Ondrej Holzman At a time when mobile payments are on the rise, MasterCard comes with an interesting novelty. Its new biometric payment card contains a sensor for the fingerprint element, which serves as an additional security element in addition to the traditional PIN. MasterCard is currently testing the new product in the Republic of South Africa.
The biometric card from MasterCard is indistinguishable from a regular payment card, except that it also contains a fingerprint sensor, which you can use to approve payments either instead of entering a PIN or in combination with it for even higher security.
Here, MasterCard takes an example from modern mobile payment systems, such as Apple Pay, which in iPhones is closely connected with Touch ID, i.e. also with a fingerprint. Unlike the biometric MasterCard, however, the mobile solution offers greater security.
For example, Apple places great emphasis on security, which is why it stores your fingerprint data under a key in the so-called Secure Enclave. This is a separate architecture from other hardware and the operating system, so no one has access to sensitive data.
Logically, the biometric card from MasterCard does not offer anything like that. On the other hand, the customer must register his fingerprint with the bank or the card issuer, and although the fingerprint is encrypted directly on the card, it is not yet entirely clear what security measures are in place, at least during the registration process. However, MasterCard is already working to make registration possible even remotely.
However, MasterCard's fingerprint technology cannot be misused or replicated, so the biometric card is really meant to add more convenience and security, according to head of safety and security Ajay Bhalla.
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What is also important for users is the fact that the fingerprint reader will not change the current form of payment cards in any way. Although MasterCard is currently only testing contact models, which must be inserted into the terminal, from which they then take energy, they are also working on a contactless version at the same time.
The biometric card is already being tested in South Africa, and MasterCard plans further tests in Europe and Asia. In the United States, the new technology could reach customers early next year. Specifically in the Czech Republic, it will be interesting to see whether we will see similar payment cards here sooner, or Apple Pay straight away. We are technologically ready for both services, as the biometric card from MasterCard should also work with most current payment terminals.
Since 2014, the Norwegian company Zwipe has also been developing similar technology – a fingerprint reader in a payment card.
"With a cross after funus."
Lol is she still pushing into the terminal? Such prehistory…
omg, just swipe the magnetic part anyway and pay without giving out the pin. oldschool?