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Biometric fingerprint cards ready to hit wallets as IDEX Biometrics sensors build momentum within payment industry
November 2021 by Marc Jacob
Fingerprint biometric payment cards move one step closer to our wallets this month following full certification from Mastercard and VISA for IDEX Biometrics’ TrustedBio® fingerprint authentication solution as part of IDEMIA’s F.CODE biometric payment card platform.
The certification means the TrustedBio® sensor is now certified by the three largest global payment networks, with IDEX Biometrics having already received a Letter of Approval from China UnionPay in 2020. The Letters of Approval indicate that the TrustedBio® sensor is fully compliant with EMV® interoperability and the security and performance standards of all three networks.
According to Nielsen, Mastercard and VISA collectively have more than six billion payment cards in circulation, while 150 million UnionPay cards have been issued across 67 countries. Certification of the IDEX sensor presents an important achievement in the development of fingerprint biometric authentication payment cards for those payment networks, with associated card producers now able to begin high-volume deployment to meet increasing market demand for fingerprint authenticated payment cards.
With card-present fraud still on the rise, the pressure is on for payment providers to deliver more secure payment methods to consumers. Despite the use of chip and PIN authentication, the European Central Bank estimates that card fraud committed at POS terminals has increased by 2.2% in recent years. Overall 3.6 cents in every €100 spent in Europe using credit and debit cards is being lost to fraud. Fingerprint biometric authentication is one of the major technology developments to address this concern.
Momentum around fingerprint biometric smart cards is growing and the technology is set to play a critical role in the future of a better, more secure payment experience. The sector is set to generate more than $5 billion in global revenue and account for 15% of the market by 2026.
Following the certification, IDEX Biometrics has also received a mass production order for its TrustedBio® fingerprint sensor from IDEMIA Group. This is the largest production order for TrustedBio® to date and indicates the scale of demand for biometric payment cards has reached an inflection point.
Deliveries of TrustedBio® are scheduled to begin shipping to IDEMIA in early 2022.
