In 1997, Christer Fåhraeus explored the idea of using advanced image processing for automated fingerprint recognition. Together with Mårten Öbrink (recruited from Ericsson Mobile Phones) and Nils Bernhard (investor and board member) he founded Precise Biometrics the same year.
Precise Biometrics has 69 approved patents, 14 of which are approved in Sweden. In addition to the approved patents, there are 42 applications pending. Approved patents and patent applications are based on a total of 22 patent families. A patent family comprises an original patent for the given country, which is sought, granted and registered in other countries. In relation to Match-on-Card technology alone, Precise Biometrics has 13 different patent families.
Precise Match-on-Card™ is the best fingerprint recognition technology used with smart cards on the market today, in terms of usage, performance and compliancy with leading smart card products.
Our technology is available on the market - licensed to 80 million card holders and deployed to more than 10 million users - and the products have strong references, are well proven, easy to use and reliable.
The majority of all smart card manufacturers have products that integrate the Precise Match-on-Card™ technology.
It depends on which system is used, but with Precise Biometrics’ technology databases need not be established. Biometrics can be used for two different purposes, verification or identification.
Identification means that the biometric image is compared with all the stored reference images, for example all the other stored fingerprints of individuals, to determine the identity of the individual. The biometric system then tries to find an identity in a database. The police are working with this type of system (such as AFIS), for example.
With verification the objective is to examine and confirm that the individual is the person he or she claims to be. Verification means that the incoming biometric image is compared with the individual’s stored reference information (template), to verify the identity of the individual.
We primarily deliver licenses of our Precise Match-on-Card™ technology for national ID cards. The procurements and negotiations that Precise Biometrics get involved in are typically carried out together with different partners and system integrators. So far, we have 80 million licenses contracted and more than 12 million cardholders enrolled.
We also deliver Precise BioMatch™ Embedded licenses for third party fingerprint readers to make use of our technology, as well as consulting services and our own fingerprint readers, such as the Precise 250 MC.
During procurement, Precise Match-on-Card™ was compared with all the competing Match-on-Card solutions during an evaluation phase. Comparisons were also made with other biometric alternatives, where matching took place in a server or a PC. It was demonstrated that from the perspectives of personal privacy, security, scalability, reliability and costs, Match-on-Card is by far the most superior technology for large-scale ID card projects.
We see many countries as potential customers, as practically all countries considering a smart national ID card specifies Match-on-Card as a requirement. However, since national ID card programs are subject to political decisions, processes and budgets; one has to be aware that the projects typically involve some level of uncertainty concerning timing, decisions and roll out plans.
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