Millions of consumers already use biometrics technology, like thumbprint scans, to unlock their phones and confirm in-app purchases. Now, similar technology is moving from phones to plastic. With Visa’s new fingerprint card, consumers will be able to avoid four-digit pins and signatures when making in-store purchases. Instead, they will place their finger on a small scanner embedded, like an EMV chip, into the front of their credit or debit card. If the scan is a match, the scanner will activate a small green light. “It’s fast, it’s seamless,” says Visa SVP Mark Nelsen. “It validates me in a fraction of a second.”
Visa’s fingerprint cards launched this week through two pilot partners, Mountain America Credit Union and Bank of Cyprus, and are compatible with merchants’ existing point-of-sale systems.