Zwipe MasterCard Will Come With A Built-In Fingerprint Scanner

Biometric security is a good way to make sure that you, and only you, can authorize a payment, authenticate a login, and so on. This is compared to PIN codes or passwords which can always be guessed, especially if it is someone close to you. Now for the most part, credit cards usually involve users swiping it or tapping it against a terminal to make payment.

Someone skilled in forging could easily forge your signature, and with contactless payment, anyone can tap your card if they have it and make purchases. Well MasterCard is hoping to change that by partnering up with Zwipe, which will basically see future MasterCards issued with a fingerprint scanner attached to the card itself.

This means that all you’d have to do is place your thumb over the sensor and make your payment as you normally would, but should someone else try, the card won’t work because they don’t have your prints. According to MasterCard President of Enterprise Security Solutions Ajay Bhalla, “Our belief is that we should be able to identify ourselves without having to use passwords or PIN numbers. Biometric authentication can help us achieve this.”

Now there are some issues with the card, namely its design which comes with its own internal battery. This has raised some concerns as to what might happen should the card run out of juice. However Zwipe is currently working to address that by designing a card that draws power from the terminal itself, thus allowing them to create a card the shape and size that is familiar to users.

No word on when Zwipe’s MasterCard will be launched, but the card’s first market will be Europe. With the US starting to move towards EMV in 2015, we can only assume that the Zwipe MasterCard will be headed stateside in the future as well.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Security