Microsoft, Marvell and Utimaco to Deliver Industry-first Secure, Cloud-scale Payments Solution for financial institutions and payment service providers.

The payment industry is evolving rapidly, with financial institutions and payment providers facing growing transaction volumes, increasingly sophisticated security threats, growing infrastructure costs and expanding regulatory requirements. At the same time, organizations are looking to modernize their infrastructure and adopt cloud-based operating models without compromising security, compliance or control.
 

Combining hardware, payment software and cloud services

Addressing these requirements, Microsoft, Utimaco and Marvell have combined their technologies to deliver Azure Payment HSM v2, a highly available, cloud-native payment security platform designed specifically for regulated payment workloads.

Azure Payment HSM v2 brings together three complementary technologies. Marvell LiquidSecurity hardware security modules (HSMs) provide hardware-backed cryptographic protection and high transaction throughput, with an architecture designed for dense, multi-tenant cloud environments.

Utimaco contributes its Atalla Payments Module, industry-proven payment security software supporting critical use cases including card issuance, PIN translation, mobile payments and cryptographic key management. The software is designed to support multiple hardware platforms, providing flexibility within a multi-vendor infrastructure.

Microsoft integrates these technologies through its Azure cloud platform, delivering the combined capabilities as a fully managed service. This approach allows customers to access payment-specific HSM capabilities without having to deploy, operate and maintain dedicated physical infrastructure themselves.
 

Designed for regulated payment environments

For banks, payment processors and other financial institutions, modernizing payment infrastructure requires more than technical scalability. Organizations must also address PCI security and compliance requirements, audit obligations, performance expectations, and regional data sovereignty considerations.

Azure Payment HSM v2 is designed to address these requirements within a cloud-scale operating model. By combining hardware-based key protection, proven payment cryptography and managed cloud delivery, the platform provides a foundation for securing sensitive payment workloads while retaining cryptographic key sovereignty.

The fully managed model also reduces the operational complexity traditionally associated with dedicated payment HSM environments, allowing organizations to scale security capabilities in line with changing transaction demand.

“We are proud to position our globally successful Atalla Payment Module in Microsoft’s multi-vendor HSM infrastructure provided by Marvell,” said Stefan Auerbach, CEO of Utimaco. “This is an industry first and provides excellent performance and maximum security to Microsoft and its payment customers.”    
 

Supporting the modernization of payment networks

Traditional payment HSM deployments often depend on customer-owned, heavy infrastructure build-up. While these environments provide strong security controls, they can also introduce operational and scaling challenges, particularly for organizations operating across multiple markets and experiencing difficulties in finding personnel with niche security expertise.  

The integration of Marvell, Utimaco and Microsoft technologies provides an alternative approach, combining purpose-built payment security with cloud-native delivery. This enables financial institutions and payment providers to modernize their payment environments while maintaining the security, availability and compliance characteristics required for critical workloads.

The collaboration demonstrates how complementary technologies can be brought together to create a more scalable and operationally efficient model for payment security. As payment networks continue to evolve, the ability to combine proven cryptographic technology with cloud-scale infrastructure will become increasingly important for organizations seeking to modernize without compromising trust or control.

Atalla AT1000 Payment HSM: High-Performance Security for Modern Payments

Utimaco has been at the forefront of securing critical payment operations, helping global organizations protect the technologies, data, and cryptographic assets that underpin today’s payment ecosystem.

Utimaco's Atalla Payment HSM and its Payment Module cryptographic software are globally recognized cybersecurity solution, designed to deliver the performance, security, and compliance essential to organizations across the financial services sector.

Designed to protect sensitive payment data, cryptographic keys, PINs, and cardholder authentication, Utimaco helps secure critical payment use cases throughout the ecosystem, including PIN processing, ATM remote key loading, transaction processing at ATMs and points of sale, and PIN verification.

The solution also helps organizations achieve and maintain compliance with stringent industry standards, including PCI DSS and PCI PIN. With deep expertise in payment security and proven cryptographic technology, Utimaco provides organizations with a trusted foundation for securing transactions, protecting sensitive payment information, and maintaining trust across the global payment ecosystem.

Utimaco's Atalla AT 1000 Payment HSM is offered as on-premises or as cloud hosted Payment HSM as a Service.  

About the Author

Manish Upasani

Head of Product Management, Utimaco