SecureKey Technologies Inc., which makes a device that allows contactless cards to be used for online payments, has received an investment from Intel Capital.
Intel Capital is Intel Corp.'s global investment unit. SecureKey would not reveal any terms of the investment. Intel Capital said in a press release Monday that it had made six strategic investments worth $26 million in "mobility companies around the globe."
SecureKey, of Toronto, produces technology that enables secure online and mobile e-commerce transactions, using a device that looks like a USB memory stick. The device can turn a consumer's computer into a kind of contactless payment terminal, which consumers use by tapping cards equipped with chips against the device.
Contactless cards add security at the point of sale by generating a dynamic code for each transaction. Since the generation and transmission of this code is invisible to the end user, it cannot be used online in its regular form.
SecureKey works around that obstacle by having the extra security communicated through its USB stick. Once the card has been verified, the device fills out payment information for consumers at the checkout page. A dynamic code is provided as part of this information in one of the regular fields for payment information.
SecureKey plans to migrate its technology away from the USB stick. It would instead be built inside mobile devices, desktop PCs, laptops and tablets, said Chris Gardner, SecureKey's vice president in charge of partner engagement.
"The investment will continue to help the company grow on the R and D side, and it is a signal our technology is the sort of technology that bigger companies see as vital," Gardner said.
Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and executive vice president of Intel Corp., said in the press release: "As more devices compute and connect to the Internet, it creates an opportunity to deliver new end-user capabilities by supporting the development of mobile infrastructure, applications, services and components for Intel architecture-based platforms. These six investments represent key growth areas of the mobile ecosystem and will contribute to bringing important features to the next generation of mobile devices."
Intel Capital, of Santa Clara, Calif., said it invested $327 million in 119 investments in 2010.
