Phoenix Managed Networks: Wink-Phoenix merger to accelerate biometrics adoption in omnichannel commerce

Multimodal biometrics company Wink is merging with Phoenix Managed Networks, a global payment technology and services provider. The aim will be to accelerate "market adoption of AI and biometrics" in omnichannel commerce. Wink's platform is delivering pay by face or palm biometrics already, with fraud prevention, e-commerce Checkout CoPilot with Paze and connected car commerce with voice biometrics. Wink emphasizes its deployment of AI for security. Phoenix infrastructure is connected to "major payments players" in the U.S. and UK and supports more than 10 million monthly transactions and 220,000 merchant connections. The merger will mean the payments space will more readily adopt biometrics and "AI advancements" while allowing Wink to secure transactions from check-in to check, from acceptance to authorization. "This is not just the merger of two respected companies, this combination is a scale-up designed to bring the best of biometrics and AI with new user experiences delivered together with a suite of technologies that have served as critical infrastructure to the payment industry for the past fifteen years," says Deepak Jain, CEO of Wink. Phoenix Managed Networks meanwhile brings a "coveted customer list" with a track record serving card acquirers, financial institutions and transaction-oriented businesses like fintech and retailers. "This merger is a powerful strategic alignment that brings together two highly complementary forces in the payments and biometric industries," said John McDonnell, formerly chairman of Phoenix who will now take on the role of chief strategy officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the newly merged Wink. "By combining Phoenix's deep expertise with Wink's innovation and intellectual property, we aim to be a leading player in the adoption of biometrics, AI and advanced security protection for the highly demanding payments marketplace," added McDonnell.