$SMME News : Say Goodbye to PIN Numbers, SmartMetr
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The old and arguably very insecure PIN number used to verify the identity of a debit card user at the checkout or the need to use a pen for signatures that is used by countless numbers of different people during the day is causing a demand for a better, safer way to authenticate a card user. With the knowledge of users on how transmittal the Corona-19 virus is the aversion by consumers to use the touchpad or signature pen at the supermarket checkout is understandable.
Sales staff do not clean card-reader virus-transmitting touch points after every customer. Touching a pin pad or using the signature pen at a checkout has now become a game of Russian roulette when it comes to safely using your credit or debit card at checkout.
Credit and debit cards still account for more than 95% of instore transactions with consumers showing even a greater aversion to using cash. Cash is now seen as potential virus carrier and is the least preferred choice by consumers. This doesn’t mitigate the aversion consumers have regarding the need to touch card readers that are touched by everyone else going through the same checkout.
In talks with card issuers, SmartMetric has seen an increase of interest in its biometric contactless card solution that will allow consumers to have a completely no-touch experience at the checkout while providing a far greater level of transaction security than the old fashioned and weaker PIN and signature methods.
The SmartMetric biometric card solution users a super small fingerprint scanner embedded inside the credit/debit card. Instead of touching the card reader the card user simply touches a square sensor on the top to the card that then causes the internal scanner to read the card holder's fingerprint in less than a second. A user safe and immediate card holder validation that causes the card to immediately be activated. On activation for the transaction the card's internal RFID/NFC system allows the card to communicate, without physical contact with the reader. Safe, immediate, and no contact with the card reader required.