MasterCard and technology company Zwipe has announced their partnership for the launch of the world’s first contactless payment card featuring an integrated fingerprint sensor.
The Zwipe MasterCard payment card is the world’s first fingerprint authenticated contactless payment card. It includes an biometric sensor that holds the cardholder’s data on the card itself.
Initially, by doing a simple fingerprint scan, the Zwipe MasterCard card can be used to make contactless payments with biometric authentication replacing the PIN authentication currently used. This new card will harvest energy from the payment terminals without the need for a battery.
Our belief is that we should be able to identify ourselves without having to use passwords or PIN numbers. Biometric authentication can help us achieve this. However, our challenge is to ensure the technology offers robust security, simplicity of use and convenience for the customer. Zwipe’s first trial is a significant milestone and its results are very encouraging. Said Ajay Bhalla, President of Enterprise Security Solutions at MasterCard.
Zwipe MasterCard will have the exact same dimensions as existing plastic cards. The new cards will roll out in 2015.
Source: Zwipe
