Contactless biometric card provider Zwipe taps out of payments

Since as early at 2015 Payments Cards & Mobile has been reporting on the growing trend of securing contactless cards with biometrics.

Biometric card provider Zwipe taps out of payments

In 2021 we reported on market research on contactless cards from TietoEVRY that showed UK and European consumers were concerned about infection risk when paying in-store, with worries about theft and fraud growing as contactless limits rise.

Back then the research also showed more than half (55.3%) of consumers are concerned about the safety of their payment cards as transaction limits increased during the Covid pandemic.

In 2023, the expectation was that over the next three to four years, the market for payment cards will continue to grow at speed. The industry predicting that more than 3 billion cards will continue to be issued annually in the coming years, with contactless cards to have 90-95% penetration globally by 2026.

Currently, in most markets, contactless solutions have a spending limit before a user must once again authenticate themselves with their PIN in a process that significantly slows down the transaction.

Using a fingerprint sensor to authenticate the transaction can be done without the need to insert the user’s card into the terminal, therefore allowing the cap on transactions to be removed while providing all the convenience of contactless payments.

The technology is ready and the growing number of pilots demonstrates that the ecosystem is similarly ready for widespread deployment.

But hang on a moment…

Today, Zwipe, a leading light in the biometric contactless card market, announced a company restructuring and new strategic direction, increasing its focus on Zwipe Access and accelerating the commercialization of its biometric authentication technology in the access control market.

As a result of the change in strategic focus, the company has initiated a restructuring process that is expected to reduce operational costs, particularly related to Zwipe Pay.

Zwipe has historically focused primarily on the development and application of its biometric authentication technology in the payments market.

Over the last two years, Zwipe completed the development of Zwipe Pay including mobile enrolment solutions, achieved full certification of the technology by both Visa and Mastercard, and spent significant time lining up the biometric payment card (“BPC”) value chain players to launch quickly once banks decided to move forward with biometric payment cards.

However, neither market adoption nor the pace of commercial launches has materialized in the manner Zwipe or other players had expected, particularly towards the end of 2023.