Fingerprint Cards Confirms Involvement in NatWest’s Biometric Credit Card Pilot

“The new payment cards have been developed in partnership with Mastercard and Gemalto, the digital security specialist acquired by Thales earlier this year.”

Fingerprint Cards‘ fingerprint sensor technology is in play in NatWest’s biometric credit card trial, the company has confirmed.

The pilot program was just launched by the British bank, expanding its exploration of biometric payment card technology from a pilot that revolved around debit cards earlier this year. The new payment cards have been developed in partnership with Mastercard and Gemalto, the digital security specialist acquired by Thales earlier this year.

Now, echoing the collaborative arrangement of the earlier payment card trial, Sweden-based Fingerprint Cards has confirmed that its biometric technology is being used in the form of its T-shape fingerprint sensor module, a solution designed for card applications.

The end result is a credit card featuring an embedded fingerprint sensor that can be used to authenticate individuals as they make contactless purchases. Initial registration can be performed at home, with users enrolling their fingerprint biometrics after inserting the card into a plastic sleeve. Once the biometric data is registered, authentication can be performed on the card during a transaction, with no need to transmit biometric data to an external server.

The enhanced security of the biometric payment card solution means that financial institutions like NatWest and their customers can be more comfortable raising the spending caps of contactless payment cards that forego the use of PIN entry during transactions. In the case of the NatWest’s biometric credit card with Mastercard, the limit has been upped from the standard £30 cap to a limit of £100.

In a statement announcing its technology’s use in this latest NatWest pilot program, Fingerprint Cards asserted that it is the UK’s first biometric credit card trial, and highlighted the technological sophistication of the card solution. “Its ultra-low power consumption means that the card does not need to feature a battery, as it borrows power from the contactless POS terminal, and superior biometric performance ensures both security and convenience for its user,” the company stated.