Idex Biometrics confirms 2019 results as Fingerprint Cards partners with online distributor

Idex Biometrics has published its annual report for 2019, and resolved to call its annual general meeting for May 15.

The results are consistent with its preliminary report from late February, when Vince Graziani was announced as the company’s new CEO. That includes revenues for the year of NOK 3.7 million (roughly US$343,000), and a net loss of NOK 296.5 million ($27.5 million).

The company notes significant progress on developing the ecosystem for biometric smartcards in 2019, and also highlights its achievements so far in 2020, including the launch of its TrustedBio, which CTO Anthony Eaton told Biometric Update reduces the cost and complexity of manufacturing fingerprint-enabled cards.

Idex Biometrics recognizes the possibility of negative business impact from COVID-19, but says it has not experienced significant delays in its development projects, and most or all of the company’s partners in Asia have returned to work.

FPC reaches distribution deal and announces AGM

Fingerprint Cards has reached a deal with on-line distributor Digi-Key Electronics to sell its BM-Lite Module and Development Kit. The biometrics company says the deal strengthens its market position and will help it scale into new markets and IoT and access control application areas.

“This is a step for us to be able to scale with FPC BM-Lite and to reach new verticals that require additional sales channels to drive business. Digi-Key will help us reach out and find new potential markets and application areas,” states Fingerprint Cards SVP of Business Line Payments and Access Michel Roig.

“We are excited about the new partnership with Fingerprint Cards,” says David Stein, VP of Global Supplier Management at Digi-Key. “Biometric Authentication is growing as it continues to be implemented into new applications and devices. Digi-Key now offers customers an easy path to develop secure devices with integrated capacitive fingerprint sensor technology.

FPC has also announced its annual general meeting will be held on May 26 in Stockholm. Shareholders are asked to submit proposals for matters to be considered seven weeks prior, which has already passed.

SmartMetric predicts contactless payment card boom

SmartMetric is predicting an increase in demand for contactless credit and debit cards, as people seek to avoid contact with public surfaces in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We will be seeing a major uplift in the usage of contactless credit and debit cards going forward, not only because of the convenience of just waving the card over the card reader but now because of the fear of touching common public devices,” says SmartMetric President and CEO Chaya Hendrick.

OnePlus and Samsung implement Goodix’ in-display optical fingerprint sensor

Goodix is providing its Ultra-thin optical in-display fingerprint sensor for the OnePlus 8 Series of smartphones, the company has announced. The 8 Series also features smart audio amplification and smart noise suppression for voice capture and recording, it says in the announcement.

The in-display fingerprint technology has also been implemented in the Samsung Galaxy A71 5G, the first commercialization of Goodix’ in-display biometrics by the leading Android smartphone maker.

Qualcomm to pay dividend following Q2 2020 report

Qualcomm will pay out a cash dividend of $0.65 per share on June 25, 2020, based on stockholdings as of the close of business on June 4.

Based on that announcement, positive results can likely be expected when the company publishes its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2020 on April 29 after markets close. A conference call to discuss the results will be held that day at 1:45 pm Pacific Time, and an audio replay will be available via web or telephone for 30 days thereafter.

This post was updated on April 22, 2020 at 4:23pm Eastern to correct Idex Biometrics ASA’s full-year net loss.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  financial results  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Goodix  |  Idex Biometrics  |  Qualcomm  |  SmartMetric  |  stocks