MasterCard and Zwipe Partner To Roll Out Credit Card With Fingerprint Scanner

In an effort to improve security and decrease fraud, MasterCard has teamed up with Zwipe to unveil the world’s first credit card to combine biometric fingerprint authentication with contactless payment technology.

 Over the last few months, one of Norway’s top financial institutions has been testing out a live pilot of the software and the results have been astounding. Cardholders and retailers alike are sending positive feedback to the company. Cardholders appreciate the ease in which they can utilize the additional security measures and retailers have cited the ability to collect customer data as their favorite feature of the software.

Fingerprints of users are stored in the Zwipe MasterCard, instead of an external database, to ensure security of members. This technology would replace the traditional PIN entry and allows cardholders to make payments of any amount, rather than a prepaid amount. A user’s fingerprint is used to authenticate each transaction at a payment terminal.

Further testing will be needed to prove if this technology becomes as mainstream as fingerprint door locks and timeclocks. For now, however, it is looking like the technology will continue to grow in popularity.