IDEX Gets UK Patent for Enrollment Solution for Biometric Cards

IDEX Biometrics has been granted another important patent pertaining to its on-card enrollment solution for biometric cards, this time from the UK Intellectual Property Office.

In announcing the latest patent approval, IDEX indicated that the filing concerned is “in the same patent family” as on-card enrollment patents approved by the Australian patent authority and by the US Patent and Trademark Office earlier this year.

IDEX’s on-card enrollment solution revolves around the use of a lightweight receptacle that can be mailed to end users along with new payment cards, for example. To register their biometrics, users need only to insert the card into the receptacle and scan their finger using the card’s built-in fingerprint sensor. This establishes a link between the user’s fingerprint and the card in the receptacle, and from there, the user can biometrically authenticate on the card during contactless transactions.

The enrollment solution is notable for ensuring that users’ biometric data is not transmitted to external servers, and always kept on the card itself, helping to ensure that such data cannot be hacked or intercepted; and for allowing the enrollment process to be conducted at home, with no need for the end user to visit a physical bank branch when registering a new payment card.

“The UK is a strategically important market for biometric smart cards and recent high-profile bank pilots in the country substantiate that remote enrollment is crucial for mass deployment,” commented IDEX CEO Stan Swearingen in a statement announcing the UK patent approval. “Our unconnected on-card enrollment solution provides the ability to enroll a fingerprint in a simple, secure and convenient way. We are confident that it is becoming the industry standard.”

News of this latest patent approval arrives on the heels of two major licensing agreements that IDEX has established concerning its on-card enrollment technology – one with IDEMIA and another with China-based card maker Chutian Dragon.