Microsoft Lists FPC as Approved Windows Hello Technology Vendor

Fingerprint Cards (FPC) has received Microsoft’s official stamp of approval. The tech giant has added FPC’s Match-on-Chip offering for PCs to its approved vendor list (AVL), which indicates that the fingerprint authentication solution meets the standards for Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security.

According to FPC, the AVL designation will allow the company to expand its enterprise PC business. The company’s fingerprint technology has already been featured in consumer PCs from Xiaomi, Huawei, HONOR, and Dell. However, enterprise PCs usually have stricter security standards, and often require a solution that can process a biometric match on the chip itself, without drawing on the rest of the device.

“In consumer PCs, biometric authentication is usually executed in the computer’s CPU (so-called Match-on-Host),” explained FPC Mobile, PC, and Access China President Ted Hansson. “In the Enterprise PC segment, it is much more common to use Match-on-Chip, where the biometric data is stored on a separate chip, providing an even higher level of security. Match-on-Chip fingerprint solutions command a higher average selling price (ASP) and currently account for approximately half of the market and growing.”

FPC launched its new portfolio of biometric PC products in August of 2020, and received its first volume orders in early 2021. The company now provides sensors for three of the five largest Windows PC manufacturers, and indicated that it will be revealing the names of more high-profile clients sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Since unveiling its new product line, FPC predicted that two-thirds of all PC devices will ship with a fingerprint sensor by 2026. The AVL announcement will presumably help the market move closer to that goal. In that regard, FPC has previously argued that fingerprint sensors make it easier for people to login to devices and web applications, while improving security with a truly passwordless alternative.

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March 2, 2022 – by Eric Weiss