IDEX Forecasts Rise of Contactless Biometric Technology

IDEX Biometrics is calling attention to some of the most noteworthy trends in the biometrics industry. In a new post on the company blog, Sales and Marketing SVP David Orme specifically highlights some of the new biometric applications that are expected to gain traction in the next few years, with a particular emphasis on payments, government, and contactless technology.

Of course, the interest in contactless solutions reflects the ongoing impact of COVID-19. The coronavirus has made people wary of cash and shared biometric readers that carry a greater risk of transmission. That, in turn, has encouraged the adoption of more hygienic, contactless modalities like face and palm vein recognition.

It will also create more demand for biometric payment cards, which can utilize a fingerprint sensor to facilitate secure contactless transactions. Orme points out that banks in the UK are starting to use fingerprint sensors to raise contactless payment caps, while China is already seeing the mass adoption of face and fingerprint-based payments. He goes on to predict that biometric technology will have a similar impact at the government level, where it will be integrated into passports and deployed for security and other applications at schools, hospitals, and other public institutions.

IDEX itself is currently working towards the commercialization of biometric payment cards. Cards with IDEX sensors have been certified for use with two different payment networks, and those sensors will soon appear in a separate biometric card trial being carried out by Zwipe and IDEMIA. Zwipe has also agreed to integrate IDEX’s sensors into its own Pay ONE platform.

IDEX recently revealed that it is ramping up production to meet those demands, with shipments expected to go out in the second and third quarters of the year. Those sensors will be used for access control in addition to payment cards.

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May 6, 2020 – by Eric Weiss