Is Google Developing a Biometric Payment Card?

Tech Giant Google appears close to announcing a new physical debit card to be used with its Google Pay payment platform, complete with biometric security.

The news — which comes via a series of leaked documents obtained by TechCrunch — would position Google in the FinTech industry alongside competitor Apple, following the launch of the Apple Card in August of 2019.

Google’s yet-to-be-named card would exist in digital as well as physical form, similar to how the Apple Card is set up. The digital and physical card numbers will differ in the event that either is lost or compromised so that the user will still be able to use the other to make payments.

There will also be the option to lock the card remotely if the physical card is lost or stolen, reset the card number if the user fears the digital card has been compromised, or lock the account entirely if they fear it has been compromised.

For additional security, Google will use biometric authentication and PINs, however there is no indication yet whether that will include the Face Unlock 3D facial recognition system currently found on the Pixel 4, or just fingerprint scanning.

Support for Face Unlock has been growing steadily ever since Google released the ‘BiometricAPI’ following the launch of the Pixel 4 late last year, so depending on when this new card actually launches, it likely won’t be long before it supports it.

One way that it appears the Google’s card will differ from the Apple Card is in the number of financial institutions it supports. Whereas the Apple Card is partnered with Goldman Sachs, Google appears poised to partner with several different banks, though details are not available as of yet.

Source: TechCrunch

(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)