IDEX Biometrics Gets First Order for Biometric Card Tech

“We are incredibly proud to have reached this very important milestone with our strategic partner. The order marks the start of the industrialization phase for biometric cards, and is the result of years of dedication and hard work and is validation of IDEX’s leadership position in this very innovative market.” -Stan Swearingen, CEO, IDEX Biometrics

IDEX Biometrics has received its first order for biometric fingerprint sensors for payment cards.

The company has not disclosed the identity of its client, but it did offer some strong hints in a statement announcing the order. IDEX CEO Stan Swearingen commented that the order represents a “very important milestone with our strategic partner,” and the statement later asserted that the partner in question “has completed several end-user trials of biometric cards, receiving positive feedback on the convenience, security, and ease of use.”

That sounds very much like Mastercard, which has been working with IDEX for several months now on biometric payment card technology, and has conducted trials in the Middle East and Europe. And given that Mastercard was reportedly negotiating with UK banks about the launch of biometric cards in the country this past July, it would come as little surprise to find the company placing its first official orders from IDEX now.

All that having been said, IDEX asserted in its recent Q2 update that it was seeing strong interest in its biometric card technology from multiple customers, and in its latest statement the company noted that it “is working with a range of customers who are integrating IDEX’s fingerprint sensors and biometric modules into both contact-based and contactless cards.” In any case, with respect to this first order, IDEX said it expects to start shipments in the third quarter of this year “and expects additional orders to follow.”

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September 17, 2018 – by Alex Perala