TMC and IDEX Biometrics Partner on Next-Gen Payment Cards

“The demand for biometric smart cards is growing thanks to their increased security and convenience for end users. Therefore, it is critical for card manufacturers that the biometric solutions are compatible with the secure element in the card, known as the EMV chip.” – Stan Swearingen, CEO, IDEX Biometrics

IDEX Biometrics has secured another Asia-based partner in its pursuit of the emerging biometric payment cards market.

Headquartered in Beijing, Tongxin Microelectronics Co. (or TMC) is one of China’s major Secure Element vendors focused on smart cards. The company has agreed to work with IDEX to combine its Secure Element technology with the latter’s fingerprint sensor tech in biometric payment cards, enabling biometric matching in both the MCU and the Secure Element. The collaboration will involve the joint creation of native code for the Secure Element’s operating system, the companies say.

Elaborating further in a statement, IDEX Biometrics CEO Stan Swearingen explained that “demand for biometric smart cards is growing thanks to their increased security and convenience” for cardholders. “Therefore, it is critical for card manufacturers that the biometric solutions are compatible with the secure element in the card, known as the EMV chip,” he said.

TMC VP Yimin Ding added that the collaboration will deliver “a very compelling value proposition; a simple and secure turn-key solutions for customers” that “reduces complexity and cost for the card manufacturers.”

It’s another positive development for IDEX, which has been building a roster of Asia-based partners that can help it to target the emerging biometric payment cards market and to enhance its position in biometric smart cards in general. These are important focus areas for IDEX, and naturally were an important topic in our recent interview with the company’s VP of Sales and Marketing, David Orme, from the show floor of Money20/20 Europe.

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(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)