Norwegian biometric technology company Zwipe has teamed up with Lebanese digital security solution provider Inkript to produce biometric payment cards.
Inkript, a subsidiary of Resource Group, has EMV cards manufacturing facilities in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia certified by Visa and Mastercard.
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It shipped more than 70 million smartcards in 2018 across the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Commenting on the deal, Resource Group chairman and CEO Hisham Itani said: “We are pleased to launch our partnership with Zwipe to cater to the growing demand of secure banking cards in the region.
He added: “Our partnership with Zwipe, a proven technology leader in this emerging market, is introducing a cutting-edge biometric solution to financial institutions in the region and we are happy to be among the first movers.”
Under the arrangement, Inkript will leverage Zwipe’s fingerprint sensor technology to manufacture biometric payment cards.
The companies said that many banks have expressed interest to pilot the offering.
The first pilot of the biometric payment card is expected to be conducted before the end of this year.
Zwipe CEO André Løvestam said: “we are excited to partner with Inkript to introduce and deploy our technology with their customers. Based on the positive feedback from the successful pilots in the region, we are confident that the market is primed for growth.”
Last month, Zwipe unveiled JavaCard operating system compatible with numerous payment network applets worldwide for biometric payments.
Recently, the Norwegian firm teamed up with Brazilian card manufacturer Thomas Greg & Sons do Brasil (TGS) to launch biometric payment cards.
Earlier, Zwipe joined forces with British card manufacturer TAG Systems Group to launch a commercial biometric payment card offering.
In March, it selected Fingerprint’s T-shaped sensor for the latest version of its biometric payment card.
