IDEX Biometrics teams up with MFLEX to bolster supply chain

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DEX Biometrics has kicked off the New Year in good shape with a number of good news stories.

Firstly, on its 2020 results, IDEX is now showing good progress transitioning from product development to commercial activities. Specifically, full year 2020 revenue was $1.1m, including $1m in product revenue, compared to $159,000 in product revenue in 2019.

In 2020, it achieved several certifications by multiple major payment networks. A number of new card manufacturers have initiated new product developments based on IDEX’s biometric technologies. In addition to ramping commercial production shipments for a large IT and financial services customer, it successfully secured the first commercial orders and began shipment of its next-generation TrustedBio solution for biometric payment cards.

IDEX then announced that Postal Savings Bank of China kicked off the first trial of a fingerprint biometric card hardware-wallet as part of China’s digital renminbi (RMB) initiative. This initiative represents a new high-volume application for fingerprint biometrics. And now IDEX has signed an agreement with Multi-Fineline Electronix (MFLEX), to bolster its supply chain. MFLEX is a subsidiary of Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing (DSBJ), and a global provider of advanced flexible printed circuits and assemblies.

IDEX readies mass production

The deal forms an essential part of IDEX’s mass production ready supply chain to meet the increasing demand for biometric payment cards.

MFLEX will offer flexible printed circuit assemblies for IDEX’s biometric payment card reference design, the only biometric smart card reference design that has been used in cards certified by China UnionPay. MFLEX said that it has secured an initial order from a Tier 1 card manufacturer.

MFLEX CEO Reza Meshgin said: “Developing an end-to-end supply chain for biometric card manufacture is critical to accelerating the development of biometric cards by card producers.”