ACI Worldwide Inc. has entered into an exclusive agreement with Bell ID to license Bell ID's solutions for smart card management to financial markets and retailers around the world. As part of the deal, ACI will market and license the ANDiS suite of products, which will continue to be developed by Bell ID from its Dutch headquarters.
According to a news release from ACI, the Bell ID products include the ANDiS Card and Application Management System — which supports all of the lifecycle phases of smart card management, including embossing file import, data preparation, personalization, EMV script management and central or in-branch issuance. The ANDiS Key Management System allows users to define, maintain and store cryptographic keys.
"To be recognized by a world leader in electronic payments as the best-of-breed provider of EMV solutions for the financial industries acknowledges the strength of the ANDiS product range and will deliver significant growth opportunities for Bell ID," said Pat Curran, chairman of Bell ID.
The ANDiS Script Delivery System supports the distribution of scripts to control or change card attributes remotely. Also included in the ANDiS suite is the ANDiS I-PIN application, which supports PIN changes and synchronization over the Internet and Bell ID's NFC mobile solutions. The combination of these solutions enables organizations to issue applications on smart cards, tokens and phones, and manage every step of their lifecycle.
The cooperation will fund product enhancements, ACI says, including interoperability of the ANDiS suite with ACI's Agile Payments Solution framework, to provide an end-to-end solution for the payments industry.
This relationship expands ACI's offerings in smart card management. It broadens ACI's offerings in the market and provides ACI's customers with agile solutions to deliver the products consumers want. Bell ID technology manages more than 125 million cards for banking, government and corporate ID, healthcare and mobile projects worldwide, and ACI's customers will benefit from the experience of these implementations. The ANDiS solutions have been deployed at organizations that are rolling out their initial smart card programs, as well as organizations that have managed complex smart card portfolios for years.
"Bell ID is highly regarded in smart card management and has extensive experience in helping organizations around the world to manage cards, applications and cryptographic keys," said Philip Heasley, chief executive of ACI. "The combination of ACI's experience and market knowledge with Bell ID's proven, flexible solutions, will give these organizations the best possible solution for their needs today and tomorrow."
