IDEMIA, Zwipe and IDEX Biometrics achieve key milestone towards next generation biometric card platform

Courbevoie, France and Oslo, Norway, 8 April 2020 –

• IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, and ZWIPE, a leading biometric fin-tech company, announce today, as per plan (1), the arrival of the first engineering samples of the next generation of the biometric secure element
• This device will be the heart of the F.CODE next generation biometric card that IDEMIA will sell to Financial Institutions
• ZWIPE, the holder of worldwide and exclusive rights to distribute this technology, will benefit from early availability of this new platform for their customers (2)
• IDEMIA has selected IDEX Biometrics, a leading provider of advanced fingerprint identification and authentication solutions, as supplier of the biometric sensor for the new platform.
• The three companies will be piloting in the second half of 2020, with commercial rollout planned from 2021 and onwards.

Following the exclusive partnership and distribution agreement signed between IDEMIA and ZWIPE, the two companies announce that first samples of the new chip have now arrived for further verification and qualification with the first power-on successfully executed. Therefore, the new platform will now progress to the next stages of developments and will be able to meet expected demand from card issuers with a first launch on the market as from second half 2020 followed by a mass production of biometric cards during 2021.

IDEMIA and IDEX have signed an agreement by which IDEX will supply the card’s sensors for this next generation of biometric payment cards. This agreement deepens a long-standing collaboration between IDEMIA and IDEX to develop biometric payment cards including an IP licensing agreement signed in October 2019 (3).  

By teaming up with ZWIPE and IDEX to offer a disruptive biometric payment card platform that will radically reduce biometric payment card costs, IDEMIA is driving the growth of the biometric cards market and enables an accelerated path to mass volumes, which will ultimately benefit the issuers and users of cards.

Amanda Gourbault, IDEMIA Executive Vice President Financial Institutions says: “This achievement of this key milestone demonstrates that our next F.CODE generation biometric card development is being executed according to plan allowing a pilot launch second half 2020. Together with our business partners we are showcasing our best-in-class expertise in designing and manufacturing biometric-based payment cards”.

André Løvestam, CEO of ZWIPE says: ”We are pleased to see this progress and we strongly believe that bringing forward the new platform together with IDEMIA will be a major catalyst in creating long term shareholder value and provide the technological leap needed to shape the future of the biometric payment card market and to drive commercial success for ZWIPE. The progress up until now has further strengthened our conviction that this project will meet not only the time schedule, but also the targeted unit cost reductions on biometric payment cards.”

Vince Graziani, CEO of IDEX commented: “We are proud to have been selected by IDEMIA and look forward to continue collaboration with this leader in authentication solutions, and to initiate collaboration with ZWIPE to bring biometric payment cards to the mass market. This award by one of the world’s largest card manufacturers is a validation of our off-chip product design that enables high performance at a disruptive cost point.”

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1: see PR -

2: manufacturers of payment cards, wearables and other payment solutions, and their suppliers.

3: see PR -

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For further information contact:

Marianne Bøe, Investor Relations, E-mail: , Tel: + 47 918 00186

Derek D’Antilio, Chief financial Officer, E-mail: , Tel: 4

About IDEX Biometrics

IDEX Biometrics ASA (OSE: IDEX and OTCQB: IDXAF) is a leading provider of fingerprint identification technologies offering simple, secure and personal authentication for all.  We help people make payments, prove their identity, gain access to information, unlock devices or gain admittance to buildings with the touch of a finger.  We invent, engineer, and commercialize these secure, yet incredibly user-friendly solutions.  Our total addressable market represents a fast growing multi-billion-unit opportunity.

For more information, visit and follow on Twitter @IDEXBiometrics

About IDEMIA

IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect and travel), in the physical as well as digital space.

Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, an identity that ensures privacy and trust and guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions, we reinvent the way we think, produce, use and protect one of our greatest assets – our identity – whether for individuals or for objects, whenever and wherever security matters. We provide Augmented Identity for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors.

With 13,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries.

For further information, go to and follow @IdemiaGroup on Twitter

Press contact: PR firm: Havas Paris, Irina Pungaru, +33 (6) 13 02 34 76,

About Zwipe

Zwipe is a technology solution provider that enables battery-less, ultra-low-power, self-contained biometric authentication solutions. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within security, financial services and ID applications, Zwipe is “Making Convenience Secure™” for banks, merchants and consumers. Using advanced fingerprint recognition while protecting personal information, Zwipe’s solutions address the data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Zwipe has spent the last 10 years developing its unique power harvesting technology platform in combination with security solutions based on international infrastructure standards. To learn more, visit

For more information contact: André Løvestam, CEO,

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

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