MasterCard offers new credit cards with integrated fingerprint sensor
MasterCard has developed and produced a credit / debit card that can authorize payment by the owner’s fingerprint.
No more PINs or codes to remember, and no more signatures to write. In the near future, you can pay with your finger: MasterCard has designed a credit card with an integrated fingerprint sensor, keeping the same size and thickness. A technology we’ve already seen use profitable on smartphones that leverage their biometric sensor, but MasterCard wants to innovate while maintaining traditions.
The company claims that the card can work with all chip readers currently on the market (not the magnetic cards with which they ” crawl ” the cards) and is already testing in South Africa. The company expects to expand roll-out early in Europe and some Asia-Pacific regions, with the final distribution expected by the end of the year. The goal is to offer its customers ” more convenience and security, ” according to Ajay Bhalla of MasterCard.
Bhalla states that the fingerprint ” is not something that can be stolen or replicated “, but reality is not that simple. As we have discovered since the introduction of mainstream smartphone technology, the fingerprint cannot only be reproduced faithfully, but it’s not as easy to replace as a brand-new PIN. Once a malicious person reproduces a fingerprint, that will always be valid for all services.
Security expert Karsten Nohl contacted by BBC News is optimistic about the implementation of the new security method within the payment card: ” With the combination of chip and PIN, the PIN is the weakest point. Fingerprint helps to get rid of it. Fingerprints prevented us from using terrible passwords, and even the most naive person would refuse to cut a finger if a criminal asked him kindly. ”
To get one of the new MasterCard credit or debit cards with the fingerprint sensor will be sufficient to go to your bank, where the imprint will be scanned and transferred to the same card. The data will be protected by encryption within the EMV chip, with the owners (and only them) who will be able to save up to two imprints.
