a template which is stored in secure memory inside the card ,” he explains . “ There are multiple ways to do that . The first instance would be going into your branch and putting your finger into an optical reader , but IDEX and Mastercard saw that as an inhibitor to mass deployment , so we came up with remote enrol , involving a simple plastic sleeve that is sent in the post along with the card .”
When it comes to payment methods , security goes hand-inhand with convenience . “ If you look at how someone grabs a credit card , ergonomically it ’ s a natural movement ,” says Swearingen . “ They don ’ t have to learn something different . It ’ s so intuitive .” This more secure option is also set to reduce the necessity for things like payment limits for contactless cards . “ With fingerprint , this will go away . You don ’ t need a limit or to re-enter your PIN . We ’ ve done many pilots with Mastercard and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive about how easy it is to use and how much more secure users feel versus other methods ,” he adds .
While the end user is always top of mind , merchants will need convincing that this new POS technology is necessary – but Swearingen doesn ’ t think this will be a problem . “ Mastercard and the like are interested in frictionless transactions : easy and intuitive so the customer isn ’ t worried about security or anything that might cause them to think ‘ I was going to buy this item but maybe I won ’ t ’ – obviously the retailers want this to be frictionless as well . It ’ s a unified goal . As society moves to a more cashless approach , reinventing the credit card with biometrics is a critical part of making that transition a reality .”
— Stan Swearingen ,
CEO , IDEX
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