FIME - Experts & Thought Leaders

Fime announces the acquisition of Red Alert Labs, taking a further step in its strategy to become a global Digital Trust Provider. The acquisition adds cybersecurity evaluation, certification expertise and compliance automation to Fime’s established capabilities across payments, smart mobility and digital identity. Trust infrastructure As digital ecosystems become increasingly interconnected, trust can no longer be addressed in silos. Payments, digital identities, connected devices and emerging AI-enabled services increasingly rely on the same foundations: security, interoperability, compliance and the ability to demonstrate that technologies continue to operate as intended. Fime’s ambition is to provide the trust infrastructure that enables these ecosystems to scale, combining expertise, testing and assurance platforms, independent evaluation and certification capabilities across the lifecycle of digital products and services. Red Alert Labs strengthens this strategy with deep cybersecurity expertise and its CyberPass compliance automation platform. Alongside accredited security evaluation, CyberPass enables manufacturers to assess and continuously improve their compliance readiness, while helping schemes and certification ecosystems manage and industrialise assessment and certification processes at scale. This capability is increasingly critical as new cybersecurity regulations come into force. From 11 September 2026, Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) reporting obligations apply, with the Act’s main obligations taking effect from 11 December 2027. Manufacturers will increasingly need to demonstrate cybersecurity compliance not simply at launch, but throughout the lifecycle of their products. Together, Fime and Red Alert Labs will support customers from advisory and security by design through implementation, testing, evaluation and certification to continuous assurance. This extends Fime’s established approach in payments and digital identity into cybersecurity, enabling customers to bring trusted technologies to market faster and maintain trust as products, regulations and threats evolve. Expert insights “Our ambition is to make Fime a global Digital Trust Provider,” said Lionel Grosclaude, CEO of Fime. “For more than three decades, we have helped build trust in payments, and we have extended that expertise into digital identity and smart mobility. Cybersecurity is the next natural step. These markets are converging: customers increasingly need to prove not only that a product works and interoperates, but that it is secure, compliant and remains trustworthy throughout its lifecycle. Red Alert Labs brings us world-class cybersecurity expertise together with a platform approach that will help us deliver that trust at scale.” “Red Alert Labs was built around the idea that cybersecurity assurance needs to become scalable and continuous,” said Roland Atoui, founder and Managing Director of Red Alert Labs. “Joining Fime gives us the opportunity to combine our accredited evaluation expertise and CyberPass platform with Fime’s global testing, certification and digital trust capabilities. Together, we can help manufacturers continuously assess their compliance readiness, help schemes industrialise certification, and extend cybersecurity trust into digital identity, wallets and emerging agentic ecosystems.” Future of Red Alert Labs Red Alert Labs will continue to operate as an accredited and independent cybersecurity laboratory, preserving the accreditations and technical autonomy that underpin its reputation. Under the identity Red Alert Labs, cybersecurity by Fime, it will combine its established security expertise and technology with Fime’s global capabilities and reach. Roland Atoui will continue to lead Red Alert Labs, with an expanded scope encompassing Fime’s security activities globally,

Fime has achieved full FIDO Alliance Identity Verification (IDV) Certification Program accreditation across multiple regions. Both the Fime EMEA and Fime Taiwan testing laboratories can now support identity verification vendors in certifying their Document Authenticity and Face Verification solutions, helping combat fraud while enhancing the user experience. With over 70 billion digital identity verification checks conducted in 2024, a reported 52% of people are still concerned about deepfakes and AI-driven fraud. To address this, FIDO introduced the IDV Program, providing a standardised accreditation that ensures remote digital identity verification solutions are secure, reliable, and fraud-resistant. Secure identity verification Fime’s global presence provides stakeholders with local expertise in IDV evaluation “Remote IDV is critical for banking, digital ID enrollment, and other sensitive applications,” comments Noël Catherine, SVP of Services at Fime. “Deepfake threats are evolving rapidly, making FIDO IDV Certification essential. Service providers must ensure their vendors offer robust, validated solutions that protect users and minimise risks.” Andrew Shikiar, Executive Director and CEO of the FIDO Alliance, added: “FIDO’s identity verification certification program strengthens key points of vulnerability in the onboarding and enrollment process to minimise security risks and create a seamless UX. This, coupled with FIDO’s biometric component certification program are key elements in our strategy to reduce the world’s reliance on passwords.” Fime’s global presence provides stakeholders with local expertise in IDV evaluation, expanding its comprehensive suite of consultancy, testing and certification services across biometrics, authentication, and digital identity. As a Sponsor Level Member of FIDO Alliance, Fime continues to drive innovation in secure identity verification.

Fime has supported ELAN Microelectronics, a global pioneer in human-machine interfaces, in achieving FIDO Biometric Component Certification for its fingerprint authentication solution. FIDO authenticators can now integrate the sensors to further strengthen customer authentication and support the industry drive to reduce the world’s reliance on passwords. Access to digital services The use of a certified biometric component is optional for level 1 and level 2 FIDO authenticators The FIDO certification program aims to empower organisations to make informed decisions when selecting biometric identity verification solutions and ensure secure, resilient, and equitable access to digital services for everyone.  The use of a certified biometric component is optional for level 1 and level 2 FIDO authenticators. At level 3 and higher, authenticators must use a certified biometric component if a biometric modality is used for authentication. FIDO authentication and biometrics “All FIDO authentication is a significant improvement on outdated PINs and passwords,” comments Stephanie El Rhomri, Vice President of Product & Strategy at Fime. “Taking this one step further, we see the combination of FIDO authentication and biometrics as the sweet spot for high security and convenience online, with certification schemes helping to raise the bar for solutions throughout the ecosystem to protect users and their data.” FIDO Biometric Component Level 2 Certification During PAD testing, its IAPAR was less than 1% against a model of 7% over the course of 2,100 trades ELAN’s fingerprint solution achieved FIDO Biometric Component Level 2 Certification with results far exceeding the specified benchmarks. Its solution tested with a False Acceptance Rate (FAR) of 0% against the benchmark of 1%, and a False Rejection Rate (FRR) of 3.6% against a benchmark of 7%.  During Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) testing, its Impostor Attack Presentation Accept Rate (IAPAR) was less than 1% against a benchmark of 7% over the course of 2,100 transactions. New markets and opportunities for ELAN “Fime is our long-time partner for biometric testing and certification, and so we knew where to go to achieve a swift and successful certification,” comments Joe Yeh, Executive Vice President at ELAN. “FIDO’s certification program helps drive the ecosystem to adopt higher-quality biometric systems for authentication, and successful certification with Fime is opening up new markets and opportunities for ELAN.” Fime’s EMEA and Taiwan test laboratories are accredited by FIDO to perform biometric evaluations under its Biometric Component Certification Program. Fime is a Sponsor Level Member of the FIDO Alliance. Learn more about how Fime can help maximise new opportunities in the biometrics ecosystem.