Idex partners with G+D JV to commercialize biometric payment cards in Eastern Europe

Idex Biometrics  and E-Kart, a joint venture with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) and Eczacıbaşı Holding, partner up to deliver biometric smart cards across Eastern Europe.

“The time is right to bring biometric payment solutions into Eastern Europe,” states Catharina Eklof, chief commercial officer of Idex Biometrics. “This region represents a very large opportunity and our collaboration with E-Kart will deliver biometric smart card solutions that bring seamless user experience to millions of consumers in Turkey and Eastern Europe,” she adds.

The Idex and E-Kart collaboration will seek to expand the market of biometric smart cards in Eastern Europe with a targeted delivery date in the fourth quarter of 2022. The cards will incorporate Idex’s TrustedBio Max sensors that are equipped with a proprietary ASIC-delivering biometric processing and power management, and the SLC38 security controller from Infineon Technologies.

E-Kart is said to be one of the largest card manufacturers in Europe with a focus on EMV-based payment cards, government ID, healthcare, and GSM SIM cards. E-Kart has a production capacity of 60 million smart cards annually, a press release states.

Coskun Beduk, general manager of E-Kart, says: “This partnership will provide banks and other payment card issuers in Turkey and globally access to biometric smart cards with industry leading performance and cost efficiency. We see a growing demand for convenient and highly secure payment solutions and we aim at leading the market of biometric payment cards, leveraging our unique cutting-edge card development and production center in Turkey, specialized in superior security, authorization for smart cards and smart citizenship ID cards.”

Biometric payment cards have reached commercialization in Western Europe, and are approaching production roll-outs in North Africa and the Middle East.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  Europe  |  financial services  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Giesecke & Devrient (G+D)  |  Idex Biometrics  |  smartcards