Consumers in the European Union and the UK can now make contactless payments using an NFC implant in their hand that is compliant with ISO 10993 biocompatibility standards.

The batteryless implant is embedded under a user’s skin and is linked to a preloaded online account, enabling them to make contactless payments wherever “most popular credit or debit cards” are accepted.

“The Walletmor payment implant is a small device, the size of a safety pin and about half a millimetre thick, consisting of an integrated circuit and a metal sheath acting as an antenna, enclosed in a hermetic bio-housing,” the British-Polish start-up that developed the device explains.

“The biopolymer — technically speaking — is the so-called medical plastic for the production of medical devices, which has current biocompatibility certificates confirming compliance with the ISO 10993 standard.”

“Importantly, the implant is a passive device and does not have its own power source,” Walletmor adds.

“It does not generate any radio waves on its own and is only activated with a contactless payment terminal, and only at a very short distance. It’s impossible to track someone with a Walletmor implant.”

Once they have ordered the NFC payment implant, users open and add funds to an account on the European iCard platform before having the device implanted at a hospital, clinic or aesthetic medicine laboratory that offers the service.

“Implantation is painless and takes only 15 minutes,” Walletmor says.

A short video shows how users set up and use the payment implant.

– NFCW –

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

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”.

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NEXT Biometrics (Oslo Bors: NEXT), a global leader in fingerprint sensor technology, today announced the company is joining with MK Group to launch an R&D program for biometric smart cards for banking and other applications. The program will integrate NEXT’s large-area fingerprint sensors into MK Group’s next generation smart card products. Vietnam-based MK Group is the leading provider of smart cards and digital security solutions for financial, telecommunication and retail enterprises in Vietnam and one of the largest in South East Asia.

PNC Bank’s treasury management unit is trialling technology that guards against card-not-present fraud by automatically changing the three digit CVV code on the back of credit cards.