Vasmobile Fintelco is launching SkoolID, the African School ID and Smart Payment Card, based on the biometric card platform from IDEX Biometrics.
The agreement and first production order represent a value of $1.4 million, with delivery starting in the fourth quarter of 2024. The multi-year agreement sets Vasmobile up to scale across Kenya in 2025 and further expansion into other parts of Africa as of 2026.
Today Vasmobile is offering payment card solutions to schools with the support of the M-Pesa payment network. This new school ID will be upgraded to a biometric smart card, incorporating the IDEX biometric technology, including biometric solution, card operating system, and applets developed by Vasmobile. This is a world first use case for biometric smart cards. These cards will securely manage access to school facilities, campus payments for books and meals, attendance monitoring and health insurance.
By upgrading the SkoolID cards with IDEX technology, Vasmobile will offer the extra protection and trust for students to safely move away from using cash and get more comfortable with payment cards. With more than 3 million students in Kenya and with 60% of Africa’s total population under the age of 25, students are an important demographic group that drives the adoption of financial and digital inclusion.
“We are excited to partner with IDEX Biometrics to transform education and healthcare in Africa. At Vasmobile, we’re dedicated to bettering lives and communities through impactful technology-driven solutions. IDEX Biometrics has a unique and high performing end-to-end platform for biometric cards, that allows us to add our own applets in a very cost-efficient way. Our strategic and exclusive partnership will transform the access to financial wallets and education while serving as the endorsed national student identity card,” says Bryan Mwangi, CEO of Vasmobile.
“This commercial agreement with Vasmobile brings IDEX Biometrics to Kenya as a new market. We are excited about the biometric African School ID for Kenyan students, meeting a global need,” says Catharina Eklof, Chief Executive Officer at IDEX Biometrics”. With a visionary partner like Vasmobile, biometric smart cards are bringing inclusive payments and ID solutions to millions of students in the Global South”.