MasterCard, Zwipe Test Fingerprint Authentication for Contactless Payments (Oct. 20, 2014)
In a bid to make contactless payments of any size possible without a PIN, MasterCard and Zwipe, a Norwegian developer of payment cards with biometric sensors, have developed what the companies are calling the first contactless payments card featuring an integrated fingerprint sensor. The EMV- and NFC-enabled Zwipe Mastercard integrates a biometric sensor and Zwipe’s secure biometric authentication technology to store cardholders’ biometric data on the card.
After the card is activated by fingerprint scan, a consumer uses the Zwipe MasterCard by pressing his thumb on the sensor and tapping the card on the merchant’s terminal, like a standard contactless transaction. The biometric authentication replaces PIN entry, so cardholders can make contactless payments of any amount, according to an announcement.
Two trials are under way in Norway and Poland, and the companies are working on additional international pilots, a MasterCard spokesperson tells Paybefore. A full rollout isn’t expected until the end of next year at the earliest, he adds.
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