Lehi, Utah, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DigiCert, a leading global provider of digital trust, and the Accredited Standards Committee X9 (ASC X9) today announced the successful launch of the X9 Financial PKI production environment, marked by a formal key signing ceremony. This milestone activates the X9 root certificate infrastructure and paves the way for issuing digital certificates for a variety of use cases.
The X9 Financial PKI arrives at a critical moment for organizations navigating an increasingly complex trust landscape. In addition to long-standing interoperability challenges and the looming threat of quantum computing, new browser-driven changes are accelerating the need for modernization. Starting in 2029, major browser manufacturers will require TLS certificates to be renewed every 47 days—forcing organizations to adopt automation and agility in their certificate management processes. Meanwhile, Google Chrome has announced enforcement policies that will stop support for the use of public TLS (web server) certificates for client authentication.
“This launch is more than a technical milestone—it’s a signal to the broader industry that digital trust infrastructure must evolve beyond legacy dependencies,” said Steve Stevens, Executive Director at ASC X9. “The X9 Financial PKI will enable organizations across sectors to collaborate securely and confidently, free from the limitations of browser-based certificate models.
“The key signing ceremony marks the start of a more secure and interoperable future for organizations that rely on trusted digital communication—from banks and payment providers to healthcare networks, manufacturers, and connected infrastructure operators,” said Dean Coclin, Senior Director of Digital Trust at DigiCert. “Through this partnership, these organizations gain a flexible, policy-driven PKI foundation that simplifies risk management and supports infrastructure modernization while helping them prepare for quantum-era threats.”
The X9 Financial PKI addresses longstanding challenges with browser-controlled certificate models, which were never designed to support complex, non-web use-cases such as payment terminal interoperability on the financial services side, or more broadly, on secure device communication and cross-enterprise authentication. By decoupling from browser trust roots, the X9 infrastructure gives organizations autonomy to define policies and trust models tailored to their needs.
Key benefits of the X9 Financial PKI include:
- Independence from browser-based PKI, offering organizations full control over trust and usage policies.
- Interoperability across multiple industries, from finance and retail to IoT, payments, and smart infrastructure.
- Cross-certification capabilities, allowing integration with existing PKIs under a shared root of trust.
As the operator of the PKI service, DigiCert completed a competitive bidding process to ensure alignment with the technical, operational, and governance standards defined in the X9 Certificate Policy. Following a rigorous review—covering audits, testing, and overall value to X9—DigiCert was selected as the exclusive provider of certificates for X9.
About ASC X9
The Accredited Standards Committee X9 (ASC X9) is an ANSI-accredited standards development organization advancing digital trust and secure interoperability across a wide range of industries. Originally founded to serve the financial services sector, X9 has expanded its scope to support organizations in payments, commerce, connected infrastructure, and other digitally dependent ecosystems. X9’s mission is to establish secure, scalable, and interoperable trust frameworks that power critical systems and services worldwide.
About DigiCert
DigiCert is a leading global provider of digital trust, enabling individuals and businesses to engage online with the confidence that their footprint in the digital world is secure. DigiCert® ONE, the platform for digital trust, provides organizations with centralized visibility and control over a broad range of public and private trust needs, securing websites, enterprise access and communication, software, identity, content and devices. DigiCert pairs its award-winning software with its industry leadership in standards, support and operations, and is the digital trust provider of choice for leading companies around the world. For more information, visit www.digicert.com or follow @digicert.
Christina Knittel DigiCert 775-209-2461 christina.knittel@digicert.com
