Global payments giant Visa has revealed details of a new system spec it is developing that enables palm, voice, eye and facial biometrics with chip card payments.Outlined in a blog post, Visa noted that it has now launched a first-of-its-kind technology framework designed to use biometrics with chip card transactions.As reported in Planet Biometrics, the first pilot went into effect this autumn in South Africa, with Absa Bank, where cardholders will use their fingerprint rather than a PIN code to access their accounts on select ATMs”There is increasing demand for biometrics as a more convenient and secure alternative to signatures or PINs, especially as biometrics technologies have become more reliable and available,” says Mark Nelsen, senior vice president of Risk Products and Business Intelligence at Visa.Visa's new architecture enables fingerprints to be securely accepted by a biometric reader, encrypted, and then validated. The specification supports “match-on-card” authentication where the EMV chip card validates the biometric so that it is never exposed or stored in any central databases. Issuers can optionally validate the biometric data within their secure systems for transactions occurring in their own environments, such as their own ATMs.Because Visa's design is built on the EMV chip standard, the biometric validation seamlessly integrates with the technology used by 3.3 billion chip cards around the world. Financial institutions, solution providers, and others in the payments ecosystem can rely on an interoperable and consistent infrastructure for supporting biometrics.”To support wide adoption, it is equally important that solutions are scalable and based on open standards. Building on the EMV chip standard provides a common, interoperable foundation, as well as encourages innovation in cutting-edge biometric solution,” adds Nelsen.
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