Societe Generale testing payment cards based on fingerprints

Société Générale is testing a payment card containing a fingerprint reader, so that users can make contactless payments of any amount without using a PIN number or tapping. When the card is delivered the customer records their own fingerprint, and no part of it is transmitted to a bank or merchant. The card will also work for conventional card payments and at ATMs.

Societe Generale is trialling a payments card with a built in fingerprint reader that enables users to make contactless payments of any amount.

Using technology from Idemia, the biometric element eliminates the need for shoppers to enter a PIN, letting them tap and pay for any amount.



When a customer receives the card, they record their fingerprint themselves. Because the data is verified directly on the card, no element of it is transmitted to either the bank or merchant.



The card also functions normally for all contact-type payments in-store, on the internet and ATM withdrawals.