Technologies updated for biometric cards by STMicroelectronics, Neurotechnology

The market opportunity for biometric smart cards is drawing new players, and segments beyond traditional payment cards appear to be maturing. STMicroelectronics and Neurotechnology have each released new technologies for biometric cards, while STM and CardLab are exhibiting at Trustech 2021, Freevolt is implementing Fingerprint Cards’ sensor modules in its cards, and Genetec will resell SentryCards to biometric access control customers under a new deal.

The latest secure microcontroller for biometric-system-on-card and dynamic CVV solutions has been released by STMicroelectronics, based on the company’s 40nm eSTM technology.

The new ST31N600 microcontroller integrates an Arm SecurCore processor with circuitry for energy harvesting and connectivity for biometric and dCVV applications, and meets EMV ISO 7816, ISO 14443 and 18092 standards for contact and contactless cards, according to the announcement. The microcontroller is designed to enable developers to connect peripherals to build value-added features into cards.

“The ST31N600 is the starting point for great advances in smartcards, with its strong security and features that enable easy-to-use and innovative authentication mechanisms for payments,” says Laurent Degauque, marketing director for the Secure Microcontroller Division at STMicroelectronics. “Showcasing this device at Trustech 2021, we will demonstrate secure biometric payment based on STPay-Topaz-Bio and dCVV for safe online transactions.”

Now at Trustech 2021, STMicroelectronics is showcasing the BSoC based on a Linxens AMV module and prelaminated inlay with the FPC T-Shape 2 sensor from Fingerprint Cards, as well as a dCVV card.

Also at Trustech 2021, CardLab is exhibiting its patented card technology together with TrustSEC, the biometric operating system provider for CardLab cards, and eSignus, CardLab’s cryptocurrency hardware wallet customer. These cards from CardLab also feature Fingerprint Cards’ sensors.

CardLab is also in the middle of a $10 million equity offering.

Freevolt selects Fingerprint Cards

The S-Key biometric access control card from Freevolt is being launched with the T-Shape sensor module from Fingerprint Cards providing biometrics capturing.

The card is intended to serve the access control, cryptocurrency wallet and healthcare markets.

“We are immensely proud to be working with Fingerprints, who are leaders in fingerprint technologies, and who have been incredibly supportive throughout our development of S-Key,” says Gonzalo de Gisbert, head of Product and Business Development at Freevolt Technologies. “By integrating our leading-edge Freevolt energy harvesting technology with Fingerprints’ best-in-class sensors and software, we have created a battery-less and revolutionary biometric access control card, which is available to order now. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Fingerprints.”

The companies previously both partnered with CardLab to provide technology for its QuadCard.

MegaMatcher for cards released

Neurotechnology has launched a new version of its MegaMatcher specifically for implementing its biometric algorithms for multiple modalities on cards.

MegaMatcher On Card is a software development kit for applications including biometric matching within the microcontroller of a smart card, Neurotechnology explains, and includes optimized versions of the company’s fingerprint, face and iris biometric algorithms.

The new SDK version includes a facial recognition algorithm that uses templates smaller than 256 bytes to help save storage space in the microcontroller and speed up authentication. MegaMatcher On Card 12 also provides a 1:N extension of its fingerprint library to allow multiple fingerprints to be stored and used on the same card.

“There are already more than 130 million smart cards and secure elements worldwide that include our MegaMatcher On Card technology,” comments Antonello Mincone, business development manager for Neurotechnology. “We are constantly improving our on-card technology and adding value for its different uses, as we do with all our algorithms and related products across multiple platforms.”

The new version also includes code samples and tutorials for NXP JCOP 4 smart cards with a 1:1 fingerprint library.

The core MegaMatcher SDK was updated earlier this year with more accurate algorithms for fingerprint and face comparisons.

Genetec to resell SentryCard

Sentry Enterprises has established a reseller agreement with Genetec to bring its biometric cards for physical and logical access control to the latter’s integrators and certified channel partners globally.

Sentry made a volume order of Fingerprint Cards’ T-Shape sensors for its SentryCards earlier this year, and the company says the SentryCard platform is the first open-architected biometric platform in the card form factor to address information, operational and physical security requirements for building and system access.

“The SentryCard has the potential to be a game-changing platform, empowering our enterprise clients with the proof-of-identity they desire while mitigating the common privacy and hygiene risks associated with other fingerprint biometric solutions,” Genetec Product Line Manager Francois Brouillet says.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  CardLab  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  Freevolt  |  Genetec  |  microcontroller  |  Neurotechnology  |  SDK  |  Sentry Enterprises  |  SentryCard  |  smartcards  |  STMicroelectronics  |  STPay-Topaz-Bio  |  VAR