5 Biometric payment cards elevating checkout experience in Europe

By Gloria Methri

Biometric payment cards are credit or debit cards that have a built-in fingerprint scanner to verify the cardholder’s identity when they try to make a payment.

Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, today, more and more payment card users favour contactless payment methods to avoid potential touchpoints.

Biometric payments elevate the checkout experience. With a simple touch, transactions are faster, eliminating the need to enter a PIN or sign receipts.

Such methods are becoming more common in banking and retail because they can provide a faster and more secure payment experience. The global biometric card market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of almost 118% between 2024 and 2029.

Let’s look at 5 companies transforming contactless payments with biometric payment card offerings:

• Fingerprint Cards AB

Fingerprint Cards AB, a Sweden-based biometrics firm, has rolled out at least 11 biometric payment cards in partnership with digital security company Thales. Beyond speed, security and convenience, the Fingerprints payment card integrates with existing bank infrastructures and Point-of-Sale (POS) systems without requiring upgrades.

The Fingerprints technology features a T-Shape sensor (T2) and biometric payment software platform, offering users advanced transaction speed, improved power efficiency and enhanced security. The contactless payment card has already been certified by major EMV payment schemes.

• G+D

Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) is a German Security Technology company that launched its second-generation biometric card in 2023. G+D’s Convego YOU is a biometric payment card that uses a fingerprint sensor instead of a PIN. The card is the same size as a standard card and can be used for retail, travel, and hospitality payments. Convego YOU cards offer several benefits, including Secure authentication, Frictionless card activation, Smooth app onboarding, and Swift high-value transactions.

• IDEMIA

France-based IDEMIA provides identity and security technologies for the public and private sectors. Its technologies use cryptography and biometrics to secure billions of interactions in many fields, including payment, connectivity, access control, justice and public safety, travel, and identity.

IDEMIA’s biometric payment card F. CODE enables customers to authorize payments via a fingerprint sensor embedded into the card. To ensure privacy, the biometric data is securely stored in the chip and never leaves the card.

• IDEX Biometrics

IDEX Biometrics is an expert in fingerprint biometrics. It offers authentication solutions for payments, access control, and digital identity. It designs and sells biometric payment cards that use its sensors and software.

To use a biometric credit card, the cardholder inserts or taps the card while holding their thumb on the card sensor. The sensor then creates a digital image of the thumb and matches it against a stored digital template on the card. In August 2023, Mastercard fully certified IDEX Biometrics’ payment card solution.

• Thames Technology

Thames Technology’s biometric payment cards offer an ideal solution for making secure contactless payments. With a built-in fingerprint sensor, they enable the end user to authenticate every card transaction at the point of sale and offer a quick, convenient, and more hygienic contactless method for all transaction values. This allows banks to provide an improved customer experience day after day, ensuring their card becomes the card of choice for all payments.