SLC Digital and Ideco Partner to Launch Hardware-Rooted Biometric Identity Platform in South Africa

Collaboration combines hardware-rooted identity with biometric authentication to establish a new standard for secure digital identity, launching in South Africa.

New York, NY – April 21, 2026 – SLC Digital, a pioneer in SIM-based identity authentication and fraud prevention, and Ideco Biometrics, a leading provider of biometric identity technologies based in South Africa, today announced a strategic partnership. The collaboration brings together SLC Digital’s hardware-rooted identity platform with Ideco’s biometric authentication capabilities to deliver a more secure, infrastructure-level identity framework for digital identity and fraud prevention.

As digital fraud continues to evolve — including account takeover, SIM swap attacks, and AI-driven impersonation — organizations are increasingly moving beyond authentication methods that can be intercepted, manipulated, or socially engineered. In 2025 alone, reported account takeover losses exceeded $262 million, according to the FBI. Many existing approaches still rely on one-time codes, passwords, and application-level instructions that can be intercepted or manipulated, underscoring the need for stronger, more reliable ways to verify identity at the point of transaction.

Through this partnership, SLC Digital and Ideco will deliver a unified identity framework that combines biometric verification with SIM-based, hardware-anchored authentication. This approach ensures that a real, verified individual tied to a trusted device is authorizing sensitive actions, significantly reducing the risk of fraud.

“This partnership represents a major step forward in expanding secure, hardware-rooted identity into new markets,” said Travis McGregor, CEO of SLC Digital. “By combining Ideco’s biometric expertise with our SIM-based authentication platform, we are creating a stronger, more resilient foundation for digital trust that directly addresses the gaps exploited by modern attackers.”

“We are excited to partner with SLC Digital to introduce a new standard for identity assurance in South Africa,” said Marius Coetzee, CEO of Ideco. “The combination of biometrics with hardware-backed authentication enables us to deliver highly secure, scalable solutions that meet the growing demands of both enterprise and government customers.”

The partnership will initially launch in South Africa, where Ideco will lead go-to-market efforts and customer engagement. The companies will focus on delivering solutions across key sectors including financial services, telecommunications, and digital platforms, where fraud prevention and secure identity verification are critical.

Together, the organizations will enable:

• Hardware-rooted identity verification anchored in SIM/eSIM technology

• Biometric authentication for high-assurance user validation

• Stronger protection against account takeover, SIM swap, and AI-driven fraud

• Scalable, secure, seamless onboarding and transaction authorization

• Inclusion of all mobile users, despite the diverse hardware landscape

Following the initial rollout in South Africa, SLC Digital and Ideco plan to expand the partnership into additional markets, building on early momentum and growing demand for more secure, infrastructure-based identity solutions designed for the realities of AI-driven fraud.

About SLC Digital

SLC Digital is an identity authentication company that helps organizations prevent account takeover and high-risk digital fraud, through the most secure communication channel available for digital authentication. Identity is verified through the SIM/eSIM and mobile network, establishing hardware-based, cryptographic proof that the real, authorized device is present and trusted—ensuring that only legitimate users can perform sensitive actions. The company works with global partners including GSMA, IDEMIA and Monogoto to deliver secure, network-native digital trust at scale, and is a member of the NVIDIA Inception program, which supports startups advancing AI-driven technologies. For more information, visit: www.slc.digital.

About Ideco Biometrics

Ideco Biometrics is a South Africa-based provider of biometric identity and authentication technologies, enabling organizations to securely onboard, verify and manage identity across physical and digital environments. A pioneer in biometric solutions in the region, Ideco delivers integrated systems spanning fingerprint, facial, and multimodal authentication, supporting enterprise and government use cases including access control, identity verification, and transaction authorization. Its solutions are used daily to authenticate millions of individuals across high-security environments. For more information, visit: www.ideco.co.za.

Media Inquiries:

Allison Clair
Keeton PR
929-933-7387
Allison.Clair@keetonpr.com