Financial Services, Smart Cards, and Video Games in This Week’s Top Stories Roundup

Payments and financial services are key themes in this week’s roundup of Mobile ID World’s most popular stories.

Apple’s mobile payments platform, for example, got reader attention with its ongoing expansion in the wake of Apple’s launch of its own mobile-first credit card:

Apple Pay Extends Reach in Europe

And a bona fide credit card specialist also made the news on Mobile ID World this week, with Amex announcing a new credit card developed in partnership with an insurance company that will reward cardholders for keeping fit. This, in turn, relies on fitness tracking devices, and may point to an emerging trend in the insurance industry as providers increasingly seek to leverage the biometric analytics of wearables and the like:

Amex, Insurance Company Launch Activity-Based Rewards Credit Card

Meanwhile, the CEO of Canada’s largest federation of credit unions also took a bit of the spotlight this week in his call for provincial legislators to implement stronger digital ID regulations. The suggestion was occasioned by the revelation that a data breach against the credit union company had affected about a million more customers than previously thought:

Credit Union CEO Urges Quebec Lawmakers to Adopt New Digital ID Procedures Following Data Breach

Moving away from financial services, this week also saw some heavily-trafficked news in the related area of biometric smart cards. Fingerprint Cards announced that FPC BM-Lite module had been integrated into an authentication card aimed at the Indian market:

India’s Elementik Launches New Authentication Card with FPC Biometric Module

And finally, readers proved very interested in some speculation related to the next Playstation gaming console, with a new patent suggesting that Sony may be considering the use of biometric sensors on the PS5’s controllers. The sensors wouldn’t be used for authentication, but rather to measure gamers’ physiological responses to gaming events, possibly allowing them to compare things like stress levels with other players:

Sony Patent Describes Biometric Controllers for PS5 Console

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Stay posted to Mobile ID World next week as we continue to bring you the latest news and interviews from the exciting world of digital identity. To see the hottest stories of the week in biometrics, visit our sibling site FindBiometrics.