Samsung and Mastercard Unveil New Biometric Payment Card

Samsung Electronics is entering the biometric payment card space after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Mastercard and Samsung Card. The new offering will be accepted at Mastercard payment terminals, and will feature a new security chipset from Samsung’s System LSI Business division.

The card itself will use fingerprint recognition to verify the identities of card holders. As with other biometric cards, the fingerprint sensor will be embedded on the device, and will negate the need for a PIN when authorizing purchases. The chipset, meanwhile, is built with several discrete chips that are designed to make the card more efficient.

The biometric payment card will debut in South Korea, and will initially be offered to corporate clients that are more likely to use the cards to make international purchases. Samsung Card will be spearheading the launch, and will begin issuing corporate cards to South Korean customers sometime later this year.

“As consumers embrace the convenience of contactless payments, Mastercard will leverage its cybersecurity expertise and global payments network to enhance cardholder security with a biometric solution supporting fast, frictionless payment experiences that are protected at every point,” said Mastercard Asia Pacific Cyber & Intelligence SVP Karthik Ramanathan.

“Drawing from our strong security background in applications such as passports, credit cards and mobile devices, we will work with Mastercard and Samsung Card to create an environment where consumers can use payment card services with an added peace of mind,” added Samsung Electronics Engineering VP Harry Cho.

Samsung has already introduced a Samsung Pay Card for users of its Samsung Pay mobile payments platform. That card debuted in the US in July of 2020, before heading to the UK one month later.

Mastercard, meanwhile, has suggested that COVID-19 has accelerated the demand for contactless payment options. The company has also partnered with IDEMIA and MatchMove to conduct a separate biometric card trial (and biometric card launch) in the Asia Pacific region.

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March 4, 2021 – by Eric Weiss