Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

French-U.S. partnership looks for manufacturing site

Monday, December 15, 2008

A joint venture between WS Packaging Group of Green Bay, Wisc., and the French RFID developer ASK is shopping for a site in the U.S. to manufacture its RFID inlays, the ASK-intTAg. The inlay is a silver-based and printed on paper, and is touted by the partnership to be highly resistant to counterfeiting.


The $5.8 million project could bring up to 115 new jobs to the area selected for the plant. A number of sites are under consideration, with the town of Heath, Ohio, being mentioned prominently. The state of Ohio has approved a tax credit to help lure the project.

The inlays would be produced for a number of applications, including secure identification, mass transit and bank cards. The ASK-IntTag would function as a separate company, and would be the first to produce inlays through this process in the U.S.

“The importance of having a secure U.S.-based manufacturing operation for contactless cards and tickets is imperative if the full promise of RFID technology and its deployment is to be realized,” says Terry Fulwiler, CEO of WS Packaging. “This is especially vital for such applications as secure identification and financial bankcards.“

A site will be decided on in early 2009. [end] 

FIME announced it has joined GIXEL Smart Card Group, the industry organization for the promotion and development of smart card-based e-identity solutions in France.

As a partner member, FIME will work with GIXEL to develop and promote the IAS-ECC (Identification Authentication Electronic Signature – European Citizen Card) Specification, which was created by GIXEL for the French e-identity projects.

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SMARTCON, an EMV product specialist based in Brazil, and SCIL, a New York-based EMV products provider, have announced a partnership that will provide EMV products and services to U.S. and Canadian financial services companies.

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A recent survey conducted by Wincor Nixdorf shows that a strong majority of French consumers are interested in using fingerprint scanning technology to secure transactions.

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Biometrics firms Morpho and AOptix have formed a partnership to deploy advanced biometric systems targeted to border management and aviation security industries.

Under the terms of the partnership, AOptix products will be integrated into Morpho’s border management product line. This includes InSight Duo, AOptix’s combined face capture and iris recognition system.

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The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival with help from Intellitix, an RFID technology provider for live events, added an online audience of more than 30 million last month when over 30,000 fans registered to “Live Click” around the festival site.

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Sensor supplier Fingerprint Cards AB (FPC) has extended its partnership with Chinese biometrics provider Miaxis Biometrics Co. LTD to deliver biometrics products to the Chinese banking sector.

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