Zwipe is offering more details on its new partnership with Malaysia-based Iris Corporation Berhad.

The companies’ collaboration was reported immediately in the wake of the Seamless Asia expo, where Zwipe demonstrated its new biometric payment card solution. Details at the time were scant, but it has now come to light that the partnership comes in the form of a Letter of Intent signed not only by Zwipe and Iris Corp., but also MCS Microsystems Sdn Bhd, a chip maker also based in Malaysia. Together, the companies will develop “Government ID and payment solutions” aimed at “Southeast Asia and other suitable markets worldwide,” according to a new statement from Zwipe.

Elaborating on the collaboration, Iris co-founder Chas Yap said it will leverage Zwipe’s technology with Iris Corporation’s “expertise in smart card manufacturing” to offer “innovative payment cards and government ID solutions not just here in Southeast Asia but globally.”

While the companies have not yet offered specific details as to what will differentiate these payment and ID cards in the competitive sense, it appears likely that they will incorporate biometrics, given both companies’ expertise in the field, and Zwipe’s recent success in helping to pioneer the development of fingerprint-scanning payment cards.

(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)