LUND, Sweden, Aug. 15, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Precise Biometrics AB (publ), developer and provider of world leading and userfriendly biometric security solutions based on fingerprints, and ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH, the leading system provider internationally in the Health & ID markets, have set up a partnership agreement. Under the agreement, ORGA will license Precise Biometrics' software for fingerprint functionality, Precise BioMatch(TM) C, and integrate it into ORGA's strong MICARDO(R) smart card family. The two companies will jointly market and sell the new product to existing and potential customers in the Health & ID markets.
The cooperation between Precise Biometrics and ORGA has been formed to meet the increased demand for fingerprint authentication in the Health & ID markets, where privacy combined with secure identification of the cardholder has become critical. The main purpose of the agreement is to provide customers within these segments with a powerful smart card solution with the builtin option of fingerprint authentication, which provides the user with greater security and convenience.
Under the agreement, ORGA will license Precise Biometrics' unique technology for fingerprint matching, Precise BioMatch(TM) C, and integrate it, together with Precise MatchonCard(TM) capabilities, into its MICARDO(R) smart cards, ORGA's highly secure smart cards.
"Precise Biometrics provides us with a proven and stabilized biometric solution with the added benefit of the Precise MatchonCard(TM)'s security and privacy. We believe this will prove to be a great competitive advantage for MICARDO(R), ORGA's highly secure chip operating systems for smart cards in Public Key Infrastructures (PKI) using the Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)," said Frank Buettner, Senior Marketing Manager Health & ID Markets at ORGA.
The Health & ID card markets show significant growth, and estimates suggest that their added market value for 2005 will reach USD 1.5 billion. ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH belongs among the global elite of companies that have a complete command of the challenging topic of smart cards. ORGA delivers not just the cards themselves, but complex systems, single components, and endtoend solutions that have been developed especially for applications in the Health & ID markets.
"This cooperation with ORGA gives Precise Biometrics the opportunity to enter new market segments, such as smart card projects in Health & ID markets. We also get to work with ORGA's strong and experienced sales and marketing force. As ORGA has recognized, Precise BioMatch(TM) C, with Precise MatchonCard(TM) functionality, is perfect for these applications due to the economy achieved by using matching on the card, the scalability, the privacy and the security," said Jonas Andersson, manager, Smart ID at Precise Biometrics.
Orga
ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH, part of the authentos group of companies, is one of the market leaders in the smart card industry. ORGA offers a full range of smart cards, hardware, software, systems, system integration and solutions for the telecommunications, banking, healthcare and Internet sectors. ORGA is headquartered in Paderborn, Germany, and operates its Smart Card Center in Flintbek, in one of the world's most modern production facilities for smart cards. Subsidiaries, sales offices and joint ventures give ORGA a strong presence in Great Britain, the U.S., France, Singapore, Russia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, China, Brazil, Hong Kong, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania, Austria and Spain.
Precise Biometrics
Precise Biometrics AB is an innovative security company that supplies world-leading systems for authentication using fingerprints. The solutions supplied by the company replace keys, PIN codes and passwords. The company's products are cost effective and provide security and comfort combined with topclass protection of personal integrity. The range of products includes systems for access control to computers and networks and for building into mobile and terminals, such as mobile phones and portable computers. The company headquarters are in Lund, Sweden. The company also has offices in Stockholm and a U.S. subsidiary in Washington, D.C. Precise Biometrics is listed on the Olist of the Stockholm Stock Exchange (symbol: PREC A). For more information about Precise Biometrics, visit www.precisebiometrics.com