No more typing, no more limits: the biometric bank card is quietly taking hold in France

▤ Summary

French banks are gradually rolling out biometric payment cards built by Thales, starting with premium customer segments at BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, and Société Générale. The card stores fingerprints securely on the chip and uses them for contactless payments without sending biometric data to external servers. Mastercard is also pushing a broader roadmap to remove manual card entry and one-time SMS codes from online payments by 2030. The piece frames biometric cards as both a security upgrade and a strategic response to Apple Pay and Google Pay. It also notes an accessibility benefit for users who struggle with touchscreen PIN pads.

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