--- title: "A Bank Is Testing a Debit Card With Built-in Fingerprint Scanner" description: "## Fingerprint Card" date: "2019-03-11" modified: "2019-03-11" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/natwest-fingerprint-scanner-debit-card" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "bank" - "debit card" - "fingerprint scanner" - "the digest" --- # A Bank Is Testing a Debit Card With Built-in Fingerprint Scanner ![Security company Gemalto invented a debit card that can make secure purchases through a built-in fingerprint scanner. UK bank Natwest will trial it soon.]() *\Image: Natwest\* ## Fingerprint Card In 2019, there are many ways to make a purchase: you can tap your phone, enter a PIN, or sign a receipt. Soon there might be a new one: Netherlands-based digital security company Gemalto is working on a debit card that can make secure purchases through a built-in fingerprint biometric scanner. Hold your thumb over the scanner on the card, tap it at any tap-to-pay-enabled terminal, and the transaction will go through like normal. And the futuristic payment system is about to get a real-world test: United Kingdom bank Natwest is kicking off a trial of 200 customers with the new cards next month. https://youtu.be/xsYyvx6q-xs ## Thumb Wars Gemalto claims your fingerprint data never leaves the local storage on the card itself, making it less vulnerable to hackers. But no system, biometric or not, can guarantee your personal information is safe — even fingerprints [can be spoofed]() or stolen. But compared to a PIN — a simple string of numbers — paired with a chip on the card, the complexity of a unique fingerprint is likely to be more secure. In fact, Gemalto decided it's safe enough to get rid of the usual maximum purchase limit of tap-to-pay transactions that usually apply when purchases are made without a PIN. Will it catch on? It's hard to say. But a fingerprint scanner built into the bank card itself is an elegant concept for the future of financial technology. **READ MORE:** [Debit card with built-in fingerprint reader begins trial in the UK]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on fingerprint scanners:** *[Australian Companies Can Fire Workers Who Refuse Biometric Scans]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()