SoftBank and NEC form strategic alliance focused on biometrics

SoftBank and NEC have entered into a strategic alliance focused on the field of biometric authentication to accelerate digital transformation (DX) for enterprises and local governments.

Through this alliance, the two companies will combine their respective strengths. This includes NEC’s biometric authentication solutions, such as Bio-IDiom Services, and SoftBank’s various solutions, such as 5G and other communication networks, and security services. By offering and selling these services in combination and tailored to various customer needs, they will drive DX for enterprises and local governments.

SoftBank has a wealth of experience and a strong corporate customer base in supporting corporate DX, particularly in the smart building field. NEC provides world-class highly accurate biometric authentication solutions to a wide range of industries in approximately 70 countries and regions around the world. Given the high demand for biometric authentication for building entry and exit management and secure area access in smart buildings and other facilities, the two companies aim to expand their customer base by combining their strengths. From autumn 2024, SoftBank will proactively propose and sell NEC’s biometric authentication solutions to domestic enterprises, local governments, and other customers.

In addition, SoftBank will participate in NEC’s “Co-Creation Partner Program/Digital ID,” which is being promoted under the “BluStellar” value creation model that guides customers to the future. SoftBank will work with NEC and other participating partner companies to explore the integration of various solutions.

As part of this collaboration, SoftBank and NEC will combine NEC’s biometric authentication solutions, such as Bio-IDiom Services and multimodal biometric authentication, with SoftBank’s communication network and other solutions, and will actively propose and sell these solutions to their respective customers. Furthermore, the companies will promote co-creation to expand the DX market with biometric authentication as its starting point. This includes proposing biometric authentication solutions tailored to specific industries and use cases to meet the needs of enterprises and local governments and supporting them in solving their challenges.

Previously, NEC has collaborated with Mastercard to advance in-store biometric payments, and most recently was part of the consortium that has launched the operating platform for “Myakupe!”, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai’s own e-money, and the “Myaku Myaku Reward Program”.

“We are very pleased to announce this collaboration with SoftBank as a DX co-creation partner,” said Toshifumi Yoshizaki, Corporate Senior Vice President, CDO and Head of Digital Platform Business Unit, NEC Corporation. “NEC is promoting the evolution of its co-creation programs under its new brand, ‘BluStellar,’ and we are confident that this collaboration with SoftBank in the area of biometric authentication, where NEC is focusing its efforts, will further accelerate this initiative. By combining SoftBank’s extensive solution expertise with NEC’s proven track record in biometric and security technologies in Japan and globally, we aim to deliver value to our customers. NEC will continue to promote DX for a variety of customers, together with SoftBank.”

Please follow us to read more about Finance & FinTech in Japan, like hundreds of readers do every day. We invite you to also register for our short weekly digest, the “Japan FinTech Observer”, on Medium or on LinkedIn. Our global Finance & FinTech Podcast, “eXponential Finance” is also available through its own LinkedIn newsletter, or via our Podcast Page.

Should you live in Tokyo, or just pass through, please also join our meetup. In any case, our YouTube channel and LinkedIn page are there for you as well.