[THE INVESTOR] Unisem, a KOSDAQ listed global provider of semiconductor assembly and testing services, announced on Sept. 11 that its security solution subsidiary Korea Smart ID has been selected as the sole provider of fingerprint smart cards for the UN and affiliated organizations.

In February 2017, the UN International Computer Center sought suppliers for fingerprint recognition-based ID cards, that would enable its employees to access their computers and entry at its headquarters and affiliated organizations. The KSID fingerprint smartcards and readers will be first issued to 18 affiliated organizations including the UN Geneva office with to expand to 57 other UN organizations. 

The UN refugee agency is also discussing how to apply fingerprint smart cards to refugee and hunger welfare projects as paper cards are being issued, which makes it more susceptible to forgery and theft.

KSID is the first company to succeed in commercializing fingerprint authentication credit cards, which is currently being used by Woori Bank for bidding at the National Market Agency of the Public Procurement Service. The company will also apply its technology to driver’s license for taxi drivers in Istanbul, Turkey, which was contracted in February for US$4.5 million.

By Alex Lee (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)