diff --git a/model/api/pom.xml b/model/api/pom.xml
index ad17281e49..b35d43a01c 100644
--- a/model/api/pom.xml
+++ b/model/api/pom.xml
@@ -37,6 +37,18 @@
             <groupId>org.codehaus.jackson</groupId>
             <artifactId>jackson-core-asl</artifactId>
         </dependency>
+
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.jboss.aerogear</groupId>
+            <artifactId>aerogear-crypto</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>bouncycastle</groupId>
+            <artifactId>bcprov-jdk16</artifactId>
+            <version>140</version>
+        </dependency>
+
     </dependencies>
     
     <profiles>
diff --git a/model/api/src/main/java/org/jboss/aerogear/unifiedpush/api/iOSVariant.java b/model/api/src/main/java/org/jboss/aerogear/unifiedpush/api/iOSVariant.java
index f61093d633..49fe6d67a4 100644
--- a/model/api/src/main/java/org/jboss/aerogear/unifiedpush/api/iOSVariant.java
+++ b/model/api/src/main/java/org/jboss/aerogear/unifiedpush/api/iOSVariant.java
@@ -21,11 +21,13 @@
 
 import org.codehaus.jackson.annotate.JsonIgnore;
 import org.codehaus.jackson.annotate.JsonProperty;
+import org.jboss.aerogear.crypto.encoders.Base64;
 
 /**
  * The iOS variant class encapsulates APNs specific behavior.
  */
 public class iOSVariant extends Variant {
+    private static final Base64 encoder = new Base64();
     private static final long serialVersionUID = -889367404039436329L;
 
     private boolean production;
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ public class iOSVariant extends Variant {
 
     @NotNull(message = "Certificate must be provided")
     @JsonIgnore
-    private byte[] certificate;
+    private String certificateData;
 
     /**
      * If <code>true</code> a connection to Apple's Production APNs server
@@ -75,12 +77,12 @@ public void setPassphrase(final String passphrase) {
      */
     @JsonIgnore
     public byte[] getCertificate() {
-        return certificate;
+        return encoder.decode(certificateData);
     }
 
     @JsonProperty
     public void setCertificate(byte[] cert) {
-        this.certificate = cert;
+        this.certificateData = encoder.encode(cert);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/model/jpa/src/main/resources/META-INF/orm.xml b/model/jpa/src/main/resources/META-INF/orm.xml
index 2308a8985d..fa75856f84 100644
--- a/model/jpa/src/main/resources/META-INF/orm.xml
+++ b/model/jpa/src/main/resources/META-INF/orm.xml
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence/orm_2_0.xsd"
     <entity class="iOSVariant" access="FIELD">
         <discriminator-value>ios</discriminator-value>
         <attributes>
-            <basic name="certificate">
-                <lob/>
+            <basic name="certificateData">
+                <column length="100000"/>
             </basic>
         </attributes>
     </entity>