BOLOGNA: Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Publicenter, Italy’s largest domestic smart card manufacturer, announced the launch of a collaboration aimed at bringing the next generation contactless experience, powered by biometric payment cards and wearables to financial institutions and consumers across Europe.

Publicenter is a VISA and Mastercard certified smart card manufacturer, with over forty years of experience in card production and personalization. It delivers payment, loyalty and gift cards to major banking and retail customers in Italy and Europe.

“We have seen firsthand the potential of biometric payment cards and successful market trials in Italy, run on the Zwipe platform. With many of our customers asking for this product, we are confident that the partnership with Zwipe will be the most cost effective and time efficient route for us to offer this solution at scale” says CEO of Publicenter, Sandro Mucelli.

In Italy, 50% of all POS transactions processed were already contactless pre -COVID 2019, and, as a result of increased transaction limits and an elevated focus on safety, this has grown since. With businesses beginning to open again, Publicenter plans to engage with customers to promote the value-add of biometric payment solutions.

“We are excited to work with Publicenter who have strong engagements with banks and retailers across Europe, including in our own home region of the Nordics. Working together, we will identify new commercial opportunities for both companies and implement a successful roll-out of Zwipe Pay ONE,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.

Publicenter has over forty years’ experience in high quality and cost-effective smart card production and personalization, being one of the leading card manufacturers in Europe. Main products are financial smart cards, loyalty/gift cards, and ID cards. Headquartered in Bologna, Italy, Publicenter is a Visa and Mastercard certified vendor for over 15 years.

Zwipe is a technology solution provider that enables battery-less, ultra-low -power, self-contained biometric authentication solutions. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within security, financial services and ID applications, Zwipe is “Making Convenience Safe and SecureT” for banks, merchants and consumers. Using advanced fingerprint recognition while protecting personal information, Zwipe’s solutions address the data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods.

Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Zwipe has spent the last 10 years developing its unique power harvesting technology platform in combination with security solutions based on international infrastructure standards.