Visa Moves to Fingerprint Payments in Australia

The new standards will help counter fraud by removing the need for a personal identification number.

December 08, 2017

SYDNEY, Australia – Australian shoppers will soon be able to check out with their fingerprint instead of entering a personal identification number (PIN), the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Visa recently announced it would be rolling out new technology to counteract fraud that include customers using their smartphones to scan their fingerprint or face to complete purchases.

However, this option would only work with digital wallets for now, and only when retailers and banks have the compatible technology. ANZ bank has partnered with Apple to let iPhone users pay on a contactless card reader.

“Five years ago, the idea that entering a PIN could become a rare experience would have been almost unbelievable,” said Joe Cunningham, head of risk for Visa Asia Pacific. He added that he thinks such biometric payments will become more commonplace next year. “Yet how we pay is changing fundamentally and security needs to move at the same speed. Biometrics are a crucial part of the future. Some devices that use these new standards have just entered the market and we expect it to become commonplace within the next year.”

Visa research underscores the need for more security for debit and credit cards linked with PINs, as online credit card fraud has more than doubled since 2011, reaching $417.6 million in Australia in 2016. While the country still experiences lower rates of fraud than the United States and United Kingdom, it has been on the rise.

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