BIOMETRIC CARD MARKET ANALYSIS

The global biometric card market size was valued at USD 15.55 million in 2021 and is anticipated to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 77.3% from 2022 to 2030. Increasing use of smartphones, growing demand for contactless payment systems in developed economies and the rising need for security of data transactions are the key factors expected to drive the Biometric Card market growth. The market for biometric cards is dominated by the retail segment, which is expected to experience the highest growth over the forecast period.

Global Biometric Card Market: Regional Insights

The global biometric card market is regionally divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

North America among regions is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the global biometric card market over the forecast period, owing to high demand resulting from strong presence of large and small market players, and up surging market activities in the U.S. For instance, Mastercard, a U.S.-based financial service company’s biometric card consists integrated chip technology as well as biometrics for identifying cardholders for card-present. Due to presence of such market players and increasing market activities in the region, the demand for biometric cards is likely to grow in the near future.

Moreover, Asia Pacific is also anticipated to witness significant growth in the global biometric card market during the forecast period. This is due to increasing adoption of biometric technology by market players, growing demand for biometric authentication systems in different end-user industries including banking, gaming, financial sector, retail and hospitals across the region. For instance, China Construction Bank (CCB) collaborated with IDEX Biometrics to use IDEX’s biometric cards in the digital renminbi experiments of CCB. Thus, these factors are driving the market growth in Asia Pacific region.

Figure 1. Global Biometric Card Market Share (%), by Region, 2021

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Global Biometric Card Market Drivers:

Increasing demand for biometric card from financial inclusion-based initiatives in developing regions is expected to propel growth of the global biometric card market over the forecast period. Payment cards are integrated with biometric sensors, which is a transformative innovation in order to step ahead towards next generation of payment cards. These sensors provide durable security authentication mechanism, and also allows the payment card to move to authentication that helps issuers and financial institutions to differentiate and create enhanced brand stickiness as well as personalized experiences. Thus, various financial based initiatives are being taken in emerging economies, which is driving the market growth.

Furthermore, increasing inclination towards multi-factor authentication is also expected to augment growth of the global biometric card market over the forecast period. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) offers enhanced security in authentication systems. The access is controlled by various combined factors. As the demand for high-security is increasing all over the world, the interest in biometrics is growing. Thus, several market players are introducing multi-factor authentication systems including biometric authentication, and this in turn is expected to boost growth of the global biometric card market over the forecast period.

Global Biometric Card Market Opportunities:

Increasing focus of market players on reduction of cost of sensors as well as complexities of manufacturing is expected to create growth opportunities in the global biometric card market over the forecast period. The cost of biometric cards affects the market significantly. Thus, market players are increasingly focusing on cost reduction as well as reduction of manufacturing complexities. For instance, as per IDEX Biometrics, the biometric payment card ASP had a cost of more than US$ 20, which is greater than the cost of conventional EMV-enabled payment, which is US$1-2. In February 2020, IDEX Biometrics launched TrustedBio solution designed for cost reduction of biometric smartcard. This novel solutions is likely to function with next-generation and current EMV chips.

Moreover, market players are focusing on inorganic growth strategies such as partnerships, which is likely to offer various growth opportunities in the global biometric card market during the forecast period. For instance, in June 2022, IDEX entered into partnership with Linxens Holding SAS and introduced integrated solution that would cut down the costs for smart card manufacturing.  With the partnership, the company enabled card manufacturers to accelerate the development of cards having fingerprint-sensors.

Global Biometric Card Market Trends:

Increasing inclination towards safer options of payment mandated by government policies is a growing trend in the global biometric card market. This trend is likely to fuel demand for biometric cards in the near future. For instance, in August 2015, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it is mandating banks to phase out magstripe payment cards and adopt EMV chip cards. With such favorable regulations by governments towards biometric cards is likely to drive their rapid adoption around the globe. This trend is expected to drive the market growth in the near future.

Furthermore, growing shift towards adoption of new technologies is also trending in the global biometric card market. The global EMV chip-based cards market is expanding rapidly and is creating opportunities for technological shift towards adoption of highly secured payment options like biometric payment cards. As per the EMVCO, nearly 88.55% card mode transaction are carried out through EMV chip-enabled cards all over the world. Thus, this trend is likely to boost the market growth in the forecast future.

Global Biometric Card Market Restraints:

Biometric cards have strong competition with non-card biometric devices, and this factor is likely to restrain growth of the global biometric card market during the forecast period. The advancement of biometric authentication has enhanced security aspect in most of the industries, which is an advantage, specifically for banking industry. Biometric authentication that are non-card such as facial recognition, fingerprint verification are widely utilized by government institutes and the use of these biometric authentication methods is rapidly increasing in various other applications. Thus, this factor is expected to hinder growth of the global biometric card market over the forecast period.

High cost of implementation of biometric cards is expected to obstruct growth of the global biometric card market during the forecast period. The technology used to develop biometric authentication has higher cost compared to technology needed for creating payment cards. Even though consumers could pay small fee for a high security in payment cards, the current biometric card cost is likely to be nearly US$ 20 per card. This in turn affects the adoption of biometric cards in users, which in turn is expected to hamper the market growth.

Figure 2. Global Biometric Card Market Share (%), by Segment Type, 2021

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Global Biometric Card Market Segmentation:

The global biometric card market report is segmented into Application, End-user vertical, and Region

Based on Application, the market is segmented into Payments, Access Control, Government ID and Financial Inclusion, and Other Applications (IoT-based applications, etc.). Out of which, Payments is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the increasing demand for biometric card in financial services sector as a convenient and secure alternative to PINs and passwords. The adoption of biometric cards in financial service sector is growing, which in turn is driving growth of the segment.

Access Control segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the high demand leading to vendors extending their long-term relationships. For instance, in May 2022, Fingerprint Cards AB along with Feitian revealed that they will be bringing T-shape modules in biometric cards and BEP software platform in order to provide access control sectors.

Based on End-User Vertical, the market is segmented into BFSI, Retail, Government, Healthcare, Commercial Entities, and Other End-user Verticals. Out of which, BFSI is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the increasing rate of BFSI payments in finance and banking sectors. Biometric payment methods offer better security and safety to banks and consumers, as biometric features are every individual are unique. Thus, BFSI payments are increasing around the world, which is driving growth of this segment.

Retail segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the growing adoption of QR code, NFC technology, voice payment methods, along with digital and payment card contactless method in the retail market.

Global Biometric Card Market: Key Developments

In June 2022, Zwipe partnered with Fidor Bank announced plans for piloting biometric payment cards in Germany in the second half of 2022. The introduction of biometric cards is a part of Fidor’s strategy to offer its consumers access to digital pay services and banking in highly secured way.

In February 2022, Thales Group entered into collaboration with Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore for deploying more cutting-edge fintech, biometrics, and cloud aviation technologies in the country.

Global Biometric Card Market: Key Companies Insights

The global biometric card market is highly competitive. This is attributed to continuous launch of new technologies due to ongoing R &D and efforts by value chain participants. Moreover, key players are adopting various business growth strategies in order to expand their presence on regional as well as global basis.

Some of the key players in the global biometric card market are Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Group Co. Ltd., Zwipe AS, Samsung’s System LSI Business, Thales Group, Ethernom Inc., IDEX Biometrics ASA, Visa Inc., Goldpac Fintech, Mastercard Incorporated, Fingerprint Cards AB, ST Microelectronics NV, Seshaasai Business Forms (P) Ltd., and IDEMIA Group.

*Definition:

Biometric payment cards are a combination of contactless technology and fingerprint recognition technology. The technology is already used in smartphones, and can add an extra layer of protection. For example, biometric cards can store up to four encrypted fingerprints per customer. These cards can also store a PIN code as a fallback solution.