Samsung, Mastercard Announce Biometric Card With Fingerprint Scanner

Samsung and Mastercard have agreed to collaborate on making card payments even more secure. They are going to incorporate a fingerprint sensor into Samsung Cards to reduce contact points at in-store payment terminals. Although this appears to be similar to Mastercard’s Biometric Payment Card that was showcased a few years ago, the new cards will use a more secure chipset from Samsung’s System LSI business. These new biometric cards can be used at any Mastercard chip or POS terminal.

Samsung said in a press release that the biometric cards will “integrate several key discrete chips, streamlining the overall component design and enabling more efficient development.” Earlier, MasterCard showcased a similar technology in September 2017 at the first Mastercard Innovation Forum in India.

“Drawing from our strong security solution background in various applications such as passports, credit cards, and mobile devices, we will work with Mastercard and Samsung Card to create an environment where consumers can use payment card services with an added peace of mind,” said Harry Cho, Vice President, Samsung Electronics.

Samsung will be introducing the card later this year but will initially only offer it South Korea through its Samsung Card vertical. Samsung Card is a leading credit card business in the country and will begin gradually adopting the technology with corporate credit cards that have more international transactions.

“We have big data expertise and have set the standard in domestic market for digital transformation and fraud detection system (FDS).” said Hanjoo Yoo, Vice President, Planning & Communication, Samsung Card. “Leveraging these experiences, we will deliver a powerful solution to enhance payment experiences in close partnership with Samsung Electronics and Mastercard.”

Samsung hasn’t announced any details on the card’s global availability yet.

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