Payment infrastructure and transaction management specialist Trintech Group Plc reports that its embedded Linux based PIN Entry Device (PED) has been certified by VISA as a secure PED. Additionally, Trintech's PayWare Smart5000 meets standards set out by EMVCo LLC, a company formed in 1999 by Europay International, MasterCard International, and Visa International to administer the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications for Payment Systems.

(Click for larger view of Trintech's Linux-powered Smart5000)

The standard for secure PEDs that Trintech's PayWare Smart 5000 has passed was created by VISA because vendors are moving from signature-based to PIN-based validation as a fraud deterrent, according to Trintech. All newly deployed PEDs must meet VISA PED requirements by Jan. 1, 2004.

Trintech says its PayWare Smart 5000 is easy to use, and operates on “an open Linux operating system running on a powerful ARM processor.” It claims the device is fast and powerful enough to run multiple applications “such as loyalty and stored value.”

Trintech calls its new PayWare Smart 5000 “an EMV certified PIN Pad terminal that can be used in any type of point-of-sale system.” The PayWare Smart 5000 supports both chip and magnetic swipe cards.

Trintech has also received secure PED certification from VISA on its older, non-Linux based Compact 950PP PED. Trintech claims its PEDs meet or exceed global national security requirements including the ZKA standard in Germany — widely acknowledged as one of the most stringent security standards in the world, according to Trintech.

Trintech says its PayWare Smart 5000 and Compact 950 have advanced tamper-proof mechanisms to safeguard against any physical or electronic attack, and to help prevent the PIN from being compromised.

“Our range of PIN Pads are regarded as being one of the most secure devices in the market,” says Eamon Keating, General Manager of Trintech's Retail Division.

The PayWare Smart5000 is part of the PayWare OpenPOS family announced in Mar. 2002.

 
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