Zwipe signs up major Italian manufacturer for biometric payment cards

Italy’s largest smart card manufacturer is the latest biometric payment card partner for Zwipe as it brings its Zwipe Pay ONE platform to projects for commercializing fingerprint-enabled cards.

Publicenter is a certified by both Visa and Mastercard for manufacturing smart cards, and has over 40 years of card production and personalization experience. The company makes payment, loyalty and gift cards to major banking and retail customers in Italy and around Europe.

The collaboration aims to bring next generation contactless payment experiences with biometric cards and wearables to financial institutions and consumers across the continent.

“We have seen firsthand the potential of biometric payment cards and successful market trials in Italy, run on the Zwipe platform. With many of our customers asking for this product, we are confident that the partnership with Zwipe will be the most cost effective and time efficient route for us to offer this solution at scale” says CEO of Publicenter, Sandro Mucelli.

Half of all POS transactions in Italy were contactless even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the proportion has grown since. As businesses reopen, Publicenter intends to promote the value of biometric payment solutions to its customers.

The biometric payment card system developed by Thales with a Fingerprint Cards sensor is being issued by BNP Paribas in the first major commercial launch of the technology in France, it was announced last week. Zwipe’s sensor partner for the Pay ONE platform is Idex Biometrics.

“We are excited to work with Publicenter who have strong engagements with banks and retailers across Europe, including in our own home region of the Nordics. Working together, we will identify new commercial opportunities for both companies and implement a successful roll-out of Zwipe Pay ONE,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.

Zwipe has also signed up manufacturing partners in Hong Kong and South America.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  contactless biometrics  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Italy  |  personalization  |  stocks  |  wearables  |  Zwipe  |  Zwipe Pay