Mastercard Fingerprint Scanning Credit Card

In a move that’s sure to have security experts up in arms, Mastercard is testing fingerprint scanning credit cards in South Africa. Designed to take the place of the PIN when using a chip and PIN reader, the card authenticates your fingerprint from the bottom right sensor with an encrypted digital fingerprint template stored locally on the card itself. If the biometrics match, your purchase is approved. The technology has a myriad of benefits for customers, retailers and banks, ranging from increased security and fraud prevention to increased customer loyalty and reduced operational costs. But given the fact that it sometimes takes four tries to get Touch ID to work and finger prints can be hacked, we’re going to reserve judgment until more tests are done. Mastercard is currently testing these new biometric credit cards at supermarkets in South Africa with additional trials expected to take place in Europe and Asia Pacific soon.