In an effort to prevent fraud and ease the secure payments process, Visa has introduced a specification that can authenticate EMV chip card transactions using multiple forms of biometrics.
The Visa architecture enables fingerprint acceptance by biometric readers. This framework, which also encrypts and validates each transaction, can enable palm, voice, iris and facial recognition as well.
The specification supports "match-on-card" authentication, in which the EMV chip card validates the biometric authentication data without ever exposing or storing it in any central database. Issuers will have the option of validating the biometric data within their secure systems for transactions that occurr in their own environments, such as their own ATMs.
Absa Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group, will be the first to use Visa's specification, and will develop a proof of concept trial beginning this fall. Cardholders will use fingerprint readers at select Absa-owned ATMs instead of PINs to complete transactions. In South Africa and other developing countries, where banking and electronic payments are still emerging, financial institutions have been expressing a strong interest in biometric solutions.
According to Visa, cardholder verification seamlessly integrates with the EMV (which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa) standard used worldwide.
"Financial institutions, solution providers and others in the payments ecosystem can rely on an interoperable and consistent infrastructure for supporting biometrics," Mark Nelsen, senior vice president of risk products and business intelligence for Visa Inc., said. "There is increasing demand for biometrics as a more convenient and secure alternative to signatures or PINs, especially as biometric technologies have become more reliable and available. However, 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 solutions."
The payments industry overall continues to consider biometrics to maximize security and streamline authentication. Many companies are testing the use of fingerprints, voices, irises and faces to validate that individuals are who they say they are when making a purchase or completing another transaction.
Apple permits fingerprint verification for iTunes purchases and Apple Pay transactions. Google's Android Pay supports fingerprint authentication in certain near field communication-enabled devices. And Samsung is looking at fingerprint, voice and iris recognition for its Samsung Pay offering.
Recently, the $8.1 billion, Mountain View, Calif.-based First Tech Federal Credit Union announced a new pilot with MasterCard, which allows credit union employees to complete mobile transactions using facial recognition and fingerprint biometrics.
For the pilot program, which runs in September and October 2015, more than 200 First Tech FCU employees will test the product using artificial funds and biometrics in a closed environment.
The pilot will evaluate the potential for delivering greater security and convenience to First Tech FCU's U.S. cardholders by allowing them to verify their identity via facial photographs or fingerprint scans on their smartphones, the credit union said.
Visa plans to offer its new technology to EMVCo, the global technical body that manages EMV Specifications, to further develop and administer the standard for the benefit of the entire payments industry.
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Roy Urrico
Roy W. Urrico specializes in articles about financial technology and services for Credit Union Times, as well as ghostwriting, copywriting, and case studies. Also: writer/editor of a semi-annual newsletter for Association for Financial Technology since 1997 and history projects funded by the U.S Interior Department, National Park Service and Warren County (N.Y.).
