US-based electronic payment services provider VeriFone has acquired Semtek, a US-based payment card security technology developer, for USD 18 million.

The new acquisition is expected to enable VeriFone to integrate the development, sales, implementation and support of its encryption products and services into the existing VeriFone organization. In addition, VeriFone will be offering software licenses to device manufacturers and payment processors to encourage market adoption.

In October 2007, VeriFone invested in Semtek’s equity funding. In April 2008, VeriFone introduced VeriShield Protect, the first commercial offering of end-to-end encryption for payments, which incorporated Semtek technology. The technology encrypts card holder information at the moment of acceptance, inside a secure device, keeping that data encrypted throughout an enterprise, to ensure protection of information in the event of a security breach.