Large Finnish bank pilots biometric card based on Zwipe platform

Zwipe Pay ONE is being used in a biometric payment card pilot with Finland’s OP Financial Group through partner TietoEVRY.

OP Financial Group is the largest provider of financial services in Finland, according to the announcement, providing banking, non-life insurance and wealth management to more than four million customers. If the pilot is successful, OP Financial Group will consider launching biometric payment cards.

Demand has increased among OP customers for safer, more convenient and hygienic payment methods at physical stores, it says in the announcement.

Zwipe and TietroEVRY announced a partnership in October to bring biometric payment cards to the Nordic region.

“At the moment over 60 percent of payment terminal transactions made with OP cards consist of contactless payments, which means that our customers have adopted this payment method very well,” says OP cards’ business lead Teemu Korte. “Biometric payment cards provide a secure and easy payment method which also enables contactless payments possible of over 50 euros. We are waiting to pilot this new payment method with our customers at latest during the second half of next year. We hope that the user experiences in the pilot will be good, so that we could bring this new alternative to our card portfolio.”

TietoEVRY notes in the press release that it is a leading card production and personalization services provider in the Baltics, as well as the Nordic region.

“We see great interest in the market for the secure, safe and convenient means of payment that biometric payment cards provide,” says TietoEVRY Head of Card Production and Personalisation Jarmo Rouhiainen. “We are excited to start working with OP on this, as we jointly pioneer the latest technology which benefits people’s everyday life. This collaboration is also proof of the strength of TietoEVRY’s partner network, in this case with our partners Tag Systems Group and Zwipe.”

Joint research from Zwipe and TietoEVRY found that three-quarters of Swedes would like biometrics on their next payment card.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  financial services  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Finland  |  stocks  |  Zwipe  |  Zwipe Pay