IDEX Biometrics is teaming up with Silone Cardtech to create biometric payment cards for the Asian market. Based in China, Silone ships more than 300 million smart cards annually, designing and manufacturing cards that are certified by a roster of major payment schemes, including JCB, Mastercard, Visa, and China Union Pay.    

The new dual-interface smart cards will make use of IDEX’s fingerprint authentication technology.

“Our customers are some of the largest card vendors in the world,” said Silone CEO William Ju. “High volume manufacturing of biometric smart cards requires considerable expertise and this partnership will help us to meet our customers’ needs.”

“Silone are proven specialists in manufacturing high quality smart card products and together we offer a compelling value proposition for customers,” added IDEX CEO Stan Swearingen.

The news comes shortly after an unnamed IDEX client achieved mass production standards for biometric smart cards, and gives IDEX another major partner in the Asia region. The company has already forged agreements with several Chinese smart card manufacturers, including Chutian Dragon and Hengbao. The agreement with Silone indicates that IDEX is still scaling upwards as it looks to expand its portfolio with an eye to mass production.