Morpho, Oberthur Technologies provide ePassports to Finland

Morpho has won an international call for tenders from the Finnish National Police Board to supply the country’s new ePassports, as part of a consortium including Oberthur Technologies. The consortium has been providing Finland with secure ePassports since 2006.

ePassports, also known as “biometric passports” contain an electronic chip that is encoded with surname, given name, date of birth, place of birth and gender information. It also includes a digital picture of the bearer’s face. Signatures are not reproduced on the chip.

With enhanced physical and electronic security features, Finland’s new passport will provide greater protection against identity theft and fraud, and enable fast, secure identification of passport holders.

“Over the years we have built a reliable working relationship with Morpho, an expert ePassport supplier. Morpho was selected based on its solid experience and ability to deliver highly secure, innovative and cost-effective document production and issuance solutions,” said Heli Rajaniemi, Senior Officer, Finnish National Police Board.

Within the consortium Morpho provides the passport booklet which includes a set of new and improved security features on its polycarbonate data page. The data page also contains an integrated microchip which stores the holder’s personal details and biometric data.

“As the key provider of secure ID solutions in Finland, we are delighted to have won this new ePassport contract”, stated Jean-Paul Jainsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morpho. “We are committed to developing innovative document security technology to meet the stringent requirements of the ever-evolving ID market.”

Finland began issuing its new ePassports at the end of August 2012.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  border control  |  border security  |  ePassports  |  fraud  |  identity theft  |  law enforcement  |  morpho  |  security