Crédit Agricole is the second French bank to start experimenting with a biometric bank card incorporating a fingerprint sensor.
Last June, the group announced that it would be testing its biometric bankcard with 200 customers over a 6-month period, before launching it on the market in 2020. Let's take a closer look at this technology, developed in partnership with Germany's G+D.
A new-generation bank card
Société Générale was the first French banking institution to test the biometric card, equipped with Idemia's technology, in October 2018. However, the pilot phase was delayed and the experimentation remained limited to a few dozen employees. For the time being, the red and black bank has still not specified a marketing date. The bank card being tested by Crédit Agricole is not based on the same technology.
The Group is proposing a project designed in partnership with the Dutch company NXP Semiconductors, which supplies the electronic module and integrated software, the German company G+D Mobile Security, which designs and customizes biometric payment cards, and the American company MasterCard, whose role is to provide biometric specifications and issue approvals.
This new-generation card incorporates a fingerprint sensor, enabling users to make contactless payments of any amount by placing their finger on the card's sensor. As a reminder, traditional bankcards allow their holders to use the contactless option only for payments of less than 30 euros. Users will still be able to use their card as usual with the PIN code, notably for cash withdrawals.
A payment system tested with 200 people
Crédit Agricole sees this solution as a way of differentiating and enhancing the security of payments at a time when traditional bankcards are becoming increasingly commonplace. For banks, this technology means more secure transactions and less fraud. It is also a means of attracting new customers. The bank insists that users' fingerprints will only be recorded in the microcontroller located in the bankcard chip.
The "green" bank's biometric bank card will be tested for 6 months with 200 volunteer customers of the Caisse régionale de la Touraine et du Poitou, an entity with almost 400,000 cheque accounts.
Market launch scheduled for the 1st half of 2020
Three types of fingerprint reader will be tested: an external reader that connects via USB to a branch computer, a plastic reader and a cardboard version. Crédit Agricole has ruled out the possibility of enrolling a fingerprint from a smartphone, as it believes that the antennae on some mobiles do not transmit sufficiently to guarantee the success of the operation.
After testing the maturity of this technology with its customers, the bank plans to market it in France in the first half of 2020. Crédit Agricole had announced its intention to offer its customers more innovative services. It's now a reality!