Samsung and Mastercard announce biometric card with fingerprint sensor

Samsung Electronics and Mastercard have announced a new strategic collaboration today for the purpose of developing a Samsung Card with a built-in fingerprint scanner and ensure secure transactions at in-store payment terminals.

Technical details regarding the upcoming product are few but it sounds like Samsung’s solution will be similar to the Mastercard Biometric Payment Card that was first released a few years ago with a fingerprint scanner in tow.

However, the biometric Samsung Card will be equipped with a new chipset manufactured by Samsung’s System LSI Business and it will be compatible with any point of sale (POS) or Mastercard chip terminals.

As yet, it’s unclear whether the biometric Samsung Card will offer any compatibility with the Samsung Pay platform.

Samsung Card with built-in fingerprint scanner will debut in South Korea

We’re bound to learn more about the upcoming Samsung Card in the coming months, but as far as availability is concerned, Samsung has confirmed that it will debut in South Korea later this year. It hasn’t revealed what other markets — if any — could be next in line to offer the service.

Even in South Korea, Samsung claims that the launch of the biometric card will be gradual and the release will kick off at a corporate level where more frequent international transactions are being recorded.

According to Samsung Card Vice President Hanjoo Yoon, the biometric card is an example of Samsung Card’s efforts to deliver innovative and convenient solutions to consumers. It leverages the company’s expertise and fraud detection systems to deliver a secure and powerful solution.