NEXT Delivers Fingerprint Sensors for Financial Inclusion Project in Nigeria

NEXT Biometrics’ FAP 20 fingerprint sensor will soon be featured in a new authentication product from Waxed Mobile. The device (dubbed Raven) has been in development for more than a year, and is intended for use in a financial inclusion project in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, the Raven will specifically be used to verify the identities of farmers looking to secure microfinancing from potential lenders. Biometric technologies will allow stakeholders to switch to a cashless system, and create the layer of trust needed to facilitate transactions.

”With this new product we provide the microlender the mechanism to finance the farming process and enable the farmer to meet their financial responsibilities,” said Waxed Mobile CEO Anthony Stewart. “We also minimize the need for any payments to be made in cash, making transactions simpler, cheaper, and more secure in rural areas.”

The Ravens will arrive in Nigeria in June of 2022, and will eventually be used for other authentication applications in the country. In that regard, the NEXT FAP 20 sensor has been certified under Nigeria’s NIBSS Biometric standard.

Waxed Mobile’s initial sensor order is worth $40,000 USD. The Raven itself is the result of a collaboration between Waxed Mobile and the South African ICT specialist Digital Twin, and it will be marketed throughout the sub-Saharan region in addition to Nigeria.

“We are pleased that our collaboration with Digital Twin and Waxed Mobile has resulted in this innovative solution as part of a financial inclusion initiative in Africa,” added NEXT Sales and Marketing SVP Ulf Ritsvall. “We are excited that yet another interesting new product includes NEXT sensors in the sub-Sahara region.”

A separate ICT firm in Belgium recently integrated the FAP 20 sensor into an access control product for the European market. NEXT also received a $2.2 million order from an equipment manufacturer in India earlier this year.

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May 13, 2022 – by Eric Weiss