South Korean card manufacturers all in on Idex’ biometrics

Biosmart will move on to mass production of biometric payment cards based on Idex Biometrics’ platform after Mastercard gave the go ahead.

Based in South Korea, Biosmart manufactures over 50 million payment cards every year. On Monday it obtained a Letter of Approval (LoA) from Mastercard for its biometric payment card built on the Idex Pay platform.

“Making payments easier and more secure for consumers with biometric payment cards, based on the leading technology from Idex Biometrics, represents a massive opportunity,” says Henry Kang, chief sales officer at Biosmart.

“The interest from banks in the region underpins the commercial opportunity ahead of us,” he added.

But this is not the only recent Idex collaboration with a Korean company. Last week, IDEX Biometrics announced a commercial development agreement with smart card manufacturer Cellfie Global (formerly ICK).

The agreement covers the design, manufacture and marketing of biometric metal and PVC cards for bank and fintech launches in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Idex Biometrics now has full coverage across all four card manufacturers in South Korea, representing production capacity in excess of 100 million smart cards annually.

“With Cellfie’s strong customer portfolio in USA and Europe and a CAGR of metal cards projected at close to 25 percent, the opportunity for Idex Biometrics is substantial,” says Catharina Eklof, CEO of Idex Biometrics.

“As a world leading metal card manufacturer, Cellfie Global strengthens our growing portfolio of smart card makers globally and in South Korea with unique capabilities and an innovative competitive edge,” she continued.

Cellfie Global has customers mainly in the U.S. and Europe, markets that represent 78 percent of the 40 million annual metal card shipments. “Biometrics cards are a must have for leading smart card providers like Cellfie,” comments Yoo Ki Jong, CEO of Cellfie Global.

Idex has been struggling to generate substantial revenue from biometric cards, reporting only $60,000 in Q3, but CEO Catharina Eklof told Biometric Update in an interview last month that she sees biometric cards as addressing consumers’ concerns around data privacy.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Idex Biometrics  |  Mastercard  |  South Korea