IDEMIA Acquires X Core Technologies’ Metal Payment Card Business and Launches Smart Metal Art Offer
17.10.2019 10:40:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
At a time when demand for metal payment cards increases, IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, broadens its existing offer with Smart Metal Art, a new metal payment card range fully suitable for contactless payments. Smart Metal Art comes from the acquisition of X Core’s metal payment card business and associated patents. Smart Metal Art is designed for the dual interface mass affluent market and is already certified by Visa, Mastercard and Amex.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191017005283/en/
(Photo: Business Wire)
In a business environment with both online and offline offerings, metal payment cards have been massively adopted by users representing a booming market. A 2018 global consumer study indicated that more than 50% of consumers are willing to pay for a metal card, 70% of whom are under the age of 351. Fintech firms have nearly all adopted metal payment cards and major banks are also providing metal cards to their high net worth customers.
To satisfy this growing demand while still delivering the convenience customers expect, IDEMIA is investing to expand its leading offer of metal cards and launching Smart Metal Art suite of products. Smart Metal Art is the very first metal payment card fully suitable for contactless payments with no restrictions. It offers endless graphical possibilities thanks to its non-magnetic, decorated metal core, protected by layers that can be transparent or printed.
Smart Metal Art includes patented technology, developed by US firm X Core and recently acquired by IDEMIA. These patents allow for perfect dual interface performance, as well as decoration capabilities, which are then encapsulated within protective layers. Smart Metal Art will be manufactured by IDEMIA in our Exton (Pennsylvania, USA) facility.
At a time when banks need to differentiate strongly from one another, this game-changing technology gives them free reign over their card designs while allowing them to use unrivaled graphics such as etching or a brushed look combined with high-definition coloring techniques on their metal cards.
Thanks to this proprietary technology, IDEMIA will enable even more financial institutions to distribute its latest-generation dual-interface metal payment cards to premium customers, in volume around the world. IDEMIA’s end-to-end contactless metal card offer encompasses design, manufacture, personalization and product packaging.
Smart Metal Art has been certified by Visa, Mastercard and Amex, with no restriction on contactless performance, giving IDEMIA’s clients the opportunity of a very rapid go-to-market for their metal cards.
Amanda Gourbault, Executive Vice-President for Financial Institutions activities at IDEMIA said: “Payment cards are the latest marketing asset for banks for customer acquisition. Acquiring X Core is entirely consistent with IDEMIA’s strategy to offer cutting-edge technology to its customers without ever compromising on security or convenience. Our new offer, Smart Metal Art, delivers the best high-end cards combined with unmatched contactless payment features, which will be a game changer for end-users.”
About IDEMIA
IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect and travel), in the physical as well as digital space.
Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, an identity that ensures privacy and trust and guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions, we reinvent the way we think, produce, use and protect one of our greatest assets – our identity – whether for individuals or for objects, whenever and wherever security matters. We provide Augmented Identity for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors.
With 13,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries.
For more information, visit www.idemia.com / Follow @IdemiaGroup on Twitter
About X Core Technologies LLC,
X Core Technologies LLC, is a US based enterprise providing Hot Lamination compatible Prelaminate Core Sheets incorporating advanced electronic functionality for the Payment, Security and Health Care sectors.
For more information, please visit www.X-Coretchnologies.com
----------
1 Phoenix Synergistic, 2016
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191017005283/en/
Contact information
For business information, please contact:
Tim Wright, VP Metal Card and Advanced Card Bodies
Timothy.WRIGHT@idemia.com
Press
Hanna SEBBAH - idemia@havas.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
LTM Launches BlueVerse™ RightLogic to Address Cyber Risk in AI Era6.7.2026 12:12:00 EEST | Press release
LTM, the Business Creativity partner to the world’s largest enterprises, has launched BlueVerse™ RightLogic, a cybersecurity assessment and risk assurance framework designed to help enterprises identify, assess and remediate cyber exposure as they accelerate AI adoption. AI is now capable of autonomously identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities, while exposure across infrastructure, applications and supply chains continue to expand. This has elevated cyber risk from a technology concern to a board-level priority, with enterprises struggling to maintain visibility and respond at the speed of emerging threats. BlueVerse RightLogic addresses this gap by providing a unified, business-aligned view of enterprise exposure and enabling a shift from fragmented, point-in-time assessments to continuous, evidence-led risk management. The framework combines an end-to-end AI and cyber exposure assessment engine with a structured execution model that spans from assessment to remediation. At the cor
Media Release: Financial Worries Rise and Match Health Concerns as Cost-of-Living Pressures Mount in 20266.7.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Households around the world are feeling the strain of the rising cost of living, with financial pressure increasingly shaping everyday choices and long-term confidence. Finances and health are now tied as the top global worries, at 48% each, followed by concerns about the future at 35%, according to consumer surveys in 10 countries published in “The Allianz 3am Report 2026.” This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260703907741/en/ Allianz / IPSOS “What Worries the World” Study, April – June 2026. Financial worries, which include concerns about “rising cost of living” (71%) and “insufficient income” (51%), increased in seven out of eight countries surveyed year over year, moving up in the ranking of top three worries in Brazil, France, Germany, and the U.K., while remaining stable in Italy. The strongest increases are observed in Australia and Indonesia, where financial concerns have remained the leading worry, as well
HAZAMA ANDO Becomes an Official Partner in Helical Fusion’s Commercial Fusion Initiative and Signs MoU Toward Construction of the Fusion Pilot Plant6.7.2026 09:40:00 EEST | Press release
Helical Fusion Co., Ltd. (“Helical Fusion”), a Japan-based fusion energy startup developing fusion power plants, and HAZAMA ANDO CORPORATION (“HAZAMA ANDO”), a long-established Japanese general contractor, today announced that HAZAMA ANDO has become an Official Partner in the Helix Program, Helical Fusion’s commercial fusion initiative. The two companies have also signed a memorandum of understanding (“MoU”) to collaborate toward the construction of Helix KANATA, Helical Fusion’s Fusion Pilot Plant targeted for the 2030s. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260706176052/en/ (L-R) Kazuhiko Kuniya (Representative Director and President, HAZAMA ANDO CORPORATION) and Takaya Taguchi (Co-Founder and CEO, Helical Fusion Co., Ltd.) at a press conference in Tokyo on July 6, 2026. Fusion energy has the potential to shift the foundation of energy from natural resources to advanced technology by reproducing, on Earth, the sam
Sofinnova Partners Announces Myricx Bio Agrees to Be Acquired by Novartis6.7.2026 08:15:00 EEST | Press release
Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, today announced that its portfolio company Myricx Bio (“Myricx”) has reached agreement to be acquired by Novartis, for up to $1.5 billion including $1.1 billion cash upfront plus potential milestone payments. This marks Sofinnova Partners' seventh exit in three years. Myricx Bio is a UK-headquartered transatlantic biotech company focused on the discovery and development of a novel class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates. The company's platform is built around next-generation N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payloads, a differentiated mechanism of action designed to address the narrow therapeutic windows and tolerability challenges that have limited earlier generations of ADCs, such as TOPO-1 and tubulin inhibitor payload classes. Myricx Bio's two lead ADC assets, directed towards the established targets B7-H3 and HER2, are designed to bring this differentiated approach to patients across a broad ra
Global New Material International Wins Technology Innovation Best Practice Award at Sino-European ESG Conference6.7.2026 06:59:00 EEST | Press release
Global New Material International Holdings Ltd. has received the Technology Innovation Best Practice Award at the Third Sino-European Corporate ESG Best Practice Conference recently in Mainz, Germany, in recognition of its efforts to advance sustainable development through material innovation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260705533555/en/ Thorsten Giehler (L), Director of the Economic, Social Development and Employment Division of The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), delivered the award to Zhou Fangchao, Executive Director and Vice President of Global New Material International. The annual conference, initiated by the Chinese Consulate General in Frankfurt and jointly organized with Chinese and European partners, recognizes corporate best practices in environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. This year's event brought together government officials, business leaders and exper
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom