Zwipe has released a new JavaCard operating system to facilitate mobile payments. The proprietary OS is compatible with existing payment apps and integrates Zwipe’s ultra-low power biometric engine.

The solution will give Zwipe more flexibility in the biometric payment card market, where Java is one of the two major operating systems. The other is Multos, which Zwipe already supports.

“Zwipe is uniquely positioned to be able to offer products that address both Multos and Java, further broadening the company’s scope in the biometric payment card marketplace,” said Zwipe CEO André Løvestam. “Several of our already announced partners will use our JavaCard enabled biometric payment solution and we have received interest from multiple other card manufacturers to integrate it into their payment card offerings.”

The new JavaCard OS is designed for use in a range of mobile biometric payment options, including wearables and biometric payment cards. In the short term, the latter represents the most likely home for the new technology. Zwipe was particularly enthusiastic about the prospects for biometric cards in its 2018 fiscal report, and recently partnered with Brazil’s Thomas Greg & Sons to develop biometric payment cards for the Brazilian market.