FPC collaborates with IDEMIA on biometric payment card trial in Japan

Apr 25, 2018 | Stephen Mayhew

Fingerprint Cards today revealed its collaboration with IDEMIA on Japan’s first biometric payment card trial. Using a FPC1300-series sensor, the biometric payment card trial will run on Japan’s leading payment network.

“Japan is renowned for early adoption and, with this initiative, it is once again leading the way in launching the latest digital payment technologies,” commented Thomas Rex, SVP of the smartcard business line at Fingerprint Cards. “The ongoing EMV migration ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games makes it a perfect testing ground for PIN-less, painless and secure contactless payments.”

IDEMIA’s F-Code solution replaces PIN or signature authentication with a fingerprint to deliver greater security without impacting the frictionless payment experience of contactless cards.

“Everyone can benefit from these new cards,” added Thomas. “Banks can reduce fraud and grow trust to retain and attract customers. For retailers, streamlining the authentication process with biometrics can achieve higher customer throughput and reduced drop-outs, increasing revenues. Importantly, too, the cards work and are processed the same way as standard contactless cards, no upgrades are required to existing acceptance infrastructure.”

In a blog post earlier this year, Fingerprint Cards said that 2018 is the year of on-card biometrics, due to advances in biometric performance and low power consumption, the proliferation of trials, and rising market demand. The post referred to a report by ABI Research which says the payment card will remain a popular payment form factor, and that fingerprint authentication is the next step in its development.