ACS's new ACR89 Smart Card Reader with PIN-Pad powers versatile smart card applications

June 26, 2012

HONG KONG, 26 Jun, 2012 – Advanced Card Systems Ltd. (ACS, wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Card Systems Holdings Ltd., SEHK: 8210), Asia Pacific's number 1 supplier and one of the world's top 3 suppliers of PC-linked smart card readers (Source: Frost & Sullivan), launches the new ACR89 Handheld Smart Card Reader, the latest addition to ACS’s Smart Card Readers with PIN-Pad product line.

As smart card technology continues to gain more adopters, smart card reader developers see an opportunity to enrich user experience by adding innovative features on top of smart card reading capabilities. As a result of this flexibility, devices can be more easily integrated into multi-application systems, for example e-purse applications used in retail and transport. In this regard, ACS has created the new ACR89 reader, which features an LCD display, PIN-pad, dual smart card slots, 3 SAM card slots, as well as optional thermal printer and contactless card support.

ACR89 provides a secure, portable and cost-effective solution for implementing smart card applications. It reduces the risk of fraud and security breach via two-factor and mutual authentication. It also has Secure PIN Entry (SPE) to make sure all PINs input into the device are protected from PC-targeted attacks such as sniffing and phishing. Furthermore, its dual slots for full-sized smart cards enable simultaneous processing of two cards, which lead to better security and quicker transactions.

ACR89 is also highly versatile, and suitable for both in-house and field-based applications; it can be used either on its PC-Linked or Standalone mode. It comes with a USB cable for its PC-linked mode, and a Lithium-ion Battery for its Standalone mode. Additionally, it has a RS232 serial interface port for connection to other peripherals.

Finally, ACR89 supports ISO 7816 cards, contact MCU cards and memory cards. Its optional contactless reader feature supports ISO 14443 Type A and B and Mifare, as well as Felica cards and NFC tags. With its 32Bit RISC Processor running embedded FreeRTOS, it provides optimal performance and a multitasking environment for creating standalone applications. ARC89 is particularly suitable for e-Government, e-Commerce and e-Healthcare applications.

ACR89 is much more advanced version of ACS’s ACR88 PIN-Pad Reader and will replace ACR88. Some functional differences are shown in the table below.

Find out more about ACR89 at here.

About ACS

Advanced Card Systems Ltd. (ACS, wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Card Systems Holdings Ltd., SEHK: 8210), founded in 1995, is Asia Pacific's top supplier and one of the world's top 3 suppliers of PC-linked smart card readers, as well as the winner of the Product Quality Leadership Award for Smart Card Readers from Frost & Sullivan. One of the companies on Forbes Asia's 2010 “Best Under a Billion" list, a prestigious list of 200 top-performing companies with sales between US$5 million and US$1 billion, selected from 12,930 publicly listed enterprises in Asia Pacific, ACS develops a wide range of high quality smart card reading/writing devices, smart cards and related products and distributes them to over 100 countries worldwide. Visit ACS at https://www.acs.com.hk/ .