Master Card adds fingerprint scanner to credit cards

Hoping to replace signatures and PINs, MasterCard and Norwegian biometrics firm Zwipe have announced the first fingerprint-activated credit card.

Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise security solutions at MasterCard, said: "Our belief is that we should be able to identify ourselves without having to use passwords or PIN numbers. Biometric authentication can help us achieve this. However, our challenge is to ensure the technology offers robust security, simplicity of use and convenience for the customer. Zwipe's first trial is a significant milestone and its results are very encouraging."

With a small fingerprint scanner embedded in one end, the sensor can read a user's fingerprint in under a second and can allow contactless or contact transactions.