Samsung is trying to expand its payment service Samsung Pay as much as possible. Recently we even you informed, that the service from South Koreans also goes to the Czech Republic, albeit in a limited form. However, credit and debit card manufacturers are also not idle, so they come up with their own innovations. The biggest innovation in recent years is now presented by the MasterCard, which integrated a fingerprint reader into payment cards.
The company states that it managed to build the reader into the card without changing its dimensions, especially the thickness. In addition, the sensor does not even need an integrated power source, because it draws it directly from the terminal to which the user attaches the card. Mastercard revealed to CNET that the terminals will not need to be modified either, the new cards will work with the existing ones.
The reader in the card will bring one main advantage – the user will no longer have to enter a PIN or even sign at the terminal. However, the new card will not be as secure or convenient as, for example, Samsung. The cardholder will have to visit his bank, where he will have his fingerprint scanned and the bank will upload the necessary data to the card so that the reader can authenticate him during payment.
MasterCard also let it be known that the first version of the card with the reader will not be contactless, so its owners will be forced to insert the card into the payment terminal. But the company said that it is currently working on a contactless version as well, which suggests that we could expect it in a few months.
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The card with the reader has started to be tested in South Africa, where Master alreadyCard completed two pilot tests. More will continue now in Europe and Asia. At the beginning of next year, the card should also reach the United States.
The Norwegian company Zwipe has been working on a payment card with a fingerprint reader since 2014:
source: MasterCard, Cnet
