Mastercard unveils technology advancement for biometric cards

Mastercard seeks to eliminate the use of passwords and recognize people by “what they are” instead of “what they know” through biometrics like fingerprints, facial recognition and iris scans. Advances in technology are making biometric payment a reality, and through significant research and development, a battery-powered sleeve will now let people self-enroll their contact or contactless biometric card. Their fingerprint is scanned by the sensor on the card and an encrypted digital template is created and securely stored.

Simplifying the registration process will help speed adoption of biometrics by issuers and consumers alike. The solution would help issuers to deliver biometric cards at scale without requiring additional infrastructure in branches. With the biometric card, consumers get a secure experience and can use at any EMV terminal either by contact or contactless payment. Issuers benefit from improved fraud detection and prevention, approval rates and customer loyalty. And, for merchants, the biometric card works with existing EMV card terminals so there is no additional cost.