New Mastercard card just got more secure. Mastercard has unveiled its next generation Biometric card, with South Africa being its first market to test the evolved technology.
Mastercard’s new Biometric cards combines chip technology with fingerprints and safely verify cardholders identity when doing in store purchases. It utilizes today’s fingerprint scanning technology used for mobile payments and can be used at EMV terminals worldwide.
For this to work, when a cardholder has to enroll by registering at financial institution. The fingerprints taken then, will be converted into an encrypted digital template and will be stored on the card.
This new card can be used at any EMV Card terminal globally. To use it, cardholder has to dip the card in the terminal, place finger on the embedded sensor which is verified against the template. It the biometrics match, the cardholder is successfully authenticated and transaction can be approved with card never leaving consumer’s hand.
These next generation Biometric cards work with existing EMV card terminal infrastructure and doe not require any new hardware / software upgrades.
Main aim of this technology is to detect and prevent fraud, reduce operational costs, increase approval rates and foster customer loyalty. Mastercard also plans to introduce contactless technology in future versions.
After successful trials in South Africa, company has plans to make additional trials in Asia Pacific and Europe. You can expect a global roll out later this year.
Ajay Bhalla, president, enterprise risk and security, Mastercard said –
Consumers are increasingly experiencing the convenience and security of biometrics. Whether unlocking a smartphone or shopping online, the fingerprint is helping to deliver additional convenience and security. It’s not something that can be taken or replicated and will help our cardholders get on with their lives knowing their payments are protected.