Visa Certifies Zwipe’s Biometric Payments Offering

Zwipe has passed a major certification milestone after receiving a formal Letter of Approval (LoA) from Visa. The Letter specifically covers the Zwipe Pay platform, clearing it for use in Visa cards issued anywhere in the world.

The news should help accelerate the mainstream adoption of biometric payment cards. In that regard, card manufacturers will now be able to deploy Zwipe Pay knowing that the solution has already obtained the approval of one of the world’s leading payment schemes. The certification confirms that Zwipe Pay has passed all of the necessary security and performance tests, and indicates that it will meet a high quality standard when deployed in a new payment card.

The use of a Visa-certified solution will also make it easier for card manufacturers and issuers to get Visa clearance for their own biometric payment card products. For its part, Zwipe stressed that it is now ready to move forward with full scale card production.

“Having the Zwipe Pay platform certified by Visa is a historic milestone for Zwipe and our customers,” said Zwipe CEO André Løvestam. “Consumers will benefit from more convenient, safe, and secure ways to pay. Issuers will have the opportunity to create differentiation, accelerate customer acquisition, uplift loyalty and create new revenue streams. The pathway is now open for smart card manufacturers and issuers all over the world to certify, produce and deploy biometric Visa cards based on Zwipe Pay.” 

The Letter of Approval is not especially surprising, since Visa and Mastercard gave their tacit approval when they both certified an IDEMIA payment card with Zwipe and IDEX components. However, the Letter of Approval establishes Zwipe Pay as a standalone solution, and should make the platform more appealing to other manufacturers as the market expands. The company has already made considerable inroads in the Middle East, recently announcing a new trial with a private bank in Iraq.

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March 24, 2022 – by Eric Weiss