Security
IDEMIA Secure Transactions gets EMVCo certification for post-quantum payment card platform
IDEMIA Secure Transactions says it is the first company to receive EMVCo certification for a payment card platform that includes post-quantum cryptography and crypto-agility services. The certified Java Card platform pairs a hardware post-quantum accelerator with the IDEMIA Sphere PQC library, which supports NIST-standardized algorithms including ML-KEM for key establishment and ML-DSA for digital signatures. The platform can run existing payment applications alongside the new algorithms, which the company says allows a phased transition as payment standards evolve. IDEMIA also says the platform can support uses beyond payments, such as digital identity and authentication.
Why it mattersPayment cards stay in use for years and have limited processing power and memory, so adding post-quantum algorithms while staying compatible with existing payment infrastructure is a technical constraint. IDEMIA CTO Marc Bertin says banks cannot wait until quantum computers can break today's cryptography to address post-quantum security.