Credit cards started out as simple pieces of cardboard. The first “modern” credit card was used by Frank McNamara in 1950 after he forgot his wallet several times. Instead, he started using the Diners Club Card to pay for his meals and then paid off the balance at the end of the month.

McNamara probably didn’t think much of security back then, considering he held one of three credit cards in existence. Credit card fraud is probably not a new idea in the minds of thieves.

Fast-forward 70 years and now more than 190 million US adults have a credit card in their name, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2023 credit card report.

What started out as cardboard has come a long way, but has also had security issues. As credit card fraud and theft increase, security features have been developed from simple signatures on a receipt to embedding microchips in cards to countless invisible artificial intelligence and machine learning protection.

Verifying your fingerprint before you make a transaction is another security option that can eliminate physical card fraud.

You’re probably already using biometric technology every day when you unlock your phone or log into your banking app, so how long will it take for this technology to hit your credit cards? Well, here it is, especially if you use a digital wallet or virtual card.

If you still use a physical credit card, you can request a biometric card from your bank. But this technology – and even using a physical card at all – already feels outdated. So, do experts predict that 2025 will be the year of the biometric card? Maybe. But not in the way you think.

What is biometric?

Biometrics uses analysis of your biological characteristics to confirm your identity. As a form of two-step authentication, biometric security scans your face, fingerprint or iris to confirm that you are, well, you.

This technology is widely used today to verify your identity at airports, hospitals and various law enforcement agencies. Biometrics also help unlock your cell phone or laptop and log into your favorite apps.

Whichever form of biometric lock you use, a device will first create a template of your biometric, such as your fingerprint, then save it to the device and match your scan to the template when you want it to. accessible.

What about biometric credit cards?

Biometric cards may sound futuristic, but they are actually just one step in a long evolution of credit card safety features.

The first major advance in card tech came from the Europay, Visa and Mastercard chip, or EMV chip, which became popular in the US in the mid-2010s. A gold or silver chip on the face of your card reduces counterfeit fraud by 76%, according to Visa.

Then contactless payments became popular, followed by virtual and digital cards exploded in use in the 2020s. on Mastercard’s 2020 global payments study.

Biometrics is another layer of security that helps ensure that only you can use your credit card.

Some virtual cards and smartphones already use some form of biometric technology, which allows you to use your face or fingerprint to unlock your device or confirm a payment through your digital wallet.

How do biometric cards work?

Just like the way your biometrics are stored on your iPhone, your biometric information will be held inside a scanner on your physical credit card, instead of in the cloud somewhere in the hands of a company. When you go to pay for something, you place your fingerprint on your card’s scanner to approve the transaction.

If the device is compromised or stolen, there is no way for someone to access your biometric data. Even Visa can’t access your face or fingerprint scan inside the card.

Visa has been working with biometric technology for decades, and now uses biometrics to help digitize payments with Visa Payment Passkey – a digital payment experience that puts all your credit information, debit and banking.

“One of our main tenants in anything we do is biometrics – for both Visa Payment Passkey and the card’s physical biometric template — it’s just stored on the individual device,” Mark Nelsen, Global Head of Consumer Payments at Visa told CNET.

Since biometrics is the only form of authentication used in contactless payments, it will work with current contactless card readers.

Take credit cards fast

Biometric technology – even in credit cards – is not really new.

“I had a biometric card 10 years ago,” Nelsen said. “And I’m very proud, because I use contactless payments when nobody knows what that is.”

But in the past, it was not really a convenient way to pay. You have to put your finger on the built-in scanner, wait for that to work, then wait for the terminal to light up and confirm your payment.

According to Nelsen, the technology has many obstacles on the way to mass implementation. If the goal of these cards is to make payments easier and safer without sacrificing convenience, the technology does not follow.

“Ten years ago, the way they thought it would work was you had a battery-powered card,” Nelsen said. “You put your finger on the sensor and that unlocks the card, and then you can use it.”

While they do add a battery to the piece of plastic, it’s not as cheap as making a card without any fancy technology attached, nor does it easily fit in your wallet or pocket. Now, they have found a way to charge the scanner using the card reader, no battery attachment required. So why don’t we all have biometric cards? They are expensive to make.

“That’s why it took so long to perfect it,” Nelsen said. “It’s an expensive technology, and so the card itself is more expensive than a traditional card.”

Are biometric credit cards more secure than other credit cards?

The thing is, biometric cards solve a problem that isn’t as prevalent as it used to be: physical credit card fraud. While it still exists (this is your friendly reminder to check the gas station for card skimmers) physical cheating is not as common as it was just a few years ago.

In the past, cards used magnetic strips to contain card information and facilitate payments. Swiping your card is the main method of payment, but mag strips are easy to fake. However, since the introduction of EMV chip cards, physical card fraud has decreased significantly.

In fact, 93% of fraudulent cases occur while the card is still in its possession, according to security.org. That means bad actors are able to get your card information without actually having a credit card.

“There are a lot of other technologies now to solve the lost or stolen card problem, so you’re left with biometrics as a bit of a niche product for someone who might be hyper-security conscious,” Nelsen said.

Despite the niche though, there are those who want to use this technology.

“I really want to see it and use it,” said Adam Levin, a security expert, author and co-host of the podcast What the Hack with Adam Levin. “From my perspective, one cannot have enough arrows in our security quiver.”

Should you get a biometric card in 2025?

Technically, biometric credit cards are here. If you’re more security-conscious, Nelsen says you can contact your bank to ask about getting a credit card with a fingerprint scanner.

He said Visa has a card with a biometric sensor on it that banks can ask for on your behalf. “And when you use it, we recognize (the transaction). When it hits our network and we see the transaction, we recognize it and process it,” he added.

Mastercard’s website says it works too biometric scanner on physical cards but did not say whether the cards are now available to the public. However, Mastercard says to check with your bank for more information, especially if you’re a premium customer.

The biometric card scanner is an “up-and-coming solution” that will eliminate the need for a PIN or signature, Dennis Gamiello, executive vice president of identity at Mastercard, told CNET in an emailed response.

Will biometric credit cards be available in 2025?

While physical biometric cards may not see large adoption rates in the US, countries like the UK and Canada have different regulations for credit card payments that could increase their use there.

“There are a couple of markets around the world where you can’t use your plastic card up to a certain limit,” Nelsen said. “A biometric scan will allow you to bypass that limit.”

For example, Canada has a limit of CA$100 for transactions. France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK all have a limit of 50 €. The US has no set national limits on what you can charge for contactless payments.

Although we may not see an influx of biometric cards in the US in the next few years, it is possible that we will see wider adoption in other countries. And if past advances in card technology have taught us anything, the US is often a few years behind what’s going on in other markets.

Look at contactless payments and EMV chip technology, for example. The first form of contactless payment introduced in Seoul in 1995but contactless payments didn’t hit the US until 2004. EMV chip technology adopted in Europe in the ’90s, but it wasn’t widely adopted in the US until 2015.

If you are interested in getting a biometric card, talk to your bank. In addition to Visa offers, other card manufacturers, including Thales and SmartMetricadvertise biometric cards. But you need your card issuer to request one.

Do biometric cards make sense given the rise of digital payments?

At least for the next few years, we will likely have physical cards to carry in our wallets. While virtual credit cards, digital wallets and Visa Payment Passkey have done much to reduce the need for a physical card, experts do not expect plastic and metal cards to disappear completely in the next year.

Nelsen said he doesn’t see physical cards going away any time soon. There are many markets and infrastructure set up around physical cards, so they won’t disappear anytime soon. However, he acknowledged that Visa is more focused on digital experiences.

“What is the future of cards in general?” Nelson said. “It depends on the market and the consumer. I think in general, while more payments will be digital, there will be no physical plastic piece of card available. wallets.”