Contactless boom carves out biometric payment cards opportunity, FPC sees France leading

Contactless payment card transactions spiked from $1.7 billion in 2020 to $2.5 billion in 2021, with cards making up 79 percent of overall contactless transactions, according to a Juniper Research report breathing yet more wind into the sales of the biometric payment card market.

Increases to contactless payment limits prompted by pandemic concerns about touching shared surfaces have created an opportunity for biometric payment cards, in the form of a trend towards secure, convenient, and hygienic payments, Juniper says. At this point, biometric cards are still a niche item, the analyst says, but more extensive pilots and wider deployments are expected, particularly as banks see a chance to differentiate themselves from their competition with an innovative offering.

The ‘Contacless Payments: Trends, Opportunities and Market Forecasts 2021-2026’ says that the U.S. market will see transaction value growth for contactless cards of 136 percent from last year to this. That trend is expected to continue, with major U.S. retailers rolling out contactless cards to drive further growth of close to 300 percent over the next five years.

Juniper Research has also published a whitepaper: ‘Cash is No Longer King: How Contactless Payments are Becoming the Norm’ to provide further insights on the same theme.

France to continue early payment card tech adoption: Fingerprint Cards

The shift to contactless payments for in-store payments has been especially pronounced in France, Fingerprint Cards writes in a blog post, with a 216 percent increase during the pandemic despite more than half (52 percent) fearing fraud if their contactless payment cards are lost.

That fear, plus the introduction of Europe’s Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) rules for payments, which will mandate the use of an additional factor on a regular basis, could drive biometric payment card adoption. The additional factor, otherwise, will be required PIN entry every five transactions or €150, whichever comes first, notes FPC Sales Director for Payment Cards in the EMEA Region Roger Carriço.

During a recent ‘lunch & learn’ webinar featuring speakers from Thales, Banque de France and other stakeholders, Fingerprint Cards SVP of Corporate Strategy Charles Burgeat suggested that biometric payment cards are the next generation of contactless payment technology, due to their combination of enhanced security and convenience.

France, as it did previously with chip cards and contactless payment cards, is set to be an early adopter of biometric cards, according to the post.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  consumer adoption  |  contactless biometrics  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  Juniper Research  |  market report