Together Zwipe and Germany’s Fidor Bank will be piloting biometric payment cards throughout the second half of this year, with the scheme being powered by the Zwipe Pay technology platform.
Fidor Bank is a digital bank headquartered in Germany. Founded in 2009, the bank serves customers in the retail, corporate and institutional sectors.
Biometric cards look like any other payment card, however, in addition to the standard chip and pin technology one would expect to see in primitive systems, biometric cards also facilitate a fingerprint sensor.
The chip powers the card’s fingerprint sensor, and both require authentication via the correct pin and the correct fingerprint in order to make a payment.
The use of the technology is a hot topic in the world of fintech at the moment, although the concept is not particularly new to the game.
NatWest introduced its biometric cards to the UK market over three years ago, during a time when the industry was aflush with various pilot schemes and trials.
Even beyond the confines of a plastic card, there’s been great adoption of biometric technology. According to Juniper Research, the value of payments being made through biometrically-authenticated mobile transactions is forecast to top $1.2trillion globally within the next five years.
In terms of the consumer appetite for biometric cards, last year’s report from Fingerprints suggested that just over half of respondents were ready to opt-in for a biometric card; a rise that it identified as coming in tandem with the general decline of cash payments.
Although the pilot will first be opening in Germany, there are indications that the technology is already doing well within the continent, as put forward by one of Fingerprints’ more recent reports.
Likewise, Zwipe has previously reported a keen appetite for its Zwipe Pay biometric payment card platform, something it will leverage to power the card scheme.
The main emphasis between Zwipe and Fidor Bank is on the level of security that the card’s able to provide, with the launch being in line with Fidor’s strategy to provide products to its customers safely.
Speaking on how this development will help Fidor Bank to differentiate its payment offerings, the company’s CEO Boris Joseph describes the scheme as, “next-generation payment cards powered by on-card fingerprint authentication.”
“We’re aiming for a commercial launch in the second half of 2022,” he added.
Besides providing Zwipe Pay as the core platform of the biometric payment card technology, Zwipe will support Fidor Bank with project support, assisting the bank with engagement and awareness of biometric payment cards.
“We’re grateful for Fidor Bank’s confidence in joining forces with Zwipe to bring biometric payment cards to Germany,” added Zwipe CEO André Løvestam.
“We’re fully committed to ensuring a successful pilot and market launch in Germany.”
