Cross Match Technologies last Friday said it has acquired Canada’s Labcal Technologies in a deal that immediately adds a handheld, wireless card reading and biometric authentication technology that is applicable to various smart credential programs in the United States and national identification programs elsewhere.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cross Match said the acquisition would be accretive to its earnings and gross margins.
Labcal, which has fewer than 20 employees, makes the Be.U Mobile handheld and wireless device, which meets U.S. Defense Department specifications for operating in harsh environmental conditions. Labcal introduced Be.U Mobile in 2006 and last year it was selected by the Canadian Air Transport Security Administration for use reading and authenticating airport worker credentials used to gain access to restricted areas.
Cross Match can be expected to offer the Labcal device, which can read contact, contactless and two-dimensional barcode cards, for programs like the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, the DoD Common Access Card, and federal employee identity credential efforts driven by Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12.
In addition to reading cards, the Be.U also has a fingerprint sensor to verify that the individual cardholder is the person who the card was designed for.
Cross Match has been developing its own handheld, wireless card reader and biometric authentication device but its technology isn’t as far along as the Be.U. Still, Cross Match said it won’t shelve its system, which will likely be marketed for different applications such as rapid identification for law enforcement.