PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEXT Biometrics Group ASA (Oslo Bors:NEXT) today announced its large cost-efficient fingerprint sensor was chosen by First Biometrics for its breakthrough Smart Card.  The Smart Card will initially be used as North America’s first payment and identity card.  The card is embedded with a smart chip and fingerprint sensor for maximum security and durability in financial transactions.

NEXT Biometrics' large fingerprint sensor was chosen by First Biometrics for its breakthrough Smart Card, which is North America's first payment and identity card. Above, the First card is embedded with a smart chip and the NEXT fingerprint sensor, lower right, for maximum security. The NEXT sensor is cost-efficient and ISO-compliant.

NEXT provides ISO-compliant large cost-efficient fingerprint sensors.  Large size sensors are vital to achieve the maximum level of security and accuracy, required for financial inclusion and payment applications.  Recently NEXT announced that with its partner Innolux it can meet mass market production demand for fingerprint sensors, which are perfect for uses including Smart Card, government ID and access control applications.

First Biometrics is focused on providing the most highly secure integrated transaction process to facilitate payments, access and multi-level authentication.  Utilizing smart chips and NEXT’s fingerprint sensors, First cards use a highly secure integrated transaction process through cloud mobilization, without apps.  The First cards are not subject to skimming of pin codes, ID numbers and other private information since fingerprints, unlike other safeguards, are resistant to theft and manipulation.

NEXT CEO Ritu Favre said, "We are pleased that after exhaustive review, First Biometrics has chosen the NEXT fingerprint sensor for its breakthrough Smart Card initially to be used in casinos and ultimately to reach a broader range of markets.  NEXT’s ISO-compliant large cost-efficient sensor is ideally suited for smart card applications.  Large sensor size is vital to maximize security and performance.  With proven manufacture-ability, reliability and security, NEXT’s sensor is a perfect solution in this smart card application and a vital component for First Biometrics.”

Charles Gomez, CEO of First Biometrics, added, “First Biometrics selected the NEXT large flexible fingerprint sensor as the most highly-secure, reliably accurate and cost-efficient sensor to achieve our objective of offering our clients and their customers the most secure card ever available.  With wide application for a range of industries, we will initially focus our Smart Card on the hotel and casino industry where multi-level authentication and client protection is of utmost importance.”

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/539b6251-d67f-4a48-916b-2ba8417fb28f

ABOUT NEXT Biometrics: Enabled by its patented NEXT Active Thermal principle, NEXT Biometrics (www.NextBiometrics.com) offers high quality area fingerprint sensors at a fraction of the prices of comparable competitors. A wide range of product formats, including smartcards, notebooks, time & attendance, USB-sensors, smartcard readers, secure tokens and access control systems and many more are targeted.    

NEXT BIOMETRICS GROUP ASA (www.NextBiometrics.com) is a publicly-listed company based in Oslo, Norway, with sales, support and development subsidiaries in Seattle, Silicon Valley, Taipei, Prague and Shanghai.  Enabled by its patented NEXT Active Thermal principle, NEXT offers high quality area fingerprint sensors at prices below competitors. Product formats include smartcards, notebooks, time & attendance, USB-sensors, smartcard readers, secure tokens and access control systems and more.  Media & Investor contacts: CEO Ritu Favre, Ritu.Favre@NEXTbiometrics.com & CFO Knut Stalen, Knut.Stalen@NEXTbiometrics.com

Contact: Brian Dobson, DobsonPR.com, BD@DobsonPR.com, 203-613-2222