• Fingerprint identification sensor developer IDEX Biometrics (IDEX) has partnered with an unnamed European semiconductor company (reportedly one of the largest in the region) to develop a biometric smartcard solution. 

• These cards will include IDEX’s “TrustedBio” sensor and complementing software, while the partner will provide global payment networks’ certified secure element, card OS, and payment applets. 

• The companies claim that the solution avoids having a separate microcontroller ASIC and discrete power management circuits, which is the current industry norm, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost and complexity.   

• Engineering samples of the cards are set to be delivered to card manufacturers by Q1 2023, with commercial delivery planned for later in the year. 

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: IDEX has entered several partnerships this year to develop biometric smart cards. These partnerships include ones with DeFi solutions provider Reltime (August; to develop a web3 biometric payment card), smartcard inlay provider Linxens (June), and an unnamed Japanese payment card integrator (March).</ul>