On September 20 STMicroelectronics announced the availability of its POS reference design that integrates the card payment and fiscal cash register on a single board. The all-in-one system addresses the requirement of China’s central government that all POS machines across the country be equipped with a fiscal cash register, or fiscal memory, which records all sales transactions at the POS machine for tax purposes.

Whereas existing solutions usually rely on the card payment and fiscal memory modules from different suppliers, ST’s all-in-one reference design integrates both capabilities/functions on one board. The integrated approach results in the use of fewer components, a smaller board, and better utilization of system resources. ST’s design lowers the bill-of-material costs by as much as 70%.

ST’s integrated reference design provides increased reliability and security. The embedded SIM-card module uses a secure wireless connection when authenticating the cash machine at the bank for online transactions. The system is equipped with protection against unauthorized access and virus attacks.

A wide range of communication interfaces including USB, Ethernet and RFID makes it possible to expand ST’s POS platform with peripherals including display and touch panels, bar-code and RFID readers, a PIN pad and printers. In addition, the POS terminal can be easily connected to external data systems such as a stock inventory database.

The Chinese market for fiscal-cash-register POS systems is estimated to grow to 10~15 million units within the next three years, says STMicroelectronics.

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