HNA Technology Investments Holdings Limited formerly known as Advanced Card Systems Holdings Limited is a Cayman Islands-incorporated offshore holding company. Its subsidiary, Advanced Card Systems Limited, was incorporated in British Hong Kong in 1995 by Denny Wong. In 2017,

HNA Group HNA Group Co., Ltd., is a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. Founded in 2000, it was involved in numerous industries including aviation, real estate, financial services, tourism, logistics, and more. It is a part owner ...

, via HNA EcoTech Group and HNA EcoTech Group's subsidiary, acquired Advanced Card Systems Holdings as part of a

reverse IPO A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compan ...

. ACS develops

smart cards A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

, smart card readers and related products, and distributes them to over one hundred countries. It was ranked by Frost & Sullivan as one of the world's top 3 suppliers and

Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isl ...

's top supplier of PC-linked Smart Card Readers. In 2010, 2014, and 2015, it was listed among ''

Forbes Asia ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

''s "Best Under a Billion", a prestigious list of 200 top-performing companies with sales between US$5 million and US$1 billion, selected from publicly listed enterprises in Asia Pacific.

History

Advanced Card Systems Holdings was acquired by

, via a subsidiary HNA EcoTech Group () in January 2017. HNA Group owned more than a third of the share capital of HNA EcoTech Group. Advanced Card Systems Holdings was renamed to HNA Technology Investments Holdings Limited in August 2017.

Products and services

ACS develops and supplies smart card reading and writing devices, smart cards, and other related products categorized into the following product lines: * Smart card and card

operating systems An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

* PC-linked smart card readers * Mobile card readers * Contactless readers * Smart card readers with PIN-pad * PC-linked readers with

mass storage In computing, mass storage refers to the storage of large amounts of data in a persisting and machine-readable fashion. In general, the term is used as large in relation to contemporaneous hard disk drives, but it has been used large in relati ...

* Dynamic Password Generators * Smart card reader modules *

Software development kits A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific to ...

ACS products are certified and compliant with global and national industry standards. These standards include NFC Forum Certification; EMV Level 1 & 2; Visa payWave; MasterCard PayPass; American ExpressPay; Discover Zip; UnionPay QuickPass;

Mondex Mondex was a smart card electronic cash system, implemented as a stored-value card and owned by Mastercard. Pioneered by two bankers from NatWest in 1990, it was spun-off to a separate consortium later on, then sold again to Mastercard. Mond ...

; EMV CAP and VISA DPA; qPBOC and PBOC (the People's Bank of China); NETS (Singapore); CE; UL/CSA; U.S.

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

(FCC); VCCI (Voluntary Control Council for Interference by Information Technology Equipment); FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards); and

Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) is a European Union regulation dating from 18 December 2006. REACH addresses the production and use of chemical substances, and their potential impacts on both human h ...

(REACH). ACS also offers product customization services to meet customer specifications. These include custom branding on ACS smart card and reader products. ACS also provides end-to-end, smart card‒based solutions. ACS has already delivered automatic fare collection (AFC), retail, and micropayment solutions all over the world. Furthermore, ACS conducts consultation and training sessions to help grow the smart card industry. In 2008, ACS offered an elective course on smart card technology in

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Chris ...

–

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

. In 2010, it conducted the first ever basic smart card training in the Philippines. It also conducted a two-day training on smart cards in the Information Technology Services Center (ITSC) of the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university a ...

(CUHK).

Applications

System integrators,

software developer Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development inv ...

s and solution houses worldwide use ACS smart card and card reader technologies, to create smart card-based applications for security systems in various sectors, including

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipel ...

identification Identification or identify may refer to: *Identity document, any document used to verify a person's identity Arts, entertainment and media * ''Identify'' (album) by Got7, 2014 * "Identify" (song), by Natalie Imbruglia, 1999 *Identification (a ...

, e-health,

e-government E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers ne ...

access control In the fields of physical security and information security, access control (AC) is the selective restriction of access to a place or other resource, while access management describes the process. The act of ''accessing'' may mean consuming ...

and

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain mana ...

Banking

In 2009, ACS deployed 100,000 ACR38 Smart Card Readers for the implementation of an online home banking project in an

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South ...

country. The project involved ACS's cooperation with the country's local bank and telecommunication company, to integrate ACS smart card technologies into

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Interne ...

-enabled desktop phones that customers used to access

online banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, web banking or home banking, is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial inst ...

services at home. In 2009, ACS also received over 60,000 orders of ACR30 Smart Card Readers from Hong Kong banks. This banks were complying with the Hong Kong secure e-banking project, which entailed using the Hong Kong Identity Card. Following

Hong Kong Monetary Authority The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is Hong Kong's central banking institution. It is a government authority founded on 1 April 1993 when the Office of the Exchange Fund and the Office of the Commissioner of Banking merged. The organisatio ...

(HKMA) guidelines that took effect in July 2005, these banks employed two-factor authentication tools, like e-Cert, for high-risk online banking transactions. The

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

(Asia), BOC Credit Card (International) Limited,

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ) is a Chinese majority state-owned commercial bank headquartered in Beijing and the fourth largest bank in the world. The Bank of China was founded in 1912 by the Republican government as China's central bank, repl ...

(Hong Kong), Chiyu Banking Corporation Limited, Nanyang Commercial Bank,

Bank of Communications Bank of Communications Limited (BoComm) (; often abbreviated as ), is the fifth-largest bank in mainland China. Established in 1908, the Bank of Communications claims a long history in China and is one of the banks to have issued banknotes in mo ...

(Hong Kong Branch),

The Bank of East Asia The Bank of East Asia Limited, often abbreviated to BEA, is a Hong Kong banking and financial services company, headquartered in Central, Hong Kong, Central, Hong Kong. It is currently the largest independent local Hong Kong bank, and one of ...

, CITIC Ka Wah Bank and

Dah Sing Bank Dah Sing Banking Group Limited (DSBG) is a Hong Kong-based banking and financial company, headquartered in Wan Chai. It has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2004. It has three main banking subsidiaries (Dah Sing Bank, Banco Co ...

all used ACS's ACR30 to read smart ID cards embedded with Hong Kong Post e-Cert.

Access control

In 2011, ACS was chosen as a smart card reader supplier for a solution intended to secure US embassies worldwide. The

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

(DoS) had initiated a tender for a reader to secure physical and logical networks for embassy employees. Partnered with one of the bidders, ACS proposed the ACR3801 Smart card reader, a TAA-compliant, FIPS 201‒certified PC-linked reader. These standards enabled the ACR3801 to meet the security challenges presented by the DoS. ACS also participated in the security enhancement project set up by the

World Olympians Association The World Olympians Association (WOA) is an independent association of Olympic Games competitors. Its stated objectives are to promote the Olympic ideals and fair play, advance environmental protection, educate against doping and drug use, supply ...

(WOA) for the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

. ACS provided ACOS3

Microcontroller A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs ( processor cores) along with memory and programma ...

Smart Cards to identify around 4,000 guests, and ACR88 Handheld PIN-Pad Readers to read the smart cards. ACS partnered with Artemis Solutions Group (ASG), which specialized in providing a complete credential management system for attendees of the Olympic Reunion Center (ORC).

Transportation

In August 2009, ACS supplied ACR122

Near Field Communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be ...

(NFC) Readers for

EZ-Link The EZ-Link card is a rechargeable contactless smart card and electronic money system that is primarily used as a payment method for public transport such as bus and rail lines in Singapore. A standard EZ-Link card is a credit-card-sized stor ...

cardholders to manage their new EZ-Link cards at home. Via the EZ-Online System, cardholders can check and print their 20 most recent transaction records, top-up their cards from a bank account, and load EZ-Coupons that may be used to redeem bonuses once the Ez-Link cards are presented to retail shops.

Government

In 2013, ACS was chosen by a Middle Eastern country's Ministry of Labour to supply smart card readers that will help make labour transactions paperless and performable outside government offices. ACS supplied the ACR89, which was distributed directly to organizations and installed in service centers throughout the country, so that they may be more conveniently accessed by company operators and owners. This accessibility, coupled with a secure authentication system, generated savings for both the government, and various companies and organizations; simplified processes; and improved records management. Also, over 100,000 ACS ACR38 Smart Card Readers were deployed during the pilot run of the project, "Belgian eID card reader for the 12-year-olds" in 2006. The decision to utilize ACS smart card readers was issued by the Federal Information and Communication Technology (FedICT) Department of the Belgian Government. In the same year, the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

ian Government, began issuing smart

taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

cards to taxpayers for security reasons. ACS's ACR100 SIMFlash Smart Card Readers were used to input, check and back-up transaction information of the taxpayers.

eHealth

In 2008, ACS won a tender to supply 600,000 units of PC-linked contact smart card readers to the regional government of

Lombardia (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The readers were used for read and write operations on health cards used by Lombardian citizens, pharmacies, doctors, hospitals, etc., to access medical services, as well as online government services.

Retails

In 2013, ACS was chosen as the primary technology partner of the Philippines' largest mall developer/operator and retail company for an end-to-end loyalty, payment, and automated fare collection (AFC) solution. ACS's scalable solution enabled faster and convenient transactions for mall visitors, while improving generation, accessibility, and management of transaction reports. In 2006, ACS's ACR120 contactless smart card readers were adopted by a high-end Japanese supermarket in Hong Kong for its customer

loyalty program A loyalty program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of a business associated with the program. Today, such programs cover most types of commerce, each having varying features an ...

, which began transitioning from contact to contactless smart card technology in 2005. Meanwhile, ACS was selected to provide ACR122 contactless card readers to

Pacific Century CyberWorks PCCW Limited (formerly known as Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited) is a Hong Kong-based information and communications technology (ICT) company. The company is the majority owner of telecommunications company HKT Limited, and also holds a m ...

Limited (PCCW) Hong Kong in 2008. ACR 122 Octopus card readers were made available to be connected to PCCW's multimedia VoIP phone, thus allowing cardholders to check their card balance and their ten most recent transactions in the Hong Kong Octopus Card without the need for Octopus Enquiry Machines that are located in MTR stations only.

References

External links

ACS - Advanced Card Systems Ltd.
{{Use British English, date=June 2011 Smart cards Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Offshore companies of the Cayman Islands Holding companies of Hong Kong Computer companies of Hong Kong 1995 establishments in Hong Kong 2003 establishments in the Cayman Islands HNA Group