UK bank pilots fingerprint-sensitive bank cards for contactless payments

NatWest is piloting using customers' fingerprints to approve bank card purchases over £30

Spotted: British bank NatWest is piloting bank cards that use fingerprints instead of PIN numbers. The pilot is a first in the UK, the bank says. NatWest will give biometric cards to 200 people later this year. They will register their fingerprints at a physical branch of the bank. The plan is to eventually let people register their prints remotely.

The fingerprints themselves would be stored on the card, not at the bank, according to Gemalto, the digital security company that designed the cards. The bankcards will also still work with a PIN or as a contactless “tap and go” card.

There are no plans to roll out the product nationwide at this point, the bank says. Banks in other countries are also testing the technology. Gemalto supplied an Italian bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, with Mastercard biometric contactless payment cards late in 2018.