March 4th, 2016 by Elma Jane
A number of financial institutions are beginning to implement biometric authentication. They started to replace traditional knowledge-based passwords with biometric authentication.
A British multinational banking is introducing biometric tests for its customers in U.K., letting account holders access online banking using their fingerprint or voice. If you’re using phone-banking services you can register your voiceprint with the company instead of using a regular password. A special voice biometrics technology will analyze a customer’s voice when they call the bank.
Customers using Apple’s Touch ID will be able to access their accounts on their mobile phones using their fingerprint.
Customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, and France will have the technology by the end of the year. Other markets will follow in 2017 and 2018. The British multinational banking and financial services company have nearly 50 million retail banking customers around the world.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Financial Services Tagged with: account, bank, banking, biometric, customers, financial, financial institutions, financial services, mobile, online, retail
January 26th, 2016 by Elma Jane
The convenience, simplicity and security of Apple Pay are now available to customers who use U.S. Bank FlexPerks American Express Cards.
U.S. Bank which is the fifth-largest bank in the nation will add TouchID biometric capabilities to its mobile app in March.
The company made the disclosure as part of a notable iOS app update released last Friday. Release appears to include, among other enhancements, improvements such as easier navigation, quicker accessibility to account information, and the ability to search transactions from previous months.
U.S. Bank Minneapolis did not give many details about how TouchID will be used within its iOS app, other than to say for fingerprint authentication for enabled devices.
Many major banks already have TouchID implemented in their mobile apps, including Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Citibank, for example, implemented TouchID last July. Apple introduced TouchID in mid-2013.
Last week, U.S. Bank enabled for Apple Pay use the last of its debit and credit cards that had not been Apple Pay-capable. Apple Pay relies on TouchID for security and authentication.
Apple Pay is now available with the:
- U.S. Bank FlexPerks Reserve American Express Card.
- U.S. Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards American Express Card.
- U.S. Bank FlexPerks Select+ American Express Card.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: account, bank, biometric, cards, credit cards, customers, debit, mobile, mobile app, Security, transactions
December 17th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Mobile Payments – It is bound to see more actions with tech giants Apple, Google and Samsung in mobile payment trends. We will also see new technologies like smartwatches, bracelets and rings that will give us the ability to provide payment options.
NFC – Near Field Communication, another familiar face among the payment trends. NFC, however, goes way beyond making payments using smartphones. These speed up POS payment processing quickly and easily without requiring a PIN or signature. While there are other POS payment methods, such as QR codes, NFC will come out on top. Merchants should ensure they have an overview of the current Point-of-Sale options and should, if needed, upgrade to the latest technology.
Security: Tokenization and biometric authentication will have a strong influence on the payment industry.
Tokenization – when applied to data security, is an extremely interesting method of securing credit card data. As the credit card numbers are substituted by tokens that has no value, then no harm can be done if tokens are stolen, which makes tokenization a secure process.
There are several new inventions when it comes to payment processing authentication such as password, PIN, and fingerprint methods. But they are weak so two-factor authentication is increasingly used to improve security.
Biometrics Authentication – like finger print scan, facial recognition, voice recognition, and pulse recognition are set to become increasingly significant. This will increase both security and convenience.
International E-Commerce – It’s important that merchants offer shoppers their preferred local payment method. Merchants who are looking for e-commerce success will need to create an international strategy. Merchants should also consider checking with their payment service providers. Providers know their way around to alternative payment methods.
Cash on the Retreat – Cashless Society? Some countries in Europe are certainly cutting down on the usage of cash. In Sweden, it is now almost impossible to use cash to pay for bus tickets. Acceptable payment methods include customer cards, credit cards, and payments via smartphone apps. Traditional cash-based bakeries no longer exist and instead, now display signs requesting that customers use cashless payment methods for even the smallest amounts. The situation in Denmark is similar; the government is currently debating whether or not to release smaller retailers from the obligation of having to accept cash as a payment method. Cash is on the retreat, and alternative payment methods are advancing. However, cash is still on the list.
Real-Time Payments (Instant Payments) – The European Central Bank (ECB) will bring instant payments strongly in the near future. Instant or real-time payments are a trend which will be with us for a long time to come.
Regulatory Changes – The first Payment Services Directive (PSD) from 2007 is still currently implemented domestically. After a tough two-year negotiation period, the EU has now, finally, agreed on a second payment services directive (PSD2). The European Banking Authority (EBA) is set to develop more detailed guidelines and regulatory standards for various industries. Payment industries should begin preparing themselves now for implementation, doing this will allow them to be ready for the appropriate steps necessary in 2016/2017.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: Apple, biometric, credit card, data security, e-commerce, google, merchants, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, nfc, payment industry, payment methods, payment options, payment processing, payment service providers, payment services, payment trends, payments, PIN, point of sale, POS, qr codes, real-time payments, Samsung, tokenization
December 15th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Visa Inc. has launched the Visa Token Service in Asia Pacific, in association with United Overseas Bank (UOB). Store tokens on mobile devices, cloud-based mobile applications, and e-commerce merchants carry less risk of security hack. This security technology will replace sensitive account information to make payments without exposing bank details.
Tokenized cards are linked to customer’s wallet application or mobile and validated by VisaNet. Biometric authentication and device identification features are available through this service. Visa debit or credit cardholders with NFC-enabled Android smarthphones cardholders will be able to make contacless payments.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce Tagged with: bank, biometric, cardholders, cards, contacless payments, credit, debit, e-commerce, e-commerce merchants, merchants, nfc, payments, token, Tokenized cards, visa
March 17th, 2014 by Elma Jane
Lots of talk has gone on since the recent spate of merchant data breaches on ways to potentially prevent hackers from gaining access to stored payment card data. Use of biometric information, such as a fingerprint, to access stored credentials is among the solutions often bandied about.
The prospects of using individuals’ biometric information for credentialing is fairly scary. Security may be what biometrics is trying to achieve, but it’s also its biggest flaw. Imagine having your fingerprint information stored at Target this holiday season, that information would now be in the hands of lots of people not intended to have access to it. Unlike a password, someone can’t change his or her fingerprint. So once someone has the print, they have it forever. So even if something is biometric based, it also has to have a lot of other security measures, and that could include GPS-based location services tied to an individual’s smartphone.
Biometrics alone won’t work. It’s very scary that that information could be stored in a way that someone could figure out how to get it. Even if encrypted, that’s a huge security concern. You can’t change your fingerprint.
Posted in Credit card Processing, Credit Card Security, Electronic Payments, Payment Card Industry PCI Security, Smartphone Tagged with: biometric, card data, credentialing, encrypted, fingerprint, gaining access, gps-based, merchant data breaches, password, prevent hackers, Security, security measures, smartphone, stored credentials
October 31st, 2013 by Elma Jane
Ingenico Biometric Credit Card Terminal with EMV Chip and PIN Processing NFC.
Ingenico’s new biometric payment device (the iWB 220) is to be used in a pioneering project, to bring financial support to low-income families.
Payment solutions provider, Ingenico are to deploy Ingenico´s biometric solution in Colombia and the Dominican Republic, together with Carvajal Tecnología y Servicios, a player in the electronic payment industry in Latin America,
This biometric point of sale solution complies with the Image Quality Specifications for single finger capture device defined by the FBI, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In addition to high security standards, the solution is a mobile device with an embedded Magstripe, as well as Chip & PIN readers.
Upon government approval for each of the applications, funds will be sent to the banks and through the use of these unique devices, beneficiaries can withdraw their funds, with the use of a fingertip. Approved family members are the only ones able to withdraw the funds, and the government is assured that the benefit is being paid to the right person.
Posted in Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, Electronic Payments, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Payment Card Industry PCI Security Tagged with: banks, biometric, capture, Chip & PIN, deploys, device, electronic, finger, fingertip, funds, ingenico, iwb220, magstripe, mobile, paid, payments, readers, solution, withdraw
October 21st, 2013 by Elma Jane
UL’s (Underwriter Laboratories) latest contribution to the future of payments has been accomplished through its three years of work with National Security, a French biometrics company that has created a commercially viable biometric technology solution for the point of sale.
The move positions UL and National Security at the forefront of an industry that is expected to expand by 140 percent to reach $12 billion in revenue over the next five years, potentially transforming online, mobile and in-store commerce by increasing the speed of transactions in the process.
Still, arguments can be made that biometric use at the point of sale will remain limited. Why does UL believe the market is right for biometrics, and how did it successfully ensure biometric payments will be ready for all parts of the payment process?
Why The Time Is Now For Biometrics
Consumer concerns regarding identity theft and violence are on the rise, and the solution according to many is a viable biometrics payment solution. Reports show that there is already strong demand in the U.S. and Asian markets for such products, and major research outlets have put their support behind the technology.
UL’s case study elaborates on the benefits illustrating how biometric data has been developed to be harder for hackers to infiltrate and compliant with EMV security standards.
Developing The Technology
UL’s work to ensure biometrics will remove friction at the POS has been extensive. For example, its latest case study profiles how UL developed the underlying technology to overcome challenges and work in harmony with wireless technologies such as bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Further, it explains how UL assessed the human health impact of National Security’s biometric solutions.
Posted in Credit card Processing, Electronic Payments, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Point of Sale, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale Tagged with: biometric, bluetooth, commerce, data, developing, EMV, future, hackers, identity theft, impact, in-store, mobile, online, payment process, payments, point of sale, POS, process, security standards, solution, speed, transactions, viable, Wi-Fi, wireless
