Idex reveals integration with STM, a Turkey deal, new enrollment method

Expansion continues for fingerprint authentication company Idex Biometrics as it works to kill off bank card PINs.

To that end, it has introduced what it calls a “complete solution” for biometric payment cards.

Idex’s new card solution combines the STPay-Topaz-Bio operating system and payment applets from chip-security vendor STMicroelectronics with its own fingerprint sensor and software. STMicroelectronics’ ST31N600 microcontroller is built into a single-chip EMV module into a single-chip EMV module.

The integration lowers costs and is fully tested and validated, Idex says.

This announcement reveals STMicroelectronics as the mystery partner in an integration announced last September.

“The Idex Biometrics solution based on products and technologies from ST brings a cutting-edge biometric payment solution to market in response to the growing demand for biometric smart cards,” comments Laurent Degauque, business lines director for connected security at STMicroelectronics. “This solution delivers exceptional quality and supplies security to meet the growing needs of card manufacturers for scalable biometric solutions.”

The integrated kit is expected to be ready for banks and issuers by mid-summer 2024.

More geographies, new enrollment solution ahead

The Norwegian company announced that it is working with its third – undisclosed — card issuer in Turkey, one that reportedly plans premium financial products. Cards should be available by the fourth quarter.

Idex is bullish on Turkey, which has more than 250 million cards in circulation and 1.8 million acceptance locations, Catharina Eklof, chief commercial officer of Idex, says in a statement. The firm is already working with ID verifier Enqura, which counts HSBC, Bank Audi, and Burgan Bank among its customers. A Turkish regional bank also is using Idex biometric payment card.

Aside from Turkey, the company currently has deals to supply biometric cards to more than 10 markets globally, including the United Arab Emirates, Italy and the UK. The company’s fingerprint sensors were recently certified for biometric payment cards by Mastercard.

In a recent interview with the Business Reporter, Eklof said that despite the fact that the banking industry has been focusing on mobile, they still constitute just around 10 percent of all mobile transactions. This means physical cards are here to stay. As more people accept biometric cards, prices are bound to fall.

“A fast and simple enrollment is critical for this to take off and today we do it with a simple device,” says Eklof. “Idex is developing a new solution which will come into market, where enrollment will happen at the point-of-sale terminals.”

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric payments  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  Idex Biometrics  |  STMicroelectronics