FPC Tech Used in Two New Biometric Cards in Morocco

Fingerprint Cards‘ biometric technology will be used in two new commercial biometric payment cards in Morocco, the company has announced.

In a brief statement, the biometrics specialist declined to name the client financial institutions that would be launching the biometric payment cards, referring to them only as “two of Morocco’s largest banks.” With that in mind, it may be worth noting that Mastercard announced a partnership last month with Crédit Agricole du Maroc that would enable customers in Morocco to load virtual versions of their bank cards into their smartphones, and would entail the launch of a ‘World Elite’ biometric card featuring an embedded fingerprint sensor.

A year ago, Fingerprint Cards announced that its technology was being used in Gold and World Elite payment cards being offered by Crédit Agricole France, following a six-month pilot conducted in partnership with G + D Mobile Security, NXP Semiconductors, and Mastercard.

The new card launches in Morocco help to illustrate the broader trend of biometric payment cards, which are starting to emerge in select markets after years of behind-the-scenes R&D, collaborations, planning, and pilots. Biometric payment cards are designed to add a high level of security to card transactions, especially contactless ‘tap-to-pay’ ones, by requiring the registered cardholder to scan their fingerprint during the payment process.

“Fingerprint sensors for biometric payment cards represent a large market potential for Fingerprints,” commented Fingerprints’ Michel Roig, “and once again Fingerprints and its certified technology is proving readiness for mass market with its robust products, user experience, innovative and secure features.” Roig heads Fingerprint Cards Switzerland, the payments and access control-focused subsidiary created as the result of a strategic review launched by the company’s Board of Directors last year.

The company’s other subsidiary, Fingerprint Technology Company, is focused on mobile and PC integrations of FPC’s biometric technology, and is headed by Ted Hansson.

Roig went on to note that Fingerprints is seeing “high activity among our customers and partners in the MENA region and with these launches we are accelerating biometric payment card adoption in the MENA region.”

The company’s statement indicated that FPC tech had also been used in a biometric payment card launched in Jordan in late 2021. That may be a reference to the launch of a Mastercard World Elite card by Jordan Kuwait Bank, which involved a collaboration between Thales and BNP Paribas; at the time, the financial services organizations did not name the provider of the fingerprint sensor technology being used.

FPC announced that its T-Shape sensor module for biometric cards had been certified against Mastercard’s updated biometric technology specifications at the start of this year.

–

April 20, 2022 – by Alex Perala