October 5, 2013 – by Peter B. Counter
This week two events, both with large mobile implications, were responsible for a lot of biometric payment buzz. It started on on Tuesday, with Michael Barrett, president of the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance, speaking to USA Today, mentioned an interesting tidbit of information: that in six months he (and therefore we) will be able to purchase the newest Android devices which will feature built-in fingerprint biometric sensors. It’s not a surprise that Android is following the example Apple set with Touch ID, but with nothing but speculation prior to this interview, the fact that Google is a member of FIDO helps bolster the accuracy of Barrett’s claim.
The very next day USA Today got the scoop on what is arguably even bigger news. Major payment network MasterCard, who is developing a smartphone payment system named MasterPass, will be joining FIDO, and in doing so firmly taking a stance in support of strong authentication.
Biometrics provide payment protection in all transaction methods, not just those enabled by mobile devices. This week brought with it all sorts of endorsements for biometric authentication in terminal-level banking. Lumidigm, for instance, announced that its multi-spectral fingerprint imaging has helped an Argentinian private bank win an award for its biometric pension check verification system.
Morpho (Safran) also had an announcement this week in regards to the financial sector, entered a strategic partnership with the Bank for Investment and Development for Vietnam in order to promote biometrics in digital identity management and banking solutions. Morpho is a very large company, with a number of subsidiaries focused on all ends of biometrics, and as such it didn’t stop with finance this week. MorphoTrust USA achieved Final Operational Capability for the transfer of the TSA’s TWIC program on to Universal Enrollment Services.
Thursday also saw Morpho announcing the launch of it’s new long-range iris solution, Morpho IAD (iris at a distance), a no-contact verification and enrollment device that can capture eye and face biometrics from a distance of one meter. Contactless solutions are perfect for access control situations that might otherwise facilitate the spread of germs, a seasonal concern that faces us as we approach flu season.
Finally, secure documents are entering Belgium courtesy of Gemalto and Zetes, who have entered a partnership to provide advanced ePassports to Belgian citizens. Zetes will be personalizing and distributing the Gemalto-made IDs over the five year term of the contract.
The biometric payment news won’t end with this week, as in the coming days Las Vegas will be playing host to Money 2020, an annual conference in support of Emerging Payment and Financial Services. Be sure to stay tuned to findBIOMETRICS and our sister site Mobile ID World to stay up to date on the happenings in the city of Sin.