Idex, a provider of advanced fingerprint identification and authentication solutions, has been granted a foundational patent for unconnected on-card enrollment on biometric smart cards by IP Australia, the Australian Patent and Trademark Office.With its highly developed financial services sector and large private wealth market, Australia is a key geography for payment providers rolling out new biometric payment card services across the APAC region.IDEX's new Australian patent has broad claims covering devices and methods to enable a user to enroll a template image of their finger onto a biometric card in their own home. With IDEX's concept, the card-holder will receive a new biometric smart card and a light-weight receptacle containing a power source in the post. The user will then insert the card into the enrollment receptacle and simply touch the fingerprint sensor area on the card several times. Throughout the enrollment process, the card is not connected to any other device or network. With no need to visit a bank, no need to involve another device, no apps, no wireless pairing and no compatibility problems for the user to worry about, IDEX's invention is a cost-effective, practical solution that is championing over alternative connected enrollment methods.IDEX Biometrics started filing its first patent applications for on-card enrollment concepts in 2017. Since then, this disruptive invention has grown in popularity throughout the payment industry and represents a key enabler for biometric smart card adoption.IDEX's new Australian patent is in the same patent family as two enrollment patents granted to IDEX Biometrics by the United States Patent and Trademark office earlier this year. IDEX Biometrics also has patents pending for this innovation in other major territories in addition to its large portfolio of patents and applications covering its world-leading fingerprint sensor and biometric algorithm technology.Stan Swearingen, CEO of IDEX Biometrics comments: “This patent grant is further validation of IDEX's unique ability to develop innovations that will accelerate the creation of the biometric smart card market. Across the Asia-Pacific region, we see card use growing rapidly compared to cash and biometric payment cards offer unique benefits to those card users. IDEX's low cost, convenient invention for enrollment removes a barrier to mass deployment of biometric cards to the public. We expect unconnected remote on-card enrollment to become the de-facto standard for biometric smart card enrollment worldwide and IDEX is ideally positioned with the granting of this foundational patent.”
Idex Biometrics expands its patent coverage for on-card enrollment
