‘Top Three’ Manufacturer Orders Latest FPC Module for Biometric Payment Cards

Fingerprint Cards has received an initial order for the latest version of its T-Shape fingerprint sensor module, signaling growing interest in the biometric technology from the financial services sector.

In announcing the order, the Sweden-based biometrics specialist did not disclose the name of the client in question, but described it as one of the world’s top three card makers. The client in question will integrate the sensor module into fingerprint-scanning payment cards.

Fingerprint Cards had previously announced near the start of the year that one of the world’s top three card makers had placed a volume order for its T-Shape module. Since then, Fingerprints has attained compliance with Mastercard’s Reference Specifications for the T-Shape; and, more recently, the company succeeded in enabling biometric authentication to be completed entirely within the solution’s Secure Element, thanks to a collaboration with Infineon.

Commenting in a statement, Fingerprint Cards Payments & Access VP Michel Roig said he was “very pleased” about the latest client’s plans to integrate the T-Shape, before elaborating on the overall importance of FPC’s solution.

“The T-Shape 2 will be an important part of the next step in the evolution of biometric payment cards, being smaller, faster and more cost efficient than its predecessor while also enhancing our already market-leading convenience and security,” he said. “It is even simpler to integrate into the standard automated card manufacturing process, using the proven and accepted T-Shape packaging delivered in dual rows. The result is higher throughput, reduced waste and lower embedding costs.”

While FPC is a highly prominent vendor in the mobile biometrics space and has also been gaining ground in access control, the company has been targeting the nascent biometric payment cards space as an area of potentially great opportunity. Fingerprints recently published a survey indicating that a 59 percent majority of consumers in France were willing to use a biometric payment card – a larger portion than the 51 percent who said so in a 2020 survey – and that 70 percent of consumers who are familiar with biometric payment cards had expressed interest in owning one.

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October 26, 2021 – by Alex Perala