Gemalto Unveils a Biometric Contactless card

Bank of Cyprus proposes an EMV biometric contactless card, embedding a fingerprint sensor. Gemalto is in charge of manufacturing these cards (with no built-in batteries).

This card has been designed as an alternative to PIN entry. The cardholder’s biometric data is registered by the bank and stored on the device. Dedicated tablets are also provided by Gemalto.

According to the manufacturer, POS checkout equipment already in place in Cyprus is compatible with these cards. These checkout devices will also power the card when making a transaction as it has no built-in battery.

This announcement is a market first for Gemalto: their technology selected by a banking institution stresses their skills in terms of storing and exploiting biometric data in payment contexts.

Comments – Biometrics by way of increasing contactless use levels

These next-generation cards are a means to lead cardholders into relying on contactless technology, also. Over time, they might then contribute to increasing the authorised limit imposed on contactless payments. In fact, an extra authentication layer applies as, for each transaction, the customer’s fingerprint is verified.

Fingerprint biometrics is here described as a logical addition to NFC tools. This technology had been considered by other manufacturers, especially cards specialists. The US company SmartMetric, for instance, presented their biometric enabled cards already. And, in 2015, discussions seemed to be underway to roll out these solutions in Europe and in the US. Unlike Gemalto and Bank of Cyprus, SmartMetric did embed a miniature battery in their cards.

By way of reminder, Gemalto’s buyout by Thales for 4.8 billion euros has been announced very recently.

Also: https://www.gemalto.com/financial/cards/emv-biometric-card