IDEMIA and Sopra Steria Deliver eu-LISA’s sBMS

In September 2020, ID & Secure Document News™ reported on the award of the contract for the European Union’s Shared Biometric Matching System (sBMS) to the consortium of IDEMIA and Sopra Steria. At that time, the project was positioned as a cornerstone of the EU’s interoperability framework, designed to provide centralised biometric services across multiple Justice and Home Affairs systems; including the Visa Information System (VIS), the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the then-upcoming Entry/Exit System (EES).

Five years later, that vision has now been realised. In August 2025, IDEMIA Public Security and Sopra Steria announced the successful go-live of the sBMS with eu-LISA, marking a critical milestone in the EU’s plan for identity interoperability.

The sBMS is now one of the largest biometric systems in the world, storing and matching fingerprints and facial images from millions of third-country nationals. It acts as the biometric backbone for the Schengen Area’s border management and migration control, enabling authorities to verify identities with speed and accuracy. When a third-country national enters Europe for the first time, their biometric data is registered and checked against the sBMS, ensuring that border and immigration officials can confirm whether they are who they claim to be.