The Maldives government has just introduced a pioneering new biometric citizen ID card built on Dermalog technology.
The new Passport Card’s name is somewhat misleading. While the card does indeed act as an electronic passport, it’s also a driver’s license, a health card, an insurance document, and a payment card, complete with Mastercard support enabling its use worldwide. It features a dual-interface chip supporting contactless card reading, and it’s made of polycarbonate material ensuring it will last for a decade.
The Passport Card is also designed to contain biometric data in the form of up to ten fingerprints per user, ensuring that it will be compatible with biometric passport screening systems at a growing number of border checkpoints around the world.
And in a statement announcing the new citizen ID card, Maldives Immigration Controller General Mohamed Anwar suggested his government is willing to work with other government authorities to extend the technology to new regions. “The door is open for many other government departments and private companies to use our new Passport Card in future,” he said.
News of the new Maldives identity card comes soon after Dermalog helped develop a biometric driver license for government authorities in the Philippines, suggesting that the German company is seeing growing international interest in its biometric identity card solutions.
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October 12, 2017 – by Alex Perala
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