HK Leading Banks Are Adopting ACS Smart ID Card Reader For 2-Factor Authentication In Secure E-Banking Services

February 3, 2006

Advanced Card Systems Ltd. (HKGEM: 8210), Asia Pacific's number one in PC-linked smart card readers industry, is happy to announce that ACS has successfully secured orders for over 60,000 ACR30 Smart ID card readers for 2-factor authentication in HK secure e-banking project.

Following the guidelines of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), starting from July 2005, local banks will employ two-factor authentication tools like e-Cert for high-risk online banking transactions. Two-factor authentication strengthens the security of e-banking by offering stronger online identity authentication.

Hong Kong Post e-Cert embedded in smart ID card and ACS ACR30 smart ID card reader are readily available two-factor authentication tool. It uses a combination of two different factors to verify a user's identity. The first factor is "something the user knows" the e-Cert password, and the second factor is "something the user has" the e-Cert embedded in the smart ID card.

The e-Cert password (first factor) is used to generate a digital signature for identity verification and the password does not need to be transmitted over the Internet. The e-Cert embedded HK smart ID card (second factor) is physically held by the user and thus it cannot be stolen by fraudsters over the Internet. Therefore, the identity of e-banking user can be securely protected against theft and fraud over the Internet.

The following banks have already accepted ACR30 smart ID card reader and the e-Cert embedded in smart ID card in their e-banking services:

• Bank of America (Asia)
• BOC Credit Card (International) Limited
• Bank of China (Hong Kong)
• Chiyu Banking Corporation Limited
• Nanyang Commercial Bank
• Bank of Communications (Hong Kong Branch)
• The Bank of East Asia
• CITIC Ka Wah Bank
• Dah Sing Bank