Idemia NSS to provide biometrics and identity services at 4,000 US post offices

Idemia National Security Solutions (NSS) has won a contract from the U.S. Postal Service to provide biometrics capturing and in-person identity proofing services at 4,000 facilities by the end of calendar-2021, according to Federal News Network.

The deal between Idemia NSS, USPS and Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) expands on a deal between USPS and FBI to provide the fingerprint vetting service at 100 post offices across America signed just a few months ago. Standing up the fingerprint biometrics capability was originally motivated by a need to run background checks on its 120,000 new employees hired annually.

USPS is expanding the availability of the portfolio of identity services as part of its five-year plan to make digital government services widely available to the American public, according to a press release.

Idemia NSS Vice President of Operations Shane Powers said the USPS operates 31,000 post offices, with 99 percent of the U.S. population living within 10 minutes of one. He said USPS plans to scale up its biometric services under the five-year plan.

Powers also suggested the revenue generation provided by the service is also part of USPS’ motivation for expanding the service.

FNN points out that USPS has the highest favorability rating among federal agencies in Pew Research Center polling. Since its partnership with the FBI, a 14-week turnaround for fingerprint biometric processing has been reduced to less than a day, in some cases. People go through fingerprint vetting to apply for a visa, adopt a child or work in child-care, amongst other reasons.

Customers submitting fingerprints will have to first verify their identity to a USPS employee.

“This announcement signals USPS’s commitment to enabling its people, presence and prestige to better meet the needs of the American public in an increasingly digital world,” said Andrew Boyd, CEO, IDEMIA NSS. “We are delighted to partner with USPS to help bring their vision forward, and to leverage USPS’s broad infrastructure to offer the American people greater access to identity verification and assurance solutions.”

Boyd also recently spoke to Biometric Update about Idemia NSS’ vision for the biometrics-backed ‘installation of the future’ for military bases.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint recognition  |  government services  |  IDEMIA  |  Idemia NSS  |  identity verification  |  U.S. Government  |  USPS