Visa Begins Pilots Of New Biometric Payment Card

(RTTNews) - Visa (V) said it has initiated pilots with Mountain America Credit Union and Bank of Cyprus of a new EMV dual-interface (chip- and contactless-enabled) payment card, making these the first commercial pilots to test an on-card biometric for contactless payments.

With biometric authentication gaining momentum and the EMV migration well underway, the biometric payment card pilots will test the use of fingerprint recognition as alternatives to PIN or signature to authenticate the cardholder. Both pilots are being managed through the Visa Ready for Biometrics program, a new vertical supporting the growing demand for biometric authentication solutions.

The Bank of Cyprus and Mountain America Credit Union pilots will begin in early 2018 to assess the cardholder experience and the technology of the biometric cards in different retail environments. The Bank of Cyprus pilot utilizes technology from Gemalto, and the Mountain America Credit Union pilot is being supported by technology from Fingerprint Cards and Kona-I.