HID makes facial biometrics more accessible with North American availability of HID Amico readers

HID, a global leader in trusted identity solutions, today announced the North American availability of its HID Amico™ biometric facial recognition readers, making fast, secure and friction-free biometric access practical for a much broader range of organizations. Amico expands HID's biometric portfolio across a wider spectrum of use cases, deployment sizes and price points, bringing facial recognition within reach for small and medium-sized businesses.
 
Long associated with high-security government facilities and critical infrastructure, facial biometrics are becoming increasingly attractive for everyday access control. Advances in edge processing, artificial intelligence and sensor technology have significantly improved performance while reducing deployment complexity and cost, making the technology accessible to small and medium-sized businesses seeking stronger security and a better user experience. Easy-to-use, hard-to-cheat biometric authentication reduces the risk that comes with lost credentials and forgotten passwords, helping these organizations protect what matters most.
 
Purpose-built for physical access control, HID Amico brings fast, accurate facial recognition to the door. Available in both 3.5-inch and 7-inch touchscreen models, it combines multiple options to help organizations modernize access control without disrupting existing credential strategies.
 
"Organizations no longer have to choose between stronger security and a seamless user experience," said Sally Reitan, Director of Product Marketing, PACS NAM at HID. "Facial biometrics have reached a point where they're practical for a much wider range of organizations. HID Amico gives customers an affordable way to deploy friction-free access while maintaining the flexibility to support cards, mobile credentials, PINs and QR codes as their identity strategies evolve, so they can adopt biometrics on their own terms."
 
Designed for offices, healthcare facilities, educational campuses, commercial buildings and other busy environments, HID Amico secures entrances by letting authorized users move through the door naturally without stopping to present a credential. The result is faster throughput, improved convenience and stronger identity verification at the point of entry.
 
HID Amico offers five authentication methods including facial recognition, physical credentials, PIN, QR code and HID Mobile Access, allowing organizations to adopt biometrics at their own pace while supporting mixed credential environments.
 
Additional benefits include:

• Fast, accurate facial recognition for seamless access and reduced wait times at busy entrances.
• Flexible authentication supporting face, card, PIN, QR code and mobile credentials.
• Privacy-first architecture, including optional Template-on-Card technology that stores biometric templates securely on the user's credential rather than in a centralized database.
• Two deployment options, with compact 3.5-inch and larger 7-inch touchscreen models supporting a broad range of access control and building experience applications.

 
The larger 7-inch model extends the reader beyond authentication by supporting richer on-screen interactions such as visitor guidance, organizational messaging and branded user experiences, allowing organizations to transform access points into intelligent building touchpoints.
 
Rather than replacing existing access control investments, HID Amico complements broader identity strategies by working alongside physical cards, mobile credentials and multi-factor authentication workflows. Organizations can begin with selected entrances and expand biometric authentication as operational requirements evolve.