The future of Bank Cards: Fingerprint Scanners!

Millions of bank cards around the world have the contactless technology that allows users to buy a variety of items with a tap of a card! However, Visa & Mastercard have plans to release "Biometric Cards" which are cards with fingerprint scanners, that work in the same way as Apple Pay works on iPhones. Mastercard's Executive Vice President, Bob Reany, says Biometric cards will have greater security than any form of pin. In April 2017, Mastercard trialled these cards in South Africa, with more trials beginning in Bulgaria & plenty more happening this year - Visa is trying the cards out in Cyprus. This should be implemented in the UK within the next couple of years! The technology behind it is called "EMV" (Euro Pay, Mastercard & Visa) which stores a user's info on the card's chip, with the card being powered when entered into a card reader. Trial users have had to get their fingerprints scanned at their local bank, for it to be saved on the database. However, Bob Reany implies that the card could be made in a way that users can set their fingerprint on the card itself. This will not only revolutionise the way in which we make payments, but could also prevent the 10's of millions of pounds that has been stolen from card fraud in the UK in the past few years. Adapted from Wired UK's Matt Burgess (2018) & an article from The Conversation.