ActivCard made an initial payment of $9.7 million in a mixture of cash and stock for the Aspace stake, with an additional $9.7 million due on the achievement of certain milestones.

Ben Barnes, ActivCard CEO says the acquisition positions the firm as a leading provider of authentication and authorisation solutions for banks.

He says: "This fast growing segment is part of the over $2 billion identity and access management market that is estimated to grow about 10 percent annually."

The Aspace 4TRESS system enables banks to authenticate and audit customer activity across a range of multiple contact points. The software is complementary to ActivCard's token authentication system and should push the firm ahead of key competitors Vasco and RSA Security in the banking space.

ActivCard has built its stake on Aspace over the past eighteen months, funding the firm's continued development over that time.

ActivCard currently has four million users worldwide, and lists Barclays, Credit Agricole and First Republic among its banking customers.