Cyprus Turns to Veridos to Overhaul its Biometric Document Capabilities

Veridos will be upgrading Cyprus’ biometric registration and e-document capabilities after landing a contract with the country’s Civil Registry and Migration Department of the Ministry of Interior. The contract will allow the country to issue electronic passports, ID cards, residency permits, and other documents that are in line with the latest EU regulations.

Veridos will provide hardware and software to help Cyprus complete the transformation. The company will first overhaul the existing biometric data collection system, and will then continue to provide maintenance and support services for an additional three to five-year period. Veridos will also supply Cyprus with physical documents during that time.

The German Bundesdruckerei installed Cyprus’ current biometric system back in 2010. Veridos is a joint venture between the Bundesdruckerei and Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), and consequently inherited the responsibility now that the country is ready for an update.

“We are pleased that the long and successful cooperation between the Civil Registry and Migration Department and the Bundesdruckerei is now being continued by Veridos,” said Veridos CEO Andreas Räschmeier. “A smooth transition with the continuous issuance of secure and up-to-date documents to the citizens of Cyprus will be guaranteed at all times.”

Räschmeier indicated that the transition would take less than six months, with new documents being shipped in the spring of 2020.

Veridos has previously delivered e-passports for the government of Bangladesh, and executed a similar biometric border security project in Morocco. The company also partnered with Gemalto to produce contactless ID cards for Macau.

In the meantime, G+D has continued to explore its own biometric solutions. The company recently announced that it is developing a new biometric payment device in collaboration with Zwipe, as well as a new biometric payment card that will feature a T-shape fingerprint sensor from FPC. The latter is part of a card trial with the French bank Crédit Agricole.

Source: Printed Electronics Now

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November 27, 2019 – by Eric Weiss