The list of companies in the biometric space will soon be one smaller as Viisage, once again, has an announced an acquisition in the space. This time the company is buying Iris recognition pioneer Iridian for US$35 million. This follows the two other recent high-profile biometric buys of SecuriMetrics and Identix. Viisage To Acquire Iridian […]

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor A couple of years ago Wells Fargo’s Peter Ho was in Hong Kong when he picked up an Octopus card, a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card used for electronic payment. “I said ‘wow, wouldn’t that be cool if we could do something like that in the U.S.?’ ” Zip […]

SP 800-76 gives agencies some flexibility, but requirements still daunting to many By Marisa Torrieri, Contributing Editor It wasn’t too long ago that biometrics seemed like an expensive proposition that would only work in sci-fi movie plots. But today, the technology that measures human physical and behavioral characteristics for authentication has come a long way. […]

The U.S. Army and Booz Allen Hamilton have given a thumbs-up to the security of the new smart card reader for the Blackberry. The cool device can be worn on a lanyard, holds a Common Access Card or other smart card, and communicates via Bluetooth with the Blackberry for multi-factor authentication, encrypted email, document signing, […]

More than 60 new clients joined CBORD during the company’s fiscal year ending June 30. The company now claims more than 850 institutions running its CS Gold® and Odyssey PCS™ campus card and cashless systems. CBORD® sells 61 campus card and cashless system accounts in past year Ithaca, New York — The CBORD Group, Inc. […]

The 6-month trial acceptance of PayPass contactless payments in select New York City subway terminals is underway. The cards and keychain tags from Citibank can be used for transit travel and anywhere else PayPass is accepted. MasterCard, MTA and Citigroup Trial Fast and Convenient “Tap & Go™” Payments in Select NYC Subway Stations NYC Subway […]

At the most recent interoperability testing event for new contactless and biometric-enabled e-passports, contactless readers from SCM Microsystems successfully read 89 of 90 passports entrants. More than 450 participants and 38 countries participated in the tests held in Berlin last month. Contactless Readers from SCM Microsystems Among Top Performers at e-Passport Interoperability Test in Berlin […]

Viisage’s Integrated Biometric Technology (IBT) division now controls 75% of the U.S. market for hazardous materials endorsed driver licensing systems. Illinois becomes the 35th state to employ the company’s technology as part of the TSA’s HAZPRINT program that establishes a nationwide system to collect and transmit fingerprint data of commercial driver license candidates seeking, renewing […]

ASSA ABLOY ITG has purchased Brazilian contactless card manufacturer, Novacard do Brasil, a company with strong ties into the country’s large transit fare collection and ticketing markets. “In the future, we envision expanding our product offering in the Latin American market to include animal identification, industrial and logistics, and electronic documents,” says ASSA ABLOY ITG’s […]

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor Ireland-based smart card solutions provider SmartCentric Technologies has chosen the partnership route to add more functions to the services it offers clients. Its recent agreement with Texas-based QI Systems is intended to provide SmartCentric’s university and corporate campuses with new unattended card readers capable of handling both contact and contactless […]