A new study by Juniper Research has found that the global value of virtual card transactions will reach $6.8 trillion in 2026, from $1.9 trillion in 2021.

Virtual cards, secure digital cards with randomly generated details, will show strong growth as they are increasingly used for B2B payments.

The research identified that businesses will value the simplicity of virtual cards, compared to the expensive and slow methods still being used, such as cheque payments, which remain popular in the US.

The new research predicts that outside of the dynamic B2B market, the added security from virtual cards will also appeal to the consumer market.

To capitalise on virtual card opportunities, vendors must identify which segment they are targeting and emphasise the most important value-added features, such as ERP integrations or consumer brand partnerships.

B2B Payments Dominating Transaction Value:

The report found that B2B payments will continue to account for the majority of virtual cards transaction value; totalling 71% of the total value in 2026.

While B2B sales occur less frequently, yielding under 1% of transaction volume in 2026, average transaction values are much higher in the B2B segment.

This means that vendors must ensure that security features and automation are emphasised to facilitate large payments as efficiently as possible.

Source: Paymentscardsandmobile

Some 65.5% of US consumers would pay for a biometric credit card that has a built-in fingerprint reader for authenticating payments, according to a survey of American credit card users.

It also found that 60.2% of respondents would prefer to pay a one-time fee of US$69.95 that covers the whole three-year lifetime of a biometric card, while 39.7% would prefer a monthly payment of US$8.95 that includes identity theft insurance.

“Interesting for card issuing banks is that the consumer research is showing that bank customers are willing to pay for a biometric credit card,” says SmartMetric, the biometric technology provider that commissioned the survey.

“This is based on the consumer’s desire to have a safer technology that aids in protecting against card fraud. For bank card customers, the concern of card fraud goes well beyond the financial loss they may or may not experience.

“Card customers find the whole experience of having their financial safety violated unpleasant. It is a logical as well as an emotional reaction by consumers.

“The sense of violation along with the general concern for their financial safety is the main driving force as to why the research is showing so many existing card customers are willing to pay for a biometric card,” the firm adds.

“For card issuing banks, they also are advantaged by the increased security offered by biometric credit and debit cards, while at the same time being able to turn their cards into a revenue-generating new source of income, making the credit card a new consumer device in its own right.”

Source: NFCW

Data published by EMVCo shows that at the end of 2020, 10.8 billion EMV® chip cards were in global circulation – an increase of nearly 1 billion compared to the previous twelve months. In addition, EMVCo reports that 66% of all issued cards are EMV, with over 86% of all card-present transactions conducted globally using EMV chip technology.

EMVCo developed the EMV Chip Specifications as a blueprint for chip cards and payment terminals to work together and in the same way, no matter where they were used. This has made seamless and secure chip card payments possible anywhere in the world.

“Surpassing 10 billion EMV cards deployed worldwide clearly reflects the benefits that EMV chip offers to merchants, acquirers, card issuers, businesses and consumers through improved transaction security, reduced counterfeit cards and fraud, and a consistent payment experience,” explains Junya Tanaka, EMVCo Executive Committee Chair. “We are continuing to see significant and sustained momentum for EMV chip technology across all regions, with Asia-Pacific and the United States in particular showing robust growth across both EMV issuance and adoption.”

The role card payments play in facilitating global commerce has been brought into sharp focus over the past 18 months, as consumers and businesses of all sizes have increasingly shifted away from cash.

Tanaka adds: “EMVCo remains committed to the delivery of safe, convenient and reliable payments in-store and online, and is working closely with payment industry stakeholders and technical groups across the world to advance and evolve the EMV Specifications. Our work aims to not only support emerging technologies such as QR Codes and wireless payments, but also the new ways in which consumers engage and pay for goods and services.”

– EMVCo –

The number of consumers using software-based facial recognition to authenticate payments worldwide will reach 1.4 billion by 2025, up from 671 million in 2020, according to a forecast by Juniper Research.

The analysts say that the predicted growth “demonstrates how widespread facial recognition has become; fuelled by its low barriers to entry, a front-facing camera and appropriate software”.

They add that “despite the challenges to facial recognition during the pandemic with face mask use”, the implementation of Face ID by Apple has accelerated the wider facial recognition market.

The ‘Mobile Payment Authentication: Biometrics, Regulation and Market Forecasts 2021-2025’ research also predicts that while 93% of biometrically-enabled smartphones will be equipped with fingerprint sensors, only 17% will have hardware-based facial recognition capabilities by 2025.

In addition, it forecasts that the number of people using voice recognition for payments will increase from 111 million in 2020 to more than 704 million in 2025, but adds that voice recognition “is mostly used in banking, and will struggle to grow beyond this, due to concerns around robustness”.

– NFCW –

Government recognitions and production deployments of passwordless authentication technologies have increased across the Asia-Pacific region, The FIDO Alliance says in an update of progress since the July Asia-Pacific Marketing Forum (AMF).

Taiwan’s government has followed up the introduction of FIDO standards in official industry body documents with adopting the protocol for a tax service that supports more than 200,000 users. India has made FIDO2 authentication an accepted alternative to SMS OTP, and users are being authenticated to public services in Malysia through a FIDO-certified service from SecureMetric. Advancements of passwordless authentication with FIDO standards in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Japan are also reviewed.

There are more than 150 million people using passwordless sign-ins with Microsoft each month, the company announced in November, a 50 percent increase from a year earlier.

– Biometric Update –