SmartMetric integrates biometric fingerprint copy and matching into its new credit card
Using miniature sub micro electronics along with advanced software, SmartMetric has been successful in incorporating biometric secured fingerprint copy and matching by its card.
This means that a separate fingerprint scanner that is needed by less sophisticated biometric cards is not required for the SmartMetric card user fingerprint enrollment.
The SmartMetric biometric card uses a powerful encrypted processor, separate to the payment chip cards processor, that is used to store the card user’s fingerprint inside the card. Because the SmartMetric biometric card doesn’t store templates or images inside the same chip that is used to process payments, the SmartMetric biometric card solution is able to provide fast and highly secure fingerprint registration and extraction without compromising the security of the card’s payments chip.
Other biometric cards that rely on the fingerprint being stored in the same chip used for card processing require the new card user to go into a bank branch and use a separate fingerprint scanner in order to have their fingerprint stored inside the card.
This obviously is an impediment to mass adoption of the biometric card, especially in countries such as the United States where the majority of large card-issuing banks issue their cards through the mail. In fact, one of the largest credit card issuers in the United States has very few branches and would be unable to adopt a biometric card that requires its customers to come into a branch to register their fingerprint.
The SmartMetric biometric credit card was specifically designed to work in the United States market, taking into account the methods used for getting cards into the hands of customers by the large USA card-based card-issuing banks.
SmartMetric biometric cards do not use the payments chip that is seen on the regular credit card’s surface, leaving this chip dedicated for processing payments at a credit card reader. Storing and matching a person’s fingerprint in a separate processor allows for the user’s fingerprint to be double firewalled and protected by highly secure cryptographic technology.
“Being a USA company we have been careful to design a biometric card solution that meets the needs of USA credit card issuers,” said SmartMetric’s President and CEO, Chaya Hendrick.
“Having a biometric card built for the needs of credit card issuers is one of the overriding guidelines that has driven our advanced and unique biometric card,” said Hendrick.
SmartMetric’s Biometric card addresses the multibillion existing chip-based credit and debit card market. Figures published by EMVCo reveal that by year end of 2020, 10.8 billion EMV chip cards have been issued by financial institutions and were in global circulation – a massive increase of nearly 1 billion credit and debit EMV cards compared to the previous twelve months.