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Licel vTEE renews EMVCo SBMP TEE approval

Thursday, June 04, 2026 — 17:54:24 (UTC)

Licel vTEE Renews EMVCo SBMP TEE Approval

Second consecutive cross-platform approval reinforces the Licel vTEE as an independently validated foundation for secure execution in critical mobile applications; from wallets and SoftPOS to mobile banking and digital identity.

LONDON, June 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- This marks the second consecutive year the Licel vTEE has been evaluated and approved across both Android and iOS, reinforcing its position as a mature, independently validated secure execution environment for organizations building critical mobile services.

The Licel vTEE functions as a software-based secure element embedded within a mobile application, providing an isolated environment for Trusted Applications and sensitive logic without reliance on a separate hardware secure element. When combined with Licel's broader protection portfolio — including DexProtector for application hardening and runtime defence, and Alice Threat Intelligence for real-time risk assessment — the Licel vTEE forms part of a layered security model for the modern mobile channel.

The evaluation of the vTEE was carried out once again by the world-leading lab, Applus+ Laboratories. "The third year in a row of EMVCo SBMP TEE approval for the Android platform, and second consecutive year across both platforms is a great achievement for the Licel vTEE", says Jose Ruiz, Cybersecurity BU Director of Applus+ Laboratories. "The team here at Applus+ Laboratories has built a real depth of expertise evaluating solutions that are helping to ensure digital trust."

The cross-platform nature of this EMVCo approval matters. Developers of payment wallets, digital identity solutions, SoftPOS applications, and other high-security services have historically maintained separate security stacks for Android, iOS, and emerging platforms. The Licel vTEE provides a security-evaluated, hardware-agnostic secure enclave that enables teams to write their most sensitive code once and deploy it consistently across major mobile operating systems.

The EMVCo approval lands at a moment when the EU is formalizing expectations for the cybersecurity certification of European Digital Identity Wallets. ENISA's draft candidate scheme, currently in public review, sets a high bar for the isolation of sensitive cryptographic operations and explicitly allows for the use of evidence from other rigorous certification frameworks. Independently evaluated solutions like the Licel vTEE are well placed to support wallet providers as the regulatory landscape continues to develop.

"Mobile has become the place where the world stores trust," said Ivan Kinash, co-founder and CEO of Licel. "People pay, bank, identify themselves and access critical services from devices that were never designed to be a single security perimeter. Hardware roots of trust remain important, but they cannot be the only answer in a fast-moving, fragmented mobile ecosystem. For 15 years, our approach has been layered, dynamic and practical security, and this renewed approval validates the maturity of the Licel vTEE as a core part of our approach."

The EMVCo* SBMP TEE category is a demanding evaluation path because it addresses not only software protection around an application, but the secure execution environment used to process sensitive operations. For payment innovators, banks, wallet providers, SoftPOS vendors, issuers and digital identity teams, this provides independent validation that the Licel vTEE can serve as a trusted component in the development of secure, compliant mobile solutions.

*EMVCo issuance of a certificate for the Product shall mean only that the Product has been evaluated in accordance and for sufficient conformance with the EMV Security Guidelines for TEE-based Mobile Payment as of the date of evaluation. EMVCo's certificate is not in any way an endorsement or warranty regarding the completeness of the security evaluation process or the security, functionality, quality or performance of any particular product or service. EMVCo does not warrant any products or services provided by third parties, including, but not limited to, the producer or provider of the Product and EMVCo approval does not under any circumstances include or imply any product warranties from EMVCo, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for purpose, or non-infringement, all of which are expressly disclaimed by EMVCo. All rights and remedies regarding products and services which have received EMVCo approval shall be provided by the party providing such products or services, and not by EMVCo and EMVCo accepts no liability whatsoever in connection therewith.

About Licel

Licel is a global mobile channel protection company helping organizations protect applications, SDKs and sensitive mobile services from rapidly evolving cyber threats. For more than 15 years, Licel has worked with organizations across banking, payments, healthcare, telecoms, public sector and other high-security industries to safeguard mobile interactions and transactions.

About Applus+ Laboratories

Applus+ Laboratories is a division of Applus+, a global leader in the testing, inspection and certification sector. Its IT laboratories specialize in providing security and functional evaluations for IT products and secure technologies.

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Source: Company press release.

Categories: Announcement