Mastercard rolls out biometric card in Asia, extends Click to Pay to HK

Global payments company Mastercard has rolled out a biometric card in Asia, along with a few other innovations that include extending the Click to Pay online checkout solution to Asia Pacific including Hong Kong.

The biometric card uses fingerprints for transactions in stores.

Helena Chen, Managing Director, Hong Kong and Macau, for Mastercard, said Mastercard continues to provide a safe, fast and convenient electronic and cashless payment experience to consumers and merchants. “An example of this is the launch of the “digital-first” numberless card in partnership with virtual banks, which further pushes the development of Hong Kong as a smart city.''

Mastercard also unveiled the Pay by Account, which allows cardholders to use their money from whichever account, at any location that accepts Mastercard cards.

Click to Pay eliminates passwords and protects data with smart security, Mastercard says.

The biometric card was launched with Singapore-based IDEMIA.

At the recent Singapore Fintech Festival, Mastercard said that its numberless cards, which use the “digital-first” principle, supplement numberless physical cards made available by banks, take care of cardholders’ day-to-day consumption depending on personal needs.

Mastercard also said it obtained a patent for the Social Commerce QR, which embeds a QR code to its cards for convenience in instances such as bill splitting, money transfers and merchant payment.