Fingerprint-sensing payment cards unveiled

PanARMENIAN.Net - Zwipe and Mastercard have joined forces to develop the world's first contactless payments card with an embedded fingerprint scanner, Digital Spy reveals.

The Zwipe Mastercard can be used to make secure payments at any outlet that supports NFC transactions, but only the card's owner is able to use it.

The payment method ditches the PIN system used by other contactless payment cards, replacing it with biometric security.

A prototype version of the Zwipe Mastercard, fatter than a conventional credit card due to the on-board power cell, was recently trailed in Norway.

"Our belief is that we should be able to identify ourselves without having to use passwords or PIN numbers," said Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise security solutions at Mastercard.

"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."

A slimmer second-generation version that draws its power from NFC payment terminals has since been developed, and is on course to be distributed in 2015.