The System

Being the core of an advanced smartcard payment platform, the Octopus system accumulates more than five years of experience in its development and represents a major breakthrough in smart card payment technology. Since its launch, Octopus has undergone many enhancements with a major achievement being the integration of its central clearing system with the management information systems of the many organisations using Octopus. This interaction not only enhances operational efficiencies to our service providers, but also provides valuable data on customer behaviour.

The Card

Manufactured by Sony, the Octopus card embraces the following features:

The Reader/ Writer

The Octopus reader/writer is a device comprising a controller board and an antenna. It uses inductive Radio Frequency (RF) coupling to transmit power and data signals to the processors inside the Octopus card. The operating range of the reader/writer is between 30mm and 100mm depending on the type of model being used. Data communications to and from the Octopus is only established when mutually authenticated security handshaking is verified followed by the transfer of encrypted data.

A reader/writer is connected to each Octopus processor. It receives commands from the processor controller on the actions to be performed. The transaction data is then either stored in the reader or sent back to a host computer, depending on whether the processor is online or offline. In any event, all transaction data are sent back to Octopus Central Computer at the end of each day for clearing and settlement.