Zwipe partners for biometric payment card personalization as Idex Biometrics CEO considers tipping point

Zwipe has partnered with another company supplying technology to the payment card industry to support the industrialization of biometric payment cards, signing a deal with EMV personalization and payment solutions company Wisecard.

The Shenzhen-based Wisecard specializes in the development of personalization software, primarily for smart payment cards. The company will support the co-development of personalization for products and solutions in the Zwipe Pay family, according to the announcement.

“We are excited to work closely with Zwipe to tap into the huge potential we see for biometrics in the payments market,” comments Kevin Yi, VP at Wisecard. “Zwipe has led the way in establishing a global network of partners to make the launch of biometric payment cards and wearables at scale as effortless and cost-effective as possible. We are keen to support this mission and bring safer and more secure payment options to consumers around the world.”

The partnership gives card manufacturers access to a validated and proven personalization process for biometric payment cards running on Zwipe’s technology.

“We are excited to partner with Wisecard as we continue to expand our ecosystem and our capacity to provide the most comprehensive and compelling offerings within biometric payments to smart card manufacturers and issuers, further cementing the value-add we bring to our customers,” says Zwipe CEO André Løvestam.

Zwipe also formed a partnership with STS to develop a milling and embedding system for biometric payment cards, as it builds up a complete ecosystem for manufacturing and commercialization of fingerprint-enabled cards.

Idex Biometrics CEO tracking payment cards tipping point

Have we reached the point at which biometric payment cards tip over into mainstream adoption? Idex Biometrics CEO Vince Graziani considers the answer in an editorial for TechNative, and the impact of recent events on the timeline for mass adoption of the technology.

A shift away from cash and PIN pads is converging with the threat of fraud from unauthenticated card purchases, in the wake of an Idex survey finding 41 percent of consumers would adopt a card with a fingerprint sensor today.

The hold-up, according to Graziani, is that banks are waiting for the final hurdles, like cost barriers and scheme certification, to be met. Mobile payments have risen in the meantime, but were only used by about 19 percent of the UK population in 2019, and major providers of mobile payments are also providing physical payment cards.

With the lower cost of Idex’ TrustedBio biometric-system-on-chip, which just reached shipments, card issuers embrace of the technology is the next step towards mass adoption, Graziani argues.

Ultimately, Graziani sees the tipping point as upon us, with adoption to start ramping up next year.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  consumer adoption  |  Idex Biometrics  |  personalization  |  Zwipe