Wall, NJ, April 18, 2016 – BIO-key International, Inc. (OTCQB: BKYI), an innovative provider of fingerprint biometrics and strong multi-factor authentication solutions announced that the company has established a relationship with Moroccan technology provider, Arthur & Co. to provide new sales resources dedicated to serve customers throughout the Middle East and North Africa. The BIO-key/Arthur and Co. Morocco operation will focus on providing the company’s unique portfolio of biometric identity and multi-factor authentication solutions to enterprise and government customers within the region. BIO-key MENA will be exhibiting at the upcoming IT Digital Days Forum in Casablanca, organized by the French Chamber of Commerce on April 20th and 21st.
The growing market in UAE fuels higher demand for increased levels of security when establishing and managing digital identity systems. In UAE card readers were reported to have led the market of access control. However, the trend is shifting towards the use of biometric-based technology within access control and identity management solutions. In Qatar, with upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022, the region is also expected to see increasing demand for advanced security systems, supported by biometric technology. (6Wresearchreport – Global Biometric Market 2014 – 2020)
“The Middle East and North Africa is a part of the world that has a high demand for strong yet convenient security solutions to combat fraud and other types of malicious attacks,” stated Mike DePasquale, Chairman & CEO, BIO-key. “We’ve noticed a measurable increase in the number of inquiries that we are receiving for software and hardware solutions in MENA. As we engaged in traditional business development activities with these prospects it became apparent that it would be advantageous to have a physical presence in the territory in order to build strong customer relationships and to support the ongoing demand which we anticipate will continue to grow over the coming years,” DePasquale concluded.
Arthur & Co Group CEO Mr. Nasraddine Riah, states “BIO-key empowers organizations in MENA to the combat fraud and online threats at a time of high-risk and vulnerability as online banking activity increases. Moreover, the World Bank urged Morocco to identify a new biometric identification system to combat fraud.”
The World Bank has concluded that there is a gap between the existing identification systems caused by the lack of a unique identification number (UIN) for every Moroccan citizen, making them susceptible to fraud. Each system identifies the individual according to its own standards and logic, preventing interoperability and matching. Electronic verification remains unreliable and makes systems susceptible to fraud because individuals appear differently in different databases with slight variations in names, spellings and addresses.
Mr. Riah added “Based on BIO-key’s many achievements and international recognition, they offer an optimal solution to achieve the objectives necessary to deliver certified and proven security and efficiency.”
About BIO-key
BIO-key is Revolutionizing Authentication as our easy to use biometric solutions enable convenient and secure access to information and financial transactions. We eliminate passwords, PINs tokens and cards and make it easy for enterprises and consumers to secure their devices as well as information in the cloud. Our premium finger scanning devices SideSwipe and EcoID offer market leading quality, performance and price. Now anyone can BIO-key their world! (http://www.bio-key.com)
BIO-key Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements contained in this press release may be construed as “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). The words “estimate,” “project,” “intends,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based on management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the “safe-harbor” provisions of the Act. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected on the basis of these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, our history of losses and limited revenue, our ability to develop new products and evolve existing ones, the impact on our business of the recent financial crisis in the global capital markets and negative global economic trends, our ability to attract and retain key personnel. For a more complete description of these and other risk factors that may affect the future performance of BIO-key International, Inc., see “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company also undertakes no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
