Zwipe has announced that it has made the first shipment of its biometric technology products, for use in commercial contactless biometric payment card pilots by leading card manufacturers and banks.
Commenting on the announcement Kim Humborstad, founder and CEO of Zwipe said: “We now have extensive agreements in place with some of the world’s leading card manufacturers, paving the way for commercial deployment with banks over the course of 2018.”
Global smart card market
In total, Zwipe’s card manufacturing partners represent over 40% of the global smart card market, per volume shipped per the Nilson Report. Zwipe has entered into seven new agreements with both card manufacturers and payments ecosystem partners with a focus on meeting escalating commercial demand for biometric smartcard solutions.
Zwipe received their first commercial orders for their contactless biometric payment card inlay in June of this year. Providing further insight, Pascal Dufour, SVP of Payment at Zwipe said: “We have received additional orders based on progress made this summer for our solution which is fully market ready. Upon successful completion of pilots, commencing in the fourth quarter this year, our partners have communicated expected volume roll-outs numbering in the several hundred thousand range in 2018.”
Zwipe’s contactless payment card is the only smartcard solution capable of operating without the need for a battery |
Growth of contactless payment
The rapid growth of contactless payment is a key driver for the integration of biometric technology on conventional payment cards. Contactless payment card adoption throughout the world has seen double digit growth globally, and with that, contactless transaction fraud has also grown equally as fast. Additionally, new regulation is seeking to address these challenges by mandating much stronger consumer authentication, as seen in the European Commission’s Payments Services Directive, PSD2. Biometric enabled contactless payment cards directly address these issues.
Zwipe’s biometric contactless payment card is the only smartcard solution commercially available, and the only solution capable of operating without the need for a battery or fixed power supply. Other biometric card concepts are most commonly capable of contact-only payment, or operate with the support of a battery.
Addressing the market and Zwipe’s position, Kim Humborstad added: “The industry’s biggest movers, card brands, card manufacturers and key technology stakeholders across the ecosystem are investing heavily to gain an advantageous position in a market segment that is here now, with Zwipe being the leading technology provider.”