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.”