Munich, Germany, and Oslo, Norway – 18 June 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and the world’s leading provider of semiconductor solutions in the payments market, Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY), have extended their partnership through a long-term agreement. The cooperation is non-exclusive. The agreement outlines both technical and commercial collaboration between the two companies. The two parties will co-define and develop advanced system-on-chip solutions and related card system designs for mass deployment of biometric smart devices, including payment cards and wearables.

The cooperation is concentrating on so called “Tap and go payments” with biometric cards which are gaining in popularity. They can significantly improve the user experience without compromising on security while meeting the strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements demanded by the second Payment Service Directive (PSD2) in Europe.

Zwipe and Infineon have a long-standing relationship. Infineon’s Secure Element is now deployed in all pilot projects featuring Zwipe’s biometric payment platform, currently supporting multiple leading payment networks run by 12 major banks in various countries across Europe and the Middle East. Card manufacturers plan to certify fully biometric payment cards and make them commercially available this year.

Commenting on this partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said, “We are proud to strengthen our long-standing partnership with a global technology leader such as Infineon. This collaboration further enhances our ability to commercialize our technology and IP through competitive solutions for mass-volume deployment.” Bjoern Scharfen, Head of Payment & Wearables at Infineon added, “Our collaboration and joint offering with Zwipe is a key accelerator of mass deployment in the biometric payment market.”

Working together, the two technology companies will seek to develop advanced integrated solutions optimized to the volume requirements of biometric dual-interface payment cards. The platforms being developed combine simplified card design with reduced bill of material.