Survey Research Finds Many UK Consumers Ready for Biometric Cards

Survey data collected by German market research firm GfK suggests that consumers in the UK are warming to the idea of using biometric payment cards.

Based on online polls of 821 cardholders in the country conducted in late May and early June, the research found that 54 percent of respondents said they would get a biometric card today if it were available, and 82 percent of them said they expected it would become their favorite payment card. Eighty-two percent also said they expect a biometric payment card to offer more convenience, and 86 percent said that it would be more secure.

There are still hurdles to overcome, however. Thirty-seven percent of respondents expressed concern about their fingerprint data being compromised, and 41 percent said they were worried that it wouldn’t work every time they tried to use it.

Nevertheless, the overall results suggest that consumers in a country where EMV card transactions are widely supported there is a considerable appetite for biometric cards that could offer highly secure contactless payments. That’s good news for Mastercard, which was thought to be in talks with UK banks about launching biometric cards in the country this past summer; and it’s good news for Gemalto, which commissioned the study and has been working with Visa on its own biometric card solution.

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October 30, 2018 – by Alex Perala