“We are seeing increased customer activity in the biometric card space, and we are confident that the market will materialize this year.” – Stan Swearingen, CEO, IDEX

IDEX fingerprint sensors are being used in a new trial of biometric cards underway in the Middle East.

In a statement announcing the development, IDEX offered little further detail about the project. It isn’t clear if the project involves biometric payment cards or some other form of smart card, but IDEX did frame it as an “end customer trial”, and CEO Stan Swearingen emphasized that “[b]iometric cards provide enhanced security and increased convenience for card transactions,” suggesting that the project entails the use of biometric technology in payment authentication.

IDEX’s announcement comes about a month after Fingerprint Cards announced that its own fingerprint sensor technology was being used in a Visa-led biometric payment card trial in Lebanon. Now, this latest development with IDEX suggests that the Middle East could become an important venue in the pursuit of biometric card technology.

The news also comes soon after IDEX’s publication of its Q1 update, which emphasized the company’s efforts to pursue the biometric smart cards market, and highlighted its recently announced self-enrolment solution for Mastercard. In his comments on this latest development, Swearingen also said, “We are seeing increased customer activity in the biometric card space, and we are confident that the market will materialize this year.”

(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)