Biometric Payment Cards: Future Prospects and Hurdles

Published Date : 8/25/2025 

Biometric payment cards offer a secure and frictionless payment experience, but their adoption has been slower than expected. Explore the reasons and future prospects of this technology. 

Biometrics has revolutionized the payment industry, offering secure and seamless transactions across various channels. One of the key innovations is the biometric payment card, which replaces traditional PINs and passwords with fingerprint authentication. These cards operate similarly to standard smartcards but require the user to activate them with their enrolled fingerprint, ensuring that only the legitimate owner can use the card.

The pay-by-me revolution is steadily replacing phishable PINs and passwords with biometric factors that are easy to use and not easily forgotten. Biometric payment cards match the user’s fingerprint with a template stored on the card. If the match is successful, the card is activated and can be used at a payment terminal. If the match fails, the card remains inactive. This added layer of security makes the card useless if lost or stolen, significantly enhancing payment security.

Biometric Payment Cards – High Expectations Not Met

Despite initial high expectations, the adoption of biometric payment cards has been slower than anticipated. Analysts, including Goode Intelligence, believed that a combination of strong consumer demand, hygiene concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shift towards biometric authentication would drive high adoption rates. However, these expectations have not been met, and Goode Intelligence has revised its forecasts to be more conservative.

A very small percentage of the billions of payment cards shipped annually are biometric-capable. Many companies that developed technology for these cards are struggling, with some going out of business. Zwipe, a leading biometric payment card component vendor, filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 after raising tens of millions in investment. IDEX Biometrics, which focused on developing fingerprint sensors for smartcards, has also faced low market demand and refocused its strategy towards the access control market. Fingerprint Cards, another major player, invested heavily in biometric payment cards but saw reduced revenue from its mobile product line.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The initial bullish sentiment for biometric payment cards was largely driven by the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. During this period, hygiene concerns were at an all-time high, with people avoiding shared surfaces like PIN pads. Contactless payment cards and mobile wallets emerged as touch-free alternatives, and payment regulators increased contactless payment limits to reduce the need for PIN entry.

Biometric payment cards would have solved the hygiene dilemma by allowing higher-value physical payments without touching shared devices. However, the cards were not available in time to meet the pandemic-driven demand. High production costs, certification delays, and enrollment challenges hindered their timely deployment. As the pandemic subsided, the urgency for touch-free payments diminished, and other secure and cost-effective payment methods became more prevalent.

A Question of Right Product, Wrong Time?

For biometric payment cards to succeed, card issuers must be convinced of their viability. This includes meeting stringent payment scheme card certification, being cost-effective, and having a reliable and scalable enrollment process. The cards must also feature biometric sensors that are inexpensive, have low power consumption, meet certification criteria, and are accurate.

Competition

According to the Worldpay Global Payments Report 2024, cards and mobile wallets dominate the physical payment space, with 50% of transactions using cards and 30% using mobile wallets. By 2027, mobile wallet usage in physical scenarios is expected to increase to 46%. Touchless biometric solutions, where biometric sensors integrated into POS devices authenticate users, are also emerging. Goode Intelligence forecasts that by 2030, there will be over one billion payment transactions using touchless biometric solutions.

The Future for Biometric Payment Cards

Despite the challenges, there is still a market for biometric payment cards. The focus is now on premium segments, particularly in developing regions. For example, in July 2025, Eastern Bank (EBL) and Mastercard launched a metal biometric payment card in Bangladesh, targeting premium users. This card uses a fingerprint sensor supplied by IDEX Biometrics. There is also activity in Turkey, India, South America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa. In Colombia, banks are adopting biometric payment cards to combat card fraud, a significant issue in the region.

Does Physical Access Control Offer a Lifeline for Biometric Cards?

Biometrics is increasingly used for physical access control, and there is an opportunity for biometric payment cards to be integrated into these solutions. Biometric cards can be easily added to existing access control infrastructure without significant additional costs. While the same cost and operational challenges apply, biometric cards offer enhanced security by ensuring only the legitimate owner can use the card. This is particularly important for high-assurance scenarios, such as access to secure areas.

Summary

Biometric payment cards provide a highly secure alternative to traditional payment methods. While they are part of the available payment options, cost and operational challenges will limit their widespread adoption. The market currently supports a more modest opportunity for biometric payment cards, particularly in niche and premium scenarios. Biometrics will continue to play a crucial role in the payment industry, supporting the end-to-end payment process from account opening to fraud prevention.

Biometric cards can also be leveraged in other sectors, with the industry currently focusing on access control. Goode Intelligence is investigating this market in a new report due for publication in September. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What are biometric payment cards?

A: Biometric payment cards are smartcards that use fingerprint authentication to activate and use the card, replacing traditional PINs and passwords.

Q: Why have biometric payment cards not been as successful as expected?

A: High production costs, certification delays, and enrollment challenges have hindered their timely deployment. The urgency for touch-free payments also diminished as the pandemic subsided.

Q: What are the main competitors to biometric payment cards?

A: Contactless payment cards and mobile wallets are the main competitors, offering touch-free and secure payment options.

Q: Are there any successful implementations of biometric payment cards?

A: Yes, there are successful implementations in premium segments, particularly in developing regions like Bangladesh, where Eastern Bank and Mastercard launched a metal biometric payment card.

Q: Can biometric payment cards be used for physical access control?

A: Yes, biometric payment cards can be integrated into physical access control systems, offering enhanced security and reliability. 

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