LUND, Sweden, Dec. 21, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Precise Biometrics, an international leading biometric company, has received significant orders from a branch of the US Department of Defense as well as from another major US civil federal agency. The order to the Department of Defense consists of 700 fingerprint readers and Match-on-Card(TM) applications for the Common Access Card project and the other being repeat business of 675 fingerprint readers. The total order value is US $ 140,000, with delivery of the products this quarter.
The 700 fingerprint readers are part of a biometric test within a major program aiming to replace existing ID-badges for 4.3 million Department of Defense employees, the Common Access Card project. Precise Biometrics will together with its partner ActivCard, a leading provider of digital identity solutions to the US Department of Defense, deliver a solution for a new and smarter generation of ID badges built on a combination of a smart card and the cardholders' fingerprint.
"It is a great pleasure to see that the Precise' technology, our focused sales effort and the cooperation with ActivCard result in the largest biometric pilot to date, within the Common Access Card project. This order follows a number of other recent orders for smaller pilots within the US Government which show that Precise Biometrics is widely accepted as the preferred smart card centric biometric solution," said Christer Bergman, President & CEO of Precise Biometrics.
"Our partnership with Precise Biometrics gives us access to leading edge biometric solutions," said Steven Humphreys, Chief Executive Officer of ActivCard. Their products and unique Match-on-Card technology make it possible to add fingerprint verification to the Common Access Cards. We see a great demand for using biometrics within the DoD projects and other large corporate or national programs," added Steven Humphreys.
The order for 675 fingerprint readers to a major civil federal agency is a repeat-order and part of a larger product roll out. These orders are a result of several minor pilots within various US government agencies.
Using fingerprint technology adds further security to the identification process. The unique Match-on-Card technology makes it possible to both match and store the fingerprint information in a safe environment - a smart card instead of a less secure computer. This ensures maximum security and on the same time restores privacy for the individual using the solution. The template is never exposed to an open environment and the risk of somebody stealing or modifying the fingerprint template is minimized.
The technology can be used for both IT-security and physical access and is perfect at places where security demands are high.
Precise Biometrics AB, an international leading biometric company, markets in-house developed products and systems for biometric* identification using fingerprints. The products replace passwords, PINs and ID cards in IT, telecom and pass systems. Precise Biometrics was started in Lund, Sweden, in 1997 by Nils Bernhard, Marten Obrink and Christer Fahraeus and has today 60 employees. The company has its head office in Lund, Sweden, an associate office in Stockholm, and a subsidiary in Washington DC, USA. The company's shares are quoted on the OM Stockholm Exchange's O-list. For additional information please go to www.precisebiometrics.com.
*Biometrics is the technical analysis of biological data for verifying a person's identity.
ActivCard, is a leader in digital identity and electronic certification technology, delivers core components required to enable next generation e-Business communication and transactions. The ActivCard technology suite offers the ease-of-use of an ATM transaction with a security level better than face-to-face meeting. ActivCard solutions, in conjunction with the applications support for public key based data confidentiality and integrity, allow individuals and businesses to perform secure online transactions over the Internet. Today, more than 2.0 million people use ActivCard products for secure Internet banking, Web access and remote access to corporate networks. ActivCard is headquartered in Fremont, California and Suresnes, France with worldwide operations in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore and United Kingdom. For additional information please go to www.activcard.com.