Italian Banking Group Sella Launches Biometric Payment Card

Italian banking group Sella Group has collaborated with IDEMIA to launch biometric payment cards that are powered by IDEX Biometrics’ TrustedBio fingerprint sensor solution.

Sella Group, which has a presence in five countries, will offer the new biometric payment card to select target segments, IDEX Biometrics said Tuesday (Nov. 22) in a press release.

“IDEX Biometrics is proudly supporting our partner IDEMIA and Sella Group with smarter and more secure card payments that work flawlessly with any payment terminal,” IDEX Biometrics Chief Commercial Officer Catherina Eklof said in the release.

The launch by the Italian banking group follows the debut of a full-scale biometric payment card program in the Middle East by a major United Arab Emirates bank, according to the release.

These and other recent introductions of biometric payment cards point to the value of these products to digital banks, FinTech and traditional full-service banks, the release said.

“IDEX Biometrics’ innovative technology and sensor solutions are bringing seamless payment experiences to more consumers, as cardholders around the globe access limitless contactless payments, secured by the user’s unique fingerprint,” Eklof said in the release.

Physical and digital cards will coexist for some time to come, IDEMIA Executive Vice President of the Digital Business Unit Matthew Cole told PYMNTS in an interview posted in November 2021.

That will be the case at least until a majority of stores have the infrastructure in place to support digital cards, as some retailer and government organizations have done so while others have not, Cole said.

“Some retailers adopted self-checkout infrastructure much more quickly during the pandemic, but not everyone has,” Cole said at the time. “So, you’re going to need to be able to support all forms of payment for the foreseeable future.”

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