FPC Predicts Biometric Cards Will Drive Rapid Transformation of LATAM Payments Scene

Fingerprint Cards (FPC) is predicting that Latin America will be at the forefront of the biometric payments industry. The company noted that the adoption rates of new payment technologies have skyrocketed in the region in the past few years, and believes that that trend will continue as biometric cards become more readily available moving forward.

That rapid growth will help Latin America catch up with the rest of the world. FPC acknowledged that the region’s enthusiasm for biometric payments might seem surprising to outsiders, since many countries have a massive unbanked population. Mexico, for example, has 42 million unbanked individuals, which corresponds to 32 percent of the population. The story is similar in Brazil, where the numbers are 34 million and 16 percent, respectively.

However, FPC suggested that that has created a much higher demand for modern payment technologies, which in turn creates the right conditions for a rapid transformation. Like the rest of the world, people in Latin America embraced cashless and contactless technologies in response to COVID-19, with many citing hygiene (84 percent) and security (79 percent) as primary motivations. Banks were more than happy to meet that demand, with 80 percent of the region’s issuers now offering a contactless card option.

That’s why BBVA Mexico’s recent decision to launch a biometric payment card should not be all that surprising. Mexico is now one of the first countries in the world with a biometric card, trailing only Switzerland and France. Latin America is looking to keep pace with those early adopters, to continue to shrink an unbanked population that has been plummeting in recent years. The number dropped eight percent in Costa Rica and Argentina, 18 percent in Colombia, and a whopping 73 percent in Brazil. Meanwhile, the use of digital wallets is up 30 percent in Mexico, while the number of electronic transactions has jumped an astonishing 80 percent.

FPC itself is in the midst of a strategic review. In the meantime, the company has hinted that the biometric card market could be accelerating after receiving a major sensor order from a top-three card manufacturer.

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August 23, 2021 – by Eric Weiss