The Green Sheet Online Edition
July 7, 2016 • 16:07:02
Flexible, EMV-ready mobile payment solution
Founded in 1993, Castles Technology is a Taiwan-based technology provider of contact and contactless payment solutions. It has expanded rapidly in recent years, establishing offices in Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain, and opening U.S. headquarters in Atlanta in 2015. In addition to its POS terminals, the company manufactures a range of payment devices, including contactless readers, smart card readers, PIN pads, mobile POS devices, and kiosks and modules for the self-attended POS market.
The company recently introduced the MP200, the latest addition to its product family. Designed to meet growing demand for flexible mobile devices that function both as peripherals and standalone payment devices, the MP200 supports Android, iOS and Windows operating systems and an array of payment schemes, communications protocols and connectivity options, the company stated.
"The Castles Technology MP200 is a perfect device at a perfect time, when a lot of developers need to have an EMV solution to integrate into their payment systems," said Dave Cunningham, Senior Vice President Sales, U.S. West for Castles.
The portable, handheld device can process mag stripe, contact and contactless payment card transactions and is equipped with multiple communications options, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro-USB and GPRS 3G. Its ergonomic design, with backlit keypad and small footprint, makes the unit broadly adaptable within fixed and mobile POS environments as well as small, midsize and enterprise-scale merchant settings, according to company representatives.
Castles noted that the MP200 includes the following additional features and benefits:
- EMV-ready: The MP200 is Level 1 and Level 2 EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) certified and can be used in both semi-integrated and fully integrated EMV environments to streamline and expedite EMV compliance. Its contact EMV reader is built in to the device.
- NFC-capable: An optional near field communication (NFC) reader embedded in the MP200's 2.36-inch color screen facilitates contactless payment cards and mobile wallet schemes.
- Certifications: The MP200 is PCI 4.x certified and is certified with all payment card brand contactless schemes, including Visa payWave, MasterCard PayPass, AmEx ExpressPay, JCB J/Speedy, Sony Corp. FeliCa, Interac Flash, China UnionPay QuickPass and Discover D-PAS. The unit has also passed mobility and extreme handling tests.
- Secure Linux platform: The MP200 uses a 32-bit secure microprocessor and Linux-based operating system, making it universally compatible with a range of emerging technologies and payment schemes. Remote key loading and download capabilities are also available.
- Extended battery life: The MP200 has a long battery life for added convenience and flexibility in mobile payment environments.
- Software developer resources: Additional software development kits, key management services and application programming interface libraries are available.
Castles emphasized that its MP200 is a multifunctional, universally compatible, handheld device that lends itself to an expanding array of PC-based, mobile, Windows, Android and iOS business environments and applications. The product has a direct-to-host connection with First Data Corp. and can work with any gateway. Castles' help centers provide continuous online and call center support.
Website: www.castlestech.com Contact: info-na@castlestech.com
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