Mastercard has teamed up with IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, and MatchMove, a Singapore-based fintech, on their first pilot in Asia of a biometric card that uses a fingerprint to authorize transactions at in-store payment terminals.
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(Graphic: Business Wire)
The card, with the product name F.CODE Easy, takes the seamless and intuitive experience of biometric authentication from a smartphone to a smart card. It makes transactions more convenient, safe and secure by eliminating the need for a cardholder to provide a PIN number or signature, thereby reducing touch points in public places.
Developed by IDEMIA in accordance with Mastercard’s technical and design specifications, F.CODE Easy ensures privacy and security by storing all biometric credentials on the card chip rather than a central database. The battery-free card, which harvests energy from payment terminals to power its fingerprint sensor, is designed to be user-friendly and is certified to ISO standards by Mastercard for security and compliance.
MatchMove, a Banking as a Service provider in Singapore, will issue the biometric cards for the pilot in the fourth quarter of this year. The pilot will feature employees of Mastercard, IDEMIA and MatchMove using the cards for transactions and live demonstrations for customers.
“As people make a permanent move to contactless transactions, the biometric card promises more choice and greater security for consumers,” said Matthew Driver, Executive Vice President, Services, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “With Mastercard’s focus on digital commerce, this solution is a testament to the innovative partnerships Mastercard cultivates and its mission to provide fast, frictionless payment experiences that are protected at every point.”
The shift to touch-free transactions is underway globally as almost six in 10 consumers say the move to digital payments is likely to last and nearly half plan to use cash less often even after the COVID-19 pandemic passes, according to a Mastercard study in multiple markets around the world. In Asia Pacific, a large majority – 71% in Australia, 77% in India, 73% in China and 62% in Japan – believe the shift to contactless payments is here to stay.
To support the onboarding process for F.CODE Easy, IDEMIA will provide a full set of services to MatchMove that allow users to enroll in their own homes for maximum convenience.
“We are proud to celebrate this milestone on our journey to shaping the future of payments into one powered by biometrics,” said Vincent Mouret, Senior Vice President of Financial Institutions Asia Pacific at IDEMIA. “We are delighted to partner with Mastercard and MatchMove to launch F.CODE Easy in Asia and we look forward to continuing to work together to provide end-to-end security for fintechs.”
MatchMove, which aims to democratize essential financial services using advanced cloud and mobile technologies, is one of 21 applicants for Singapore’s digital banking licenses.
“We are excited to partner with IDEMIA and Mastercard to pioneer cutting-edge solutions that empower our customers to make safe and secure payments,” said Amar Abrol, Chief Commercial Officer at MatchMove. “By leveraging F.CODE Easy, we can enable multiple use cases for our clients who in turn create greater value and utility for their customers, employees, suppliers and partners. We look forward to working together and introducing new innovative solutions to the market.”
About Mastercard (NYSE:MA), www.mastercard.com
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
About IDEMIA
IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect and travel), in the physical as well as digital space. Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, an identity that ensures privacy and trust and guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions, we reinvent the way we think, produce, use and protect one of our greatest assets – our identity – whether for individuals or for objects, whenever and wherever security matters. We provide Augmented Identity for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors. With close to 15,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries. For more information, visit www.idemia.com / Follow @IdemiaGroup on Twitter.
About MatchMove
MatchMove, which is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, is one of the world’s fastest growing and most disruptive fintech companies in digital payments and next-generation banking. MatchMove’s proprietary Banking Wallet OS™ enables 'Banking-As-A-Service' and the capabilities of Spend.Send.Lend™ within any app. The platform empowers businesses and their customers to Spend both online and offline easily and safely, via instantly issued prepaid cards on major card networks. Its Send capabilities include P2P domestic transfers, cross-border remittances, P2M and mass disbursements to global recipients. MatchMove’s platform further extends to Lend, where credit scores are assigned based on customers’ spending and sending patterns to offer customised lending solutions. MatchMove’s solutions help enterprise clients digitise payments and give the financially underserved segments the empowerment to move their money anytime and anywhere. For more information, please visit www.matchmove.com.
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