Nymi, TD, and MasterCard have announced the world’s first wearable payment using cardiac authentication. The payment was made as part of a pilot project underway in Toronto, Regina, and Ottawa.
It was made using the Nymi Band, Nymi’s biometric wristband that is capable of monitoring cardiac biometrics. The Nymi Band provides continuous authentication via the wearer’s heartbeat, which is unique to each person and therefore can act as a means of authentication. The Nymi Band’s HeartID technology was thus used in collaboration with NFC technology to process a TD MasterCard payment on a Tap & Go contactless payment terminal.
The long-term goal is, of course, to have this become a standard means of payment on a broad scale, and indeed banks elsewhere in the world have been considering the technology. And while major banks like Barclays have been working on similar contactless payment devices, few, if any, have leveraged biometric authentication in the way that Nymi has. As mPayment options continue to gain popularity and biometric security continues to rise in prominence, a device like the Nymi band could find a ready market in the near future. Indeed, at this year’s MWC in Barcelona the technology was hailed as the future of payments.
Follow Us